Dead Souls (Russian language: Мёртвые души) by Nikolai Gogol was first published in 1842, and is one of the most prominent works of 19th century Russian literature. Gogol himself saw it as an "epic poem in prose", and within the book as a "novel in verse". Despite supposedly completing the trilogy's second part, Gogol destroyed it shortly before his death. Although the novel ends in mid-sentence (like Sterne's Sentimental Journey), it is usually regarded as complete in the extant form.