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Sergey Yesenin. Russian Poetry Classic. (1895-1925) Collection of Poems. Bilingual Version (Russian-English) Translated from the Russian by Alec Vagapov | ||
Click here to go to Sergey Yesenin"s autobiography
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(Translated from the Russian by Alec Vagapov)
I was born in
the village
of
At the age of twoI was sent to be raised
in a well off family of my grandfather on my mother"s side, who had three
grown up unmarried sons, with whom I spent almost all my green years. My
uncles were mischievous and daring.
When I was three years old they put me on a horse without a saddle
and set him running at
a gallop. I remember I was scared like crazy and held the
withers firm. Then they taught me to swim. One of my uncles (uncle Sasha)
took me on a boat, rowed
off the shore, undressed me and threw me,
like a puppy, into the water.
I worked with my hands awkwardly, and while I floundered waving my hands
he kept shouting: "You damned wretch! Good for nothing, you!".
"Damned wretch" was a tender pet name he used.
When I was eight years old my other uncle would use me as a hunting
dog making me swim after the ducks he had shot. I was good at climbing
trees. Among the boys in the neighbourhood I was known as a horse breeder
and a big fighter, for I would always have scratches on my face. My grandmother
was the only one who reproached me for being so naughty, while my granddad
would sometimes set me on to fisticuffs
and often said to grandmother: "Don"t touch him, you, silly woman, he will
grow firm and strong that way!". Grandmother loved me devoutly, and her
tenderness was boundless. On Saturdays
I would be washed, have my nails cut, and my hair crimped with some oil
because my curly hair couldn"t be combed in any other way. But the oil
would not help much. I would shout like crazy, and up to now I feel some
distaste and repugnance for Saturdays.
That was the way my childhood went on. When I grew up a little they
wanted to make a village teacher out of me, so I was sent to the parish
teachers training school with an eye towards
entering Moscow Teachers Training Institute. Luckily this
was not to happen.
I started writing poems at an
early age, maybe at the age of nine or so,
but I think deliberate creative
work started at 16 or 17. Some of my poems from that period are to be found
in "Radunitsa"
magazine.
When I was eighteen I sent my poems to various magazines and I was
surprised at the fact that hey refused to publish them, so I went to
At around
this time I entered
At the
University I got acquainted with poets Semyonovsky,
Nasedkin, Kolkolov,
and Filipchenko.
Among the poets I liked
Blok, Bely
and Kluyev best. Bely
gave me a lot in the way of form while Blok
and Kluyev
taught me lyricism.
In 1919 some of my friends and I published the manifesto of imagism.
It was a formal school that we wanted to set up. But it had no foundation
and died by itself leaving the truth behind the restricted image.
I would gladly disown many of my religious poems but they are significant
as the way of a poet towards the revolution.
When I was eight years old my grandmother started taking me to all
kinds of monasteries and thanks to her we had all kinds of ramblers and
pilgrims. They would sing all sorts of religious songs. Grandfather was
the direct opposite. He was a boozer. He would always arrange sorts of
unwed marriages.
After I left my village I had to gain an understanding of my way
of life.
During the revolution I was on the side of the October, but I accepted
it in my own peasantry way.
In the sense of formal development I long for Pushkin
more and more.
As for the rest of my personal data they are in my poems.
Sergey
Yesenin
October
1925