Lermontov wrote during the Golden Age of Literature, and his death is said to define the end of that age. Other famous poets during this age were Baratynsky, Tyutchev, Delvig, Yazykov, and, of course, Pushkin. The poetry of the time was very rich and brilliant, as well as romantic. Many poets were followers of Byron, and also proponents of freedom, good life, and good relations.

The most famous work of Lermontov, a prose piece, is A Hero of Our Time, which he finished in 1840. A full English translation of the text and preface can be found here.

Lermontov also wrote many poems, as well as epic poems such as A Prisoner of the Caucases. A full English translation is not yet available. This poem centers around a prisoner who is chained in a cave in the Caucases. Although he is homesick and lonely, he enjoys the wild nature centered in the region- the Terek River, herds of animals, the Elboroos mountain, the singing of the birds, the carpets of flowers on hillsides, and the activities of the Cossack people. He falls in love with a young Caucasian girl who frees him from his chains and helps him escape. They are found, however, and she drowns herself in the river. This poem, although tragic, shows well the depth of writing Lermontov gained from his time spent in the Caucauses.

I have done some translation of this poem, and the following is part XII of the poem, translated as closely as I could:

He heard the word: "Always!".
And his heavy fate
Almost befriended him with captivity.
With comrades sometimes
He grazed a Circasian herd.
He watched with them how an avalanche
Falls from a mountain and heard the noise;
How an avalanche of snow shines,
How avalanches cut out the valley;
Although he was contrained with chains,
He often walked along the Terek River.
And listened to how the waves hit,
The soles of his dug into the huge rock,
Unstable, between the wildnerness and the forest...
He saw how in the height of the hills
A guarded fire glittered;
And how a circle of Cossacks
Gazed on the troubled current of the waters,
With bows and spears for fighting.
Oh! How he wished to be there;
But the chains prevented him from getting away.

Lermontov also wrote many shorter poems. Links to the texts of many of them can be found on the Links Page.