Farlaf as a Super-Hero

The article deals with meter and rhythm in the text of Farlaf’s rondo from Glinka’s opera Ruslan and Lyudmila. It is suggested that the “special rhythm” of the rondo has burlesque connotations associated with Glinka’s school experience — his studies in classical languages. The long dactylic line of the refrain goes back to the ancient prototype, the dactylic hexameter, also known as “heroic meter”, which is travestied in Farlaf’s rondo.