Reflecting on Yesenin's poem "Uncomfortable liquid moon..."
The creativity of Sergei Aleksandrovich Yesenin, uniquely bright and deep, has now firmly entered our literature. The poet's poems are full of heartfelt warmth and sincerity, passionate love for the boundless expanses of his native fields, the “inexhaustible sadness” of which he was able to convey so emotionally.
The main feature of Yesenin’s creativity is sincerity. The poet pours out his innermost feelings in poetry. Each poem is a piece of the poet himself.
Yesenin's early poems are replete with beautiful pictures of Russian nature. They show the genuine joy of a young man discovering a new, amazing world.
In the poem “Uncomfortable Liquid Moonlight...”, written in 1925, the poet deprives nature of all charm. Something frozen and monotonous appears in her. Is the lyrical hero here really the opposite of the author? No, most likely, Yesenin’s views have changed a lot over such a long period of time. After all, we must not forget about the event that changed the life of the entire people, the revolution.
Yesenin supported the revolution of the seventeenth year, but “perceived it in his own way, with a peasant bias,” “more spontaneously than consciously.” This left a special imprint on the poet’s work and largely predetermined his future path.
The seventeenth year did not bring even a hint of the “peasant paradise” - “Inonia”, which the poet sang in his poems. Yesenin begins to curse the “iron guest” who brings death to the patriarchal, rural way of life, and mourns the old, passing, “wooden Rus'”. This explains the inconsistency of Yesenin’s poetry, who went from a singer of patriarchal, dispossessed Russia to a singer of socialist Russia, Leninist Russia.
A trip abroad becomes a turning point in the poet’s life and work. Having returned, he rethinks his attitude towards life in general. He has a whole series of poems in which he glorifies Soviet Russia. Under the influence of these moods, “Uncomfortable liquid lunar…” is created.
From the very first line, the poet fences himself off from the world of the past, which for him is inextricably linked with nature, which he has sung for many years. “Lunarity” - a neologism often used by Yesenin to highlight the special, supernatural colors of the night - together with such definitions as “uncomfortable”, “liquid”, create a completely different image. The new “lunarity” turns into something close, tangible and not at all attractive. The same thing happens with many of Yesenin’s “classic” images. For example, “withered willows”, “consumptive moonlight”. In the first half of the poem, a mood of some alienation is created, which is transmitted to the reader. But exactly in the middle there is a quatrain:
Now I like something else...
And in the consumptive light of the moon
Through stone and steel
I see the power of my native side
With these lines begins the hymn to progress - “new life”. The poet no longer regrets the passing of “village Rus',” because now he “wants to see poor, impoverished Rus' as steel.” The melody of the verse changes. A hammered rhythm appears in it, highlighted in places by alliteration:
"Field Russia! Enough
Dragging the plow across the fields!"
Yesenin sincerely worried about the fate of Russia, and this became a distinctive feature of all the poet’s works. His poems became one of the brightest pages in the history of Russian literature of the early 20th century. The era of Yesenin has become a thing of the past, but his poetry continues to live, awakening a feeling of love for his native land, for his fatherland:
If the holy army shouts:
"Throw away Rus', live in paradise!"
I will say: There is no need for heaven,
Give me my homeland."
All the poems of Sergei Aleksandrovich Yesenin have been delighting all readers for a long time. This poet impresses with his sincerity, and his works are a deep, vibrant and unique phenomenon. He always admired the expanses of his native land and could convey its beauty in his poems.
In the work of Sergei Yesenin, the main feature is sincerity. All the most important and hidden feelings of the poet appear before the readers without any masks or appearances. He puts his whole soul into every work, which is why he is the favorite writer of our time, and his poems are understandable to everyone.
In his poem “The Uncomfortable Liquid Moon…”, which he wrote in 1925, the author also does not ignore nature. He describes it as viscous, unsteady, monotonous. This caused Yesenin’s mood to change in those days due to the revolution, which affected everyone. The poet supported the revolution, but in his own way. He perceived it with a peasant slant, which left a certain imprint on Yesenin’s work. From the very first line in the poem, the poet is mentally distracted from the world around him and his past. Having rethought his life, he begins to glorify Soviet Russia.
The word “lunar” is very often used by the author in order to emphasize the special, unusual and little-noticed colors of the night and nature. Yesenin also conveys in the poem that he regrets that the old Rus' is leaving, and does not want to see a poor and impoverished Rus' to replace it. At the same time, the verse changes in its melody, in which a chased rhythm appears, with some places of alliteration. Yesenin’s life was complex and contradictory, so his thoughts and feelings are between two fires. He remembers the former Rus', which was beautiful, but sees the current one in poverty. But the author hopes that everything will change.
This unusual poem by the poet is proof of how much Yesenin loved and worried about his Motherland, and she let him down. His poetry will always remind us of itself as a bright and colorful story in Russian poetry.
The creativity of Sergei Aleksandrovich Yesenin, uniquely bright and deep, has now firmly entered our literature. The poet’s poems are full of heartfelt warmth and sincerity, passionate love for the boundless expanses of his native fields, the “inexhaustible sadness” of which he was able to convey so emotionally. The main feature of Yesenin’s creativity is sincerity. The poet pours out his innermost feelings in poetry. Each poem is a piece of the poet himself.
