Lyrics letter to a woman. To whom did Yesenin dedicated the poem "letter to a woman". Life with Yesenin

Article menu:

Sergey Yesenin- a master of poetic, lyric works. Young Sergei began to write poetry at the age of 9, when, apparently, he found books from his grandfather on his mother's side. "Letter to a Woman" is a landmark work for the poet's work, because we could only compare it with Brodsky's "Love".

The first version of the dedication "Letters to a Woman"

Yesenin's first poems appear on the pages of printed publications in 1914. The next year the poet moved to St. Petersburg, then Petrograd, where he got acquainted with the legend of the Silver Age - Blok. Yesenin brought with him many unpublished poems, which were soon published in literary magazines in the Northern capital of the Russian Empire. But before moving on to the analysis of "Letters to a Woman", we should say a few words about Sergei's muse, Isadora Duncan.

Sergey Yesenin and Isadora Duncan: a romantic story in real life and on the pages of books

Isadora Duncan became famous not only for dancing, but also for the fact that in May 1922 she became the wife of Sergei Yesenin. By that time, the poet's work was known all over the world. The marriage of a dancer and a poet was rather unusual, because Duncan was 18 years older than Yesenin. The relationship of lovers was complex. The first difficulty is the language barrier. Sergei Yesenin recognized only Russian, refusing to study any others. Isadora Duncan knew only English. The dancer knew about 20 Russian words, but this did not stop the couple from traveling half the world.

Isadora Duncan as the muse of Sergei Yesenin

The dancer became famous for her commitment to feminism. Isadora's love of freedom was reflected in her dance style. For example, Duncan made a real revolution in dancing: Isadora abandoned the traditional pointe shoes, tutu, corset, dancing barefoot, wearing only a thin, flying Greek chiton. For this special choreographic style, Duncan was nicknamed "divine sandals". The girls tried to “be like Duncan”, to adopt the plasticity and style she had invented.

Duncan's family life

Sometimes cultural scholars and choreographers call Isadora Duncan the mother of modern choreography. However, the creative side of a woman’s life was still developing more successfully than the family side. Duncan, in her outlook, leaned towards feminism, so she vowed to marry anyone. The dancer turned 44 years old: by this time Isadora had already experienced several unsuccessful relationships. Duncan also had children, but three out-of-wedlock children died at an early age. Duncan's first two children - a son and a daughter - were killed in a car accident. Together with the children, the governess also died. Isadora acted honorably and interceded in court for the driver, because he had a family.

After the accident, Isadora found the strength to give birth to her third child. However, the boy who was born did not live long: his son Duncan died a couple of hours after birth. This was the last time Isadora decided to become a mother.

After this incident, Duncan devoted herself to dancing and teaching choreography. Suddenly, the legendary dancer received an invitation to come to the Soviet Union to found a dance school there. This surprised Duncan, but she agreed. On the way to Russia, Isadora met a fortune teller on the ship. The woman predicted Isadora that she would soon marry in a foreign land. But the experience of life did not allow Duncan to believe this prediction: Isadora met the fortuneteller's words with laughter.

Isadora Duncan's meeting with Yesenin

When Isadora met her future husband, he was already considered a famous poet in the Soviet Union. Yesenin was 26 years old, but the young man managed to write many events in his biography. Not having time to get married, Yesenin managed to become a father. At that time, the poet was 18 years old. Later - already married - Sergei had more children. It is surprising that when they met for the first time, Sergei and Isadora behaved with each other like old acquaintances. The first time Yesenin saw the world famous dancer was at an evening given by Georges Yakulov. At the reception with Georges, Duncan looked traditionally: a spacious red tunic, confident movements ... The world star attracted the poet's attention: Yesenin did not take his eyes off her. Isadora was not aware of shyness, so the dancer allowed herself a rather free behavior: she lay on the sofa, stroking Sergei's golden hair. At the end of the evening, Duncan is said to have even kissed Yesenin.

Isadora stopped at Prechistenka, where the poet soon moved. Duncan's career in the Soviet Union did not develop as rapidly as Isadora originally planned. Therefore, the dancer decided to return to her homeland. Of course, the woman intended to take Yesenin with her. At that time, Duncan and Yesenin were not yet married, so Sergei might not have received permission to enter the United States. Isadora decided to take a desperate step: she agreed to marry a Russian poet. This happened 6 months after the meeting of the lovers at Georges Yakulev's.

