Yesenin is overwhelmed by tender feelings. Letter to a woman

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

You said:
It's time for us to part
What tormented you
My crazy life
That it's time for you to get down to business,
And my destiny is
Roll further down.

Darling!
You didn't love me.
You didn’t know that in the crowd of people
I was like a horse driven into soap,
Spurred by a brave rider.

You didn't know
That I'm in complete smoke,
In a life torn apart by a storm
That's why I'm tormented because I don't understand...
Where does the fate of events take us?

Face to face
You can't see the face.
Big things can be seen from a distance.
When it's boiling sea ​​surface,
The ship is in poor condition.

The earth is a ship!
But someone suddenly
For new life, new glory
In the thick of storms and blizzards
He directed her majestically.

Well, which of us is the biggest on deck?
Didn’t fall, vomit or swear?
There are few of them, with an experienced soul,
Who remained strong in pitching.

Then I too
Under the wild noise
But mature knowledgeable about the job,
He went down into the ship's hold,
So as not to watch people vomit.
That hold was-
Russian pub.
And I leaned over the glass,
So that, without suffering for anyone,
Ruin yourself
In a drunken stupor.

Darling!
I tormented you
You were sad
In the eyes of the tired:
What am I showing off to you?
Wasted himself in scandals.

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

***

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

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

Darling!
I'm pleased to say:
I avoided falling off the cliff.
Now in Soviet side
I am the fiercest travel companion.

I have become the wrong person
Who was he then?
I wouldn't torture you
As it was before.
For the banner of liberty
And good work
I'm ready to go even to the English Channel.

Forgive me...
I know you're not the same...
Do you live
With a serious smart husband;
That you don’t need our toil,
And I myself to you
Not needed one bit.

Live like this
How the star guides you
Under the tabernacle of the renewed canopy.
With greetings,
always remembering you
Your acquaintance

Notes

Autograph unknown. Yesenin's manuscript, which was the primary source of publication in West East, was apparently lost in 1926-1927. (about this, see the commentary to “Homeless Rus'” - p. 413 of this volume).

Printed on the embankment. copy (excerpt from Page owls) with clarification of Art. 41 (“Immaturely knowing the work” instead of “But maturely knowing the work”) according to other copies Page. owls (In the set from which Page Sov. was replicated, the letter “e” had a defect, as a result of which its imprint on paper could often be mistaken for “o”. Therefore, in a number of copies of Page Sov. (including the one used as emb. copy) in article 41 “Letters to a woman” the words “Not mature” appear as “But mature”. then - in most of Yesenin’s books published in the 1926-1990s. The exception was some publications prepared by S.P. Koshechkin (starting with the book: Yesenin S. Splash of Blue Shower. M., 1975, printed article. with the word “immature”, S.P. Koshechkin relied primarily on the judgment of N.K. Verzhbitsky, who was an employee of the “Dawn of the East” in 1924 and was related to the first publication of “Letters to a Woman” (see book N. Verzhbitsky “Meetings with Yesenin: Memoirs”, Tbilisi, 1961, p. 101). state library(code Z 73/220)) and all other sources. Dated according to Collection. art., 2.

In a letter dated December 20, 1924, Yesenin asked G.A. Benislavskaya: “How do you like “Letter to a Woman?” Her answer was contained in a counter letter dated December 25: “Letter to a Woman” - I went crazy about it. And I still rave about it - how good it is!” (Letters, 262). On December 27, 1924, she wrote again: “And “Letter to a Woman” - I still walk under this impression. I reread it and can’t get enough” (Letters, 264).

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

V. Lipkovsky drew attention to the musicality of many poems placed in Page. Sov.; in particular, regarding “Letter to a Woman” he wrote: “... with the graphic outline of poetry he<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 - Tetr. GLM).