A trip abroad becomes a turning point in the poet’s life and work. Having returned, he rethinks his attitude towards life in general. He has a whole series of poems in which he glorifies Soviet Russia. Under the influence of these moods, “Uncomfortable Liquid Lunarity...” is created. From the very first line, the poet fences himself off from the world of the past, which for him is inextricably linked with nature, which he has sung for many years. “Lunarity” - a neologism often used by Yesenin to highlight the special, supernatural colors of the night - together with such definitions as “uncomfortable”, “liquid”, create a completely different image. The new “lunarity” turns into something close, tangible and not at all attractive. The same thing happens with many of Yesenin’s “classic” images. For example, “withered willows”, “consumptive moonlight”. In the first half of the poem, a mood of some alienation is created, which is transmitted to the reader. But exactly in the middle there is a quatrain:
The creativity of Sergei Aleksandrovich Yesenin, uniquely bright and deep, has now firmly entered our literature. The poet’s poems are full of heartfelt warmth and sincerity, passionate love for the boundless expanses of his native fields, the “inexhaustible sadness” of which he was able to convey so emotionally. The main feature of Yesenin’s creativity is sincerity. The poet pours out his innermost feelings in poetry. Each poem is a piece of the poet himself.
Yesenin's early poems are replete with beautiful pictures of Russian nature. They show the genuine joy of a young man discovering a new, amazing world. In the poem “Uncomfortable Liquid Lunarity...”, written in 1925, the poet deprives nature of all charm. Something frozen and monotonous appears in her. Is the lyrical hero here the opposite of the author? No, most likely, Yesenin’s views have changed a lot over such a long period of time. After all, we must not forget about the event that changed the life of the entire people, the revolution. Yesenin supported the revolution of the seventeenth year, but “perceived it in his own way, with a peasant bias,” “more spontaneously than consciously.” This left a special imprint on the poet’s work and largely predetermined his future path. The seventeenth year did not bring even a hint of the “peasant paradise” - “Inonia”, which the poet sang in his poems. Yesenin begins to curse the “iron guest” who brings death to the patriarchal, rural way of life, and mourns the old, passing, “wooden Rus'”. This explains the inconsistency of Yesenin’s poetry, who went from a singer of patriarchal, dispossessed Russia to a singer of folk Russia.
A trip abroad becomes a turning point in the poet’s life and work. Having returned, he rethinks his attitude towards life in general. He has a whole series of poems in which he glorifies Soviet Russia. Under the influence of these moods, “Uncomfortable Liquid Lunarity...” is created. From the very first line, the poet fences himself off from the world of the past, which for him is inextricably linked with nature, which he has sung for many years. “Lunarity” - a neologism often used by Yesenin to highlight the special, supernatural colors of the night - together with such definitions as “uncomfortable”, “liquid”, create a completely different image. The new “lunarity” turns into something close, tangible and not at all attractive. The same thing happens with many of Yesenin’s “classic” images. For example, “withered willows”, “consumptive moonlight”. In the first half of the poem, a mood of some alienation is created, which is transmitted to the reader. But exactly in the middle there is a quatrain:
Now I like something else... And in the consumptive light of the moon Through stone and steel I see the power of my native land
With these lines begins the hymn to progress - “new life”. The poet no longer regrets the passing of “village Rus',” because now he “wants to see poor, impoverished Rus' as steel.” The melody of the verse changes. A hammered rhythm appears in it, highlighted in places by alliteration:
“Field Russia! Enough of dragging the plow across the fields!”
Yesenin sincerely worried about the fate of Russia, and this became a distinctive feature of all the poet’s works. His poems became one of the brightest pages in the history of Russian literature of the early 20th century. The era of Yesenin has become a thing of the past, but his poetry continues to live, awakening a feeling of love for his native land, for his fatherland:
If the holy army shouts: “Throw away Rus', live in paradise!” I will say: There is no need for paradise, Give me my homeland.”
Reflecting on Yesenin’s poem “Uncomfortable Liquid Moon”
Other essays on the topic:
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- It is impossible to imagine Russian poetry of the 20th century without the poems of Sergei Yesenin. The poet rose to the heights of poetry from the depths of folk life. WITH...
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- Essays on literature: Russia in the lyrics of A. Blok and S. Yesenin Russia! How many wonderful poets of the Russian land sang you in...
All of S. Yesenin’s work is characterized by a heightened sense of unity with his country, with its history, with those sources from which any real poet draws inspiration.
Over time, throughout his career, Yesenin’s perception of his country changed. This is not surprising - the country itself has changed beyond recognition. Immediately after the revolution, rapid growth of industry and urban growth began. Patriarchal, ancient Rus' began to fade into the past, and was replaced by a completely different country. It is these changes, the ambivalent attitude of the lyrical hero to what is happening, that the poem “Uncomfortable Liquid Moon” is dedicated to.
Uncomfortable liquid lunarness
And the melancholy of endless plains, -
This is what I saw in my frisky youth,
That, while loving, not only one cursed.
“The melancholy of endless plains” is a constant motif of the poem. The nature of Russia is a symbol of the unsettled fate of the poet. Already in the first stanza, the lyrical hero’s ambivalent attitude towards the landscapes he draws is stated. On the one hand, this is boundless love, and on the other, curses about eternal instability, backwardness, and lack of certainty.
The poem clearly echoes M. Yu. Lermontov’s “Motherland” (“But I love, I don’t know why”). Yesenin, however, interprets his own “strange love” for his homeland somewhat differently.
The poet fell out of love with the landscapes that previously aroused his admiration - “withered willows along the roads and the song of cart wheels”, “hearth fire”, “shacks”, “apple