Life with Yesenin

In one of the registry offices in Moscow, the couple soon registered a marriage. It is curious that Isadora was ashamed of the age difference, because she asked to put a different date in her passport. At the same time, the dancer said that the age difference between her and Yesenin is 15 years. In fact, she was 18 years old. According to her passport, Duncan was only 9 years older than her husband. After registration, the spouses received a double surname. So the Yesenin-Duncan couple was born.

The couple's family life turned out to be full of difficulties. The difficulties, rather, came from the stormy, too temperamental disposition of the poet. Yesenin often kissed the bottle, was jealous of his wife, and sometimes raised his hand to Isadora. It happened that Sergei collected all his things and left home. The wife continued to wait for Yesenin. And he returned. Only the situation with his return did not get any easier.

Travels

So, the marriage of Yesenin and Duncan took place in 1922. Isadora went on tour a lot, and her husband accompanied his wife on all trips. After leaving the Soviet Union, the couple went to cities in Western Europe, and then crossed the ocean and appeared in the United States. However, not everything was as smooth as it looked at first glance. Yesenin was perceived by Isadora's entourage only as the "Russian husband" of the choreographic star, an addition to the brilliant image of Duncan. Meanwhile, in the Soviet Union, Yesenin was considered a cult figure. Perhaps these difficulties gave rise to disagreements between the spouses. Sometimes the situation reached such a degree of tension that Isadora had to help the police to calm her husband's rampage. Yesenin allowed unflattering remarks about Duncan.

The end of the relationship between Yesenin and Duncan

In 1923, the couple came to Moscow again. Isadora's relationship with Yesenin went completely wrong, therefore, a month after her arrival, Duncan hastily left the capital of the USSR. One. Yesenin soon sent his ex-wife the news that he fell in love with another woman, got married and now, at last, is happily married. Sergei described his relationship with Galina Bnislavskaya. Meanwhile, the poet lied a little, because he never married Galina. However, Duncan was not destined to find out about this. Yesenin lived for two more years. He got married, became a father again. Isadora Duncan died 3 and a half years after breaking up with Sergei. The dancer's cause of death was - ironically - an absurd car accident.

"Letter to a woman" as the aftertaste of love

Yesenin is rightfully considered the last love of Isadora Duncan. For the sake of the Russian poet, the founder of free dance broke her vow never to get married. The romance with Sergei - short, but stormy and deep - left an imprint on Duncan's creativity and attitude. However, these relations were reflected in the poetry of Sergei Yesenin.

"Letter to a Woman" dates from 1924. The reader guesses that Yesenin writes about love for Isadora Duncan. At the same time, this love is so strong that it is unlikely to ever be repeated. The poem describes the moment of parting of the lovers. The work is saturated with bitterness, because the reader understands: it is not so scary to speak in different languages, but it is scary to be in different planes of the worldview, to have a different perception and understanding of the world. Too different outlook - in order to find your own common language.

The image of the past in Yesenin's poem

In the verse, the heroine criticizes her lover for torturing her with his passion for revolution, political position, views on the nature of power. In response, the hero, in whom the poet himself is easily recognized, says that his wife does not understand him, does not realize the influence that the revolution of 1917 made on the hero. As you can see, in the verse, a personal, intimate theme is intertwined with a political context. Literary critics unanimously declare that Yesenin was especially good at this moment - the combination of the personal and social aspects, private and public episodes. The most clearly deduced past in the text of the work is 1919. It is noteworthy that by 1919 Yesenin's poems finally lost their biblical color, religious imagery.

The image of the present between the lines "Letters to a woman"

At the beginning of the second part of the work, the author repeats the content of the previous part. At the same time, it is important for the poet to reflect the past state, the past situation, and also to compare the past with the present. The author's modernity is distinguished by a keen sense of change. These changes are not only external, but also internal. The present situation, the current state of mind of the hero suggests that he is very ashamed, that he regrets the past, about his actions. According to the author, the changes that have occurred to him are for the better, so the hero seeks to show that he is ready to fix all the "broken wood". The present, described in "Letter to a Woman", dates back to 1924.