Speaking at an evening dedicated to Yesenin, Meyerhold, Lunacharsky (Moscow, Central house actor, December 1967), E.A. Yesenina testified that the addressee of the “Letter to a Woman” was ex-wife poet, Z.N. Reich (recording of the speech is in the archive of Y.L. Prokushev). Zinaida Nikolaevna Reich(1894-1939) in 1924 she was an actress at the State Theater. Sun. Meyerhold (GosTIM) and the wife of his leader.

Options

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

It would seem that he is a scoundrel, a scoundrel - it is unthinkable to survive such a betrayal! Yesenin, of course, did not intend 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 huge and heavy, like an ancient stone vase filled with water. It was impossible to lift her and quench her thirst. you could only kneel down to drink this moisture and stay next to her for the rest of your life, because on your way, on your life path, you won’t take her. Overwhelming love! Love is shackles. Over time, this kind of thing burns out everything that is alive in the soul and after that nothing grows in this desert anymore. Is great love really good? If you can’t take her with you, but you can only stay nearby forever and depend on her? And Yesenin’s love was light and intoxicating, like a glass of affordable wine. It did not quench your thirst, but briefly immersed you in a feeling of euphoria.

So why did Yesenin decide to talk to Reich in a poem? They caused each other a lot of pain not because they were bad people. But only because they were people. Yesenin in this poem finally lets go of her, her former beloved, and says that the suffering has come to an end. He will no longer torment her with reproaches. He will no longer trouble her heart with memories and will not blame her for the breakup. It is very important to say that you are guilty. After all, if you don’t ask for forgiveness, the pain will last your whole life, even if you and the person part ways forever. With this poem, Yesenin 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? Only 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
You walked around the room excitedly
And something sharp
They threw it in my face.

You said:
It's time for us to part
What tormented you
My crazy life
That it's time for you to get down to business,
And my destiny is
Roll further down.

Darling!
You didn't love me.
You didn’t know that in the crowd of people
I was like a horse driven into soap,
Spurred by a brave rider.

You didn't know
That I'm in complete smoke,
In a life torn apart by a storm
That’s why I’m tormented because I don’t understand -
Where does the fate of events take us?

Face to face
You can't see the face.
Big things can be seen from a distance.
When the sea surface boils,
The ship is in poor condition.

The earth is a ship!
But someone suddenly
For a new life, new glory
In the thick of storms and blizzards
He directed her majestically.

Well, which of us is the biggest on deck?
Didn’t fall, vomit or swear?
There are few of them, with an experienced soul,
Who remained strong in pitching.

Then I too
Under the wild noise
But maturely knowing the work,
He went down into the ship's hold,
So as not to watch people vomit.
That hold was -
Russian pub.
And I leaned over the glass,
So that, without suffering for anyone,
Ruin yourself
In a drunken stupor.

Darling!
I tormented you
You were sad
In the eyes of the tired:
What am I showing off to you?
Wasted himself in scandals.

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

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

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

Darling!
I'm pleased to say:
I avoided falling off the cliff.
Now in the Soviet side
I am the fiercest travel companion.

I have become the wrong person
Who was he then?
I wouldn't torture you
As it was before.
For the banner of liberty
And good work
I'm ready to go even to the English Channel.

Forgive me...
I know: you are not the same -
Do you live
With a serious, intelligent husband;
That you don’t need our toil,
And I myself to you
Not needed one bit.

Live like this
How the star guides you
Under the tabernacle of the renewed canopy.
With greetings,
always remembering you
Your acquaintance
Sergei Yesenin.

Do you remember
You all remember, of course,
How I stood
Approaching the wall
You walked around the room excitedly
And something sharp
They threw it in my face.
You said:
It's time for us to part
What tormented you
My crazy life
That it's time for you to get down to business,
And my destiny is
Roll further down.
Darling!
You didn't love me.
You didn’t know that in the crowd of people
I was like a horse driven into soap,
Spurred by a brave rider.
You didn't know
That I'm in complete smoke,
In a life torn apart by a storm
That’s why I’m tormented because I don’t understand -
Where does the fate of events take us?
Face to face
You can't see the face.

