Eventually Dmitriev does beg for a...

Eventually Dmitriev does beg for an assignment in the service, unless only with a sense of penitence for the lost independence. When he is appointed to situations of more and more responsibility, he generously acknowledges occasions when colleagues or subordinates merit credit for rewards that he received, and is embarrassed rather than lordly when he is assigned to a position that is higher than he considers warranted (108 76-77)

Dmitriev's autobiography reveals that a major factor underlying his lack of political ambition is his regard with affection for poetry. This is perhaps united of Dmitriev's most daring positions, for one as well as the other implicitly and explicitly he describes the demands of verse and state service as mutually incompatible. Besides deadening the poet's ability to apprehend the poetic proper spheres in life, the constant demands of state service make it virtually impossible to find time for poetic creation. Dmitriev's acknowledge priorities are revealed in his repeated attempts to disengage himself from state service; these efforts are explicitly described as his way of finding not just the time, further also the independence, that he considers essential for poetic creation (65 68 74) In a setting where social perceptions in this way frequently considered the poet to be contingent on court patronage, Dmitriev's account is an important effort to "normalize" the character of poet. The assertion that solely an : independent poet can create genuine poetry is an important statement of principle for a man of honour, and anticipates the arguments that Pushkin will quick advance so forcefully.15