The author asks his beloved to forgive him for past mistakes. Meanwhile, the hero realizes that time does not stand still, that the beloved may have another family, another husband. Time is a merciless machine that can make the once closest people the most strangers.

Therefore, the author is frightened by the sense of time, the feeling that he has now become simply familiar to the Lady of the Heart. But once upon a time two hearts were united by deep and passionate love. The signature "old friend" makes the atmosphere of the work sad and melancholic, hinting to readers that there is nothing eternal under the Moon.

The second version of the dedication "Letters to a woman"

So, the first version, offered by literary critics and literary critics, says that the poet dedicated "A Letter to a Woman" to his second wife, Isadora Duncan. Meanwhile, there is also an assumption that in fact Yesenin wrote a poem in memory of his relationship with his first wife, Zinaida Reich.

Yesenin - Love triangle: Zinaida Reich - Sergei Vsevolod Meyerhold

Zinaida Reich is an actress who played in a Moscow theater, where she met Vsevolod Meyerhold. It is noteworthy that the famous actress was not distinguished by her ambitious career plan, and she also did not think that she would go down in history as a woman who broke the heart of the great poet Yesenin and the great theater director Meyerhold.

Meeting with Yesenin and revolutionary spring

Zinaida met Yesenin during the period of passion for revolutionary ideas. A student of the Faculty of History and Literature of the Higher Courses for Women, Reich delved into the atmosphere of the revolutionary movement. At this time, the woman works as a secretary-typist in the editorial office of the newspaper Delo Naroda. Here, within the walls of the publication, Zinaida met her first husband, the poet Sergei Yesenin.

Contemporaries spoke positively about Zinaida Reich. Zinaida is an intelligent, beautiful woman, she had a special attraction and magnetism. Men fell in love with Reich at first sight. Only by stealthily glancing at the photographs of the woman, one can be convinced that Reich was the owner of particular charm, deep eyes, and an amazing smile. It is noteworthy that Yesenin did not belong to the category of those in love with Reich, because he himself was chasing after Mina Svirskaya, a girl who worked in the library of the same edition of Delo. Zinaida was courted by Alexey Ganin - by the way, Sergey's friend.

Ganin invited Zinaida to visit his small homeland - Solovki. On this trip, the couple also invited Sergei and Mina. But Mina canceled the trip at the last moment. Having visited the Solovki with Reich, Yesenin realized that he was deeply and passionately in love with the friend of his friend, Alexei Ganin. Yesenin immediately proposed to Zinaida. The girl at first refused to the persistent admirer, but then she sent a notification to her father asking him to send money - for the wedding. A small church near Vologda witnessed the conclusion of this marriage.

Moving to Petrograd

The first house of Yesenin and Zinaida Reich is Liteiny prospect. The wife made sure that her husband-poet had all the necessary conditions to create. The first period of marriage went well, it seemed that the Reich and Yesenin family was gradually passing the test of life and time. Sergey's lifestyle changed towards exemplaryness, the poet no longer attended the drinking binges familiar in the literary and creative circle. However, the relationship between Reich and Yesenin still did not pass the test of time. Yesenin was distinguished by his greed for women, loved to indulge in romantic adventures, boasted of victories on the "love front". At the same time, Yesenin's character was jealous and violent. Reich led a rather free lifestyle, and the poet quickly realized that Zinaida had lovers before him. Sergey did not forgive this wife.

Yesenin's success in the literary field

The poet's fame grew rapidly. Sergei had more and more admirers and admirers, as well as people who wanted to share a bottle of wine with the famous poet. Gradually, Yesenin began to behave cruelly with his wife: he arranged tantrums and scandals, raised his hands to Zinaida, and then cried and fell to the floor, begging to forgive. In 1917, during the revolution, the poet's wife was already carrying a child. In anticipation of the birth of her daughter, Zinaida went to stay with her relatives, in the city of Oryol.

The newborn girl was named Tatiana. Yesenin knew about the birth of his daughter, but did not show a desire to see the child and his wife. As a result, Zinaida arrived herself. After returning to Petrograd, the couple lived together for about three more years. However, three years turned out to be the end of the relationship between Yesenin and Reich. In 1920, a son was born to Yesenin. Zinaida gave birth to a boy while in the House of Mother and Child. However, Sergei did not even want to look at his son. The poet saw the child only on the station platform. But he turned away - in disgust - noticing that the boy was born with black hair, and the Yesenins never have black hair.