Big things can be seen from a distance.
When the sea surface boils -
The ship is in poor condition.
The earth is a ship!
But someone suddenly
For a new life, new glory
In the thick of storms and blizzards
He directed her majestically.

Well, which of us is the biggest on deck?
Didn’t fall, vomit or swear?
There are few of them, with an experienced soul,
Who remained strong in pitching.

Then I too
Under the wild noise
But maturely knowing the work,
He went down into the ship's hold,
So as not to watch people vomit.

That hold was -
Russian pub.
And I leaned over the glass,
So that, without suffering for anyone,
Ruin yourself
In a drunken stupor.

Darling!
I tormented you
You were sad
In the eyes of the tired:
What am I showing off to you?
Wasted himself in scandals.
But you didn't know
What's in the smoke,
In a life torn apart by a storm
That's why I'm suffering
What I don't understand
Where does the fate of events take us...

Now the years have passed.
I'm at a different age.
And I feel and think differently.
And I say over festive wine:
Praise and glory to the helmsman!
Today I
In the shock of tender feelings.
I remembered your sad tiredness.
And now
I'm rushing to tell you,
What I was like
And what happened to me!

Darling!
I'm pleased to say:
I avoided falling off the cliff.
Now in the Soviet side
I am the fiercest travel companion.
I have become the wrong person
Who was he then?
I wouldn't torture you
As it was before.
For the banner of liberty
And good work
I'm ready to go even to the English Channel.
Forgive me...
I know: you are not the same -
Do you live
With a serious, intelligent husband;
That you don’t need our toil,
And I myself to you
Not needed one bit.
Live like this
How the star guides you
Under the tabernacle of the renewed canopy.
With greetings,
always remembering you
Your acquaintance
Sergei Yesenin.

Analysis of the poem “Letter to a Woman” by Yesenin

Occupies a large place in Yesenin’s work love lyrics. The poet repeatedly fell in love and devoted himself to each new novel with all his soul. His whole life became a search for the female ideal, which he could never find. The poem “Letter to a Woman” is dedicated to the poet’s first wife, Z. Reich.

The wedding of Yesenin and Reich took place in 1917, but their family life didn't work out. The poet's broad creative nature required new impressions. Yesenin was worried about the enormous changes in the country. Stormy city ​​life attracted the young author. He was famous and already had ardent fans of his talent. Yesenin increasingly spends time in the company of friends and gradually acquires an addiction to alcohol. Of course, this led to frequent scandals with his wife. In a drunken stupor, Yesenin could raise his hand against her. In the morning he was on his knees begging for forgiveness. But in the evening everything was repeated all over again. The breakup was inevitable.

“Letter to a Woman” was written in 1924, much later than the breakup of the family. It is the poet’s justification to the woman he once loved. In it, Yesenin admits his mistakes, but at the same time reproaches Reich for not understanding the state of his soul. Yesenin’s main accusation, “you didn’t love me,” is based on the fact that loving woman was obliged to understand and forgive the poet, who was confused in life, and not create scandals for him. Yesenin argues that in the conditions of formation new government he felt like “a horse driven into soap.” He compares Russia to a ship caught in a fierce storm. Seeing no hope of salvation, the poet descends into the hold, which symbolizes a Russian tavern, in an attempt to drown out despair with wine.

Yesenin admits that he caused suffering to his wife, but he himself suffered, not understanding what Russia would finally come to.

With durable installation Soviet power the poet relates his transformation. It is unlikely that he is extremely sincere when he speaks of his unconditional support for the new regime. Yesenin was subjected official criticism for your commitment old Russia. The change in his views is more likely due to his experience. The grown-up poet asks ex-wife forgiveness. He really feels sorry for the past. Everything could have turned out differently.

The poem ends with an optimistic ending. Yesenin is glad that Reich was able to arrange her personal life. He wishes her happiness and reminds her that he will never forget the happy moments they shared.