Divorce Yesenin and Reich

Zinaida named her newborn son Constantine. The boy was born weak, was often ill, so Reich took the child to Kislovodsk. Life blows, a serious discord with her husband, Kostya's illness simultaneously fell on Reich, which led to a nervous breakdown. Zinaida went to a sanatorium for those suffering from nervous diseases for treatment. Returning to her parents, Zinaida received another hard news: Yesenin sent a telegram in which he asked for a divorce.

1921 is the point when the relationship between Zinaida and Yesenin officially ended. It was not in vain that Sergei was called a robber of curly fields ”, for his ability to break the hearts of women. They say that soon the poet repented very much of his past deeds, as an atonement, dedicating lines of the poem "A Letter to a Woman" to his ex-wife.

Features of the verse "Letter to a woman"

The theme of the work of the Russian poet is very ramified: several topics are touched upon here, first of all, the theme of love for the fatherland and love for a woman, as the very title of the verse implies. The composition of the work hints at the existence of the past and the present, which do not intersect with each other.

Yesenin's letter dates from 1924. It is quite ironic (and, perhaps, natural) that it was in this year that the first wife of the poet, Zinaida Reich, remarried. The actress's chosen one was the famous Russian theater director - Vsevolod Meyerhold. Zinaida's family with Meyerhold turned out better than with Sergei. Vsevolod adopted his wife's children from his first marriage, raising them as his own son and daughter. Yesenin, on the other hand, suddenly realized how much he was guilty before his former family, before Zinaida and the children.

As for the genre "Letters to a Woman", most literary critics and philologists define it as a "poem". This genre is not very typical for the early work of Sergei Yesenin, so the creation of "Letter to a Woman" marked the beginning of a new page in the book of the poet's literary activity.

Homeland love theme

If the theme of love for a woman is visible in the verse more clearly than ever before, readers do not always succeed in finding specifics about the theme of love for the motherland here. However, in fact, Yesenin devoted a significant part of the poem to reflections on the search for oneself, on revolutionary changes, on breaking everything old, on changing the regime. The revolution occupied a huge place in the heart and in the life of the poet, therefore, all the later creativity of the poet is saturated with the images of the revolution, the radical breakdown of everything.

The fate of the poet is quite tragic, because, despite the fact that Yesenin had many relationships with different women, until the end of his life Sergei did not manage to find a common language with any of them. Meanwhile, the poet began to understand the language of the Motherland much better. After the 1917 revolution, Yesenin finally found a common language with his fatherland.

The person whom the reader sees in the second part of the poem is completely different from the crazy reveler and rake whom Yesenin described at the beginning of the work. The second part presents a transformed, reassured hero who philosophizes a lot and reflects on the problems he faces in life.

Yesenin's poem is rich in metaphors, vernaculars and vulgarisms (which is characteristic of Sergei's work in general), comparisons, epithets and repetitions. One of the central places in the composition "Letters to a Woman" is occupied by an attempt to answer the question about the meaning of life. However, the specificity of this difficult question is such that it always remains only a question - without an answer.

SOUL STORIES ... "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "MIRACLE IN THE CAUCASUS In 1960, under N. Khrushchev, the KGB, with the assistance of the army, systematically combed the Caucasus Mountains - they caught everyone who was hiding there, mainly monks, and sent them to correctional camps. In the sixties I was a military officer, had a party membership card and was the head of a large helicopter formation, had extensive experience in flying in the mountains, where pilots are required to special skills. Then in the Caucasus I was given the task to follow a group of monks on a helicopter. It was very stuffy in the helicopter cockpit. At the bottom of the mountain, eleven monks in black robes were climbing. A little lower behind them soldiers were confidently moving in a green cordon. Assessing the situation, I transmitted over the radio: "Earth! I am the air. The monks are moving to the top of the mountain. Slowly narrow the cordon ring and press them. The top of the mountain is steep. When they reach it, they will have nowhere to go. There we are theirs. and take it! Welcome! - Air! I am the earth. Got you. End of communication. For two days we tracked down these monks. And now the operation has come to an end. I didn't know what would happen to the monks when they were arrested. Yes, then it was not interesting to me. I was just following orders. Meanwhile, the monks climbed to the very top of the mountain. Behind them, soldiers with dogs were catching up, and in front was a bottomless, sheer abyss. The situation was hopeless and critical. I went one more circle and hovered directly over the monks. The wind from the blades fluttered their clothes and hair. I saw despair on their faces. They looked like a pack of hunted wolves. Blinking the signal lights, I made it clear to the monks that it was all over. The soldiers, meanwhile, were approaching ... Suddenly, something unusual began to happen below. The monks stood in a circle, joined hands and knelt. They began to pray. Then they all got up together and walked to the edge of the abyss. “Will they really jump? This is certain death! What, did they decide to commit suicide? " - I thought with annoyance and grabbed the radio: - Earth! Land! Don't get any closer, they want to jump! They are on the edge of the abyss! Welcome! - Air! I am the earth. We wait five minutes and continue driving. We have no time - it will soon get dark. Welcome! - Understood. End of communication. Without taking my eyes, I looked at the monks standing on the edge of the abyss. And so one of them, standing in the middle, took two staffs, folded them in a cross and slowly crossed them three times and blessed the abyss. Then he stepped first straight into the abyss! But for some reason he did not fall, but by some miracle remained hanging in the air. My hair began to stir on my head. From above, I clearly saw that the monk was not standing on the ground, but hanging in the air! Then he slowly began to take steps and walked as if on a path. He did not fall into the abyss! How?! All the other monks followed him and also went through the air. In turn, in a chain. They quietly walked one after another, climbing upward, until they all disappeared into a cloud. From what I saw, I was confused and lost control of the helicopter control. Having come to my senses a little, I taxied the car, put the helicopter in a clearing and drowned it out. About twenty minutes later, soldiers from the cordon ran up to me. I continued to sit in the helicopter cockpit, trying to give a logical explanation for what I saw. The soldiers surrounded the helicopter and the elder asked me: - Comrade Captain, where are they? Where did the monks go? We climbed to the top, but they were not there. “They ... they went to heaven. Loud soldiers' laughter echoed in the mountains. * * * The colonel rushed about the room and spattered saliva: - Take the trouble to explain, Comrade Captain, where did the monks disappear, whom we had been tracking for two days ?! And how you led the cordon on the wrong track! - You still won't believe my explanations, Comrade Colonel. So here is my party card and my transfer to the reserve. After leaving the army, I received Baptism and became a believer. Wonderful are Thy works, O Lord! Miroslav Manyuk. 12/17/15.

Analysis of Yesenin's poem Letter to a woman grade 9

Plan

2.Genre

3.Main topic

4.Composition

5.Size

6 expressive means

7 main idea

1.History and time of creation of the poem

"Letter to a Woman" was written by Yesenin in 1924 and is dedicated to the poet's first wife, Z. Reich. The poet himself broke off relations with her in the heat of another hobby. In 1922 Z. Reich remarried to V. Meyerhold, who adopted the poet's children. Yesenin was deeply worried and regretted what had happened. The poem is an attempt at justification to the ex-wife.

2. Genre of the work- a lyric poem in the form of a letter dedicated to a close woman.

3.Main topic... The theme of the poem is to justify Yesenin in front of his abandoned wife. The poet admits that he led a wrong, riotous life, and thereby brought suffering to his wife. At the same time, he throws a grave accusation at the woman: "you did not love me." Yesenin wanted to be simply understood, because he himself had no control over his behavior (“like a horse driven in soap”). The poet justifies himself by the post-revolutionary situation in the country, which he did not understand and from this he wanted to die "drunk in a frenzy."

4. Composition. The work consists of two main parts: the poet's memories of the violent past and the present. There is a clear contrast between them. Yesenin claims that he has become a completely different person. Throwing about in vague aspirations, the brawler was transformed into a philosopher, wise over the years, who understood the meaning of life.

5. Size. The poem is written in an iambic differential with a cross rhyme. This gives the work the character of calm reasoning.

6. Expressive means. The expressive means used by Yesenin are diverse. To enhance the impression, the poet uses colloquial and rude expressions: "vomited", "vomiting", "drunken frenzy". Expressive metaphors and comparisons are varied. The poet imagines himself as “a horse driven in soap”. In the center of the work is a large-scale comparison of post-revolutionary Russia with a ship caught in a storm. The tavern seems to be a calm hold of a ship, hiding in which, you can fence yourself off from dangers. Only after realizing the correctness of the actions of the "helmsman", you can go out on deck and calmly enjoy sailing.

7. The main idea. The main idea of ​​the work is the poet's maturation, his recognition of his past mistakes and delusions. This repentance is expressed both at the personal (asking for forgiveness to a woman) and at the public ("glory to the steering!") Levels.

Sergei Yesenin wrote “Letter to a Woman” in 1924. This is one of the most famous lyric poems of the author. In the poem, Yesenin turns to his ex-wife, Zinaida Reich, whom the poet abandoned when she was carrying his second child. Gave up, for the sake of an affair on the side wrapped in a drunken stupor.

It would seem, a scoundrel, a scoundrel - such a betrayal is unthinkable to survive! Yesenin, of course, was not going to leave the family, but it was Reich who insisted on the break, who was never able to forgive the betrayal. But, at the same time, she reacted so painfully to the betrayal of her adored husband that she later had to undergo treatment in a psychiatric clinic. Her love was too strong. Reich's love was not at all like Yesenin's love. The woman's love was enormous, and heavy, like an ancient stone vase filled with water. It was impossible to raise her and quench her thirst. one could only kneel down to drink this moisture and stay with her for the rest of his life, because you cannot take her on the way, on your life path. Overwhelming love! Love is shackles. Such, over time, burns out everything that is alive in the soul, and after that nothing grows in this desert. Is great love really good? If you can't take her with you, but you can only stay close and depend on her forever? And Yesenin's love was light and heady, like a glass of affordable wine. She did not quench his thirst, but for a short while immersed in a feeling of euphoria.

So why did Yesenin decide to talk to Reich in a poem? They did not hurt each other much because they were bad people. And just because they were people. Yesenin, in this poem, finally lets her go, her former beloved, and says that the suffering is over. He would no longer torment her with reproaches. He will no longer disturb her heart with memories and will not blame her for breaking up. It is very important to say that you are guilty. After all, if you do not ask for forgiveness, the pain will last your whole life, even if your paths with a person parted forever. Yesenin with this poem asks for forgiveness, forgives himself and lets go of the pain of love killed by their own hands. What could be more inevitable than loneliness? Just a choice. And the result ...

The text of the poem can be read in full on our website online.

Do you remember,
Of course you all remember
How I stood
Approaching the wall
Excitedly you walked around the room
And something sharp
They threw it in my face.

You said:
It's time for us to part
What has tortured you
My crazy life
That it's time for you to get down to business,
And my lot is
Roll on, down.

Darling!
You didn't love me.
You did not know that in the crowd of people
I was like a horse driven in soap
Spurred by a bold rider.

You didn’t know
I'm in solid smoke
In a life torn apart by a storm
That's why I am tormented that I do not understand -
Where the rock of events takes us.

Face to face
You can't see the face.
Great things are seen at a distance.
When the sea surface is boiling
The ship is in a deplorable state.

Earth is a ship!
But someone suddenly
For new life, new glory
Into the midst of storms and blizzards
He directed her majestically.

Well, which of us is big on deck
Didn't fall, vomit and curse?
There are few of them, with an experienced soul,
Who remained strong in the pitch.

Then I
To the wild noise
But maturely knowing the work,
Descended into the ship's hold
So as not to watch human vomiting.
That hold was -
Russian pub.
And I bent over a glass
So that, without suffering for anyone,
Ruin yourself
Drunk in a frenzy.

Darling!
I tortured you
You had a longing
In the eyes of the tired:
That I am on display in front of you
I wasted myself in scandals.

But you didn't know
What's in solid smoke
In a life torn apart by a storm
That's why I suffer
I don’t understand
Where does the fate of events take us ...
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Now the years have passed
I'm at a different age.
I feel and think differently.
And I speak over the festive wine:
Praise and glory to the helmsman!

Today I
In the shock of tender feelings.
I remembered your sad weariness.
And now
I'm rushing to tell you
What i was
And what happened to me!

Darling!
It's nice to say to me:
I escaped falling from the steep.
Now in the Soviet side
I am the fiercest fellow traveler.

I became not the one
Who was then.
I would not torment you
As it was before.
For the banner of liberty
And light labor
Ready to go even to the English Channel.

Forgive me ...
I know: you are not the same -
You live
With a serious, intelligent husband;
That you don't need our trouble,
And I myself will you
Not a bit needed.

Live like this
As the star leads you
Under the booth of a renewed canopy.
Greetings,
Remembering you always
Your acquaintance
Sergey Yesenin.

Notes (edit)

The autograph is unknown. Yesenin's manuscript, which was the primary source of publication in Z. Vost., Was apparently lost in 1926-1927. (about this, see the commentary to "Russia Homeless" - p. 413 of the present volume).

Printed on emb. copies (clipping from Pages. Sov.) with the clarification of Art. 41 ("Immaturely knowing the work" instead of "But maturely knowing the work") on other copies of pp. owls. (In the set from which the Pages were replicated, the letter "e" had a defect, as a result of which its print on paper could often be mistaken for "o". Therefore, in a number of copies of Pages. as a copy) in item 41 "Letters to a woman" the words "Not ripe" look like "But it was ripe." then - in most of Yesenin's books, published in the 1926-1990s.Exceptions were some publications prepared by S.P. Koshechkin (starting with the book: S. Yesenin Plesk blue rain. M., 1975). with the word "immature", S.P. "Meetings with Yesenin: Memoirs", Tbilisi, 1961, p. 101). For the clear text of article 41 with "not ripe" see, for example, one of the copies of Pages. military library (code Z 73/220)) and all other sources. Dated from Sobr. Art., 2.

In a letter dated December 20, 1924, Yesenin asked GA Benislavskaya: "How do you like 'Letter to a woman?'" And I still rave them - how good it is! " (Letters, 262). On December 27, 1924, she again wrote: “A 'Letter to a Woman' - I still go under this impression. I reread and cannot get enough ”(Letters, 264).

Print responses to Letter to a Woman were few. Anonymous reviewer R. Sov. saw in it (as well as in “Letter from Mother”), only “rhetorical explanations” (“Krasnaya Gazeta”, veche. issue, L., 1925, July 28, No. 185; clipping - Tetr. GLM), while VA Krasilnikov called "Letter ..." "an autobiographical confession" (journal "Knigonosha", M., 1925, No. 26, July 31, p. 17). Several critics have spoken about the poet's "furious fellowship". If V. Lipkovsky wrote that “in the era of the dictatorship of the proletariat, a fierce struggle for complete victory on the ideological front, it is dangerous to remain only a fellow traveler, even a“ furious ”" (Z. Vost., 1925, February 20, No. 809; clipping - Tetr GLM), then I.T. Filippov (journal "Lava", Rostov-on-Don, 1925, No. 2/3, August, (in the region: July-August), p. 73) and A.Ya .Tsingovatov reacted to this statement of Yesenin with sympathy. The latter prefaced Yesenin's words about himself as a “fierce companion” with the following reasoning: “You won’t surprise anyone with the confessions of Soviet reality in 1924 - and yet Yesenin’s“ recognition ”has its social meaning: after all, Yesenin is a poet of that generation of middle peasant youth who were unawares was captured by the revolution, was unsettled, hesitated between greens and reds, between Makhnovism and Bolshevism, tossed between the kulaks and the poor, revealing his unstable two-faced nature, and now, having entered adulthood<...>, calmed down, thought, took the path of fellowship and cooperation, with the zeal of finally seeing the light "(journal." Komsomol ", M., 1925, No. 7, October, p. 61).

V. Lipkovsky drew attention to the musicality of many of the poems placed in pp. Sov .; in particular, regarding the "Letter to a Woman" he wrote:<Есенин>emphasizes their melodic essence, kindly indicating to his reader where he should pause, kindly guiding his intonation<приведены начальные семь строк „Письма...“>"(Z. Vost., 1925, February 20, No. 809; clipping - Textbook GLM).

Speaking at an evening dedicated to Yesenin, Meyerhold, Lunacharsky (Moscow, Central House of Actors, December 1967), E.A. Yesenina testified that the addressee of the "Letter to a Woman" was the poet's ex-wife, Z.N. Reich (recording of the speech - in the archive of Yu.L. Prokushev). Zinaida Nikolaevna Reich(1894-1939) in 1924 she was an actress of the State Theater. Sun. Meyerhold (GosTIM) and the wife of its leader.

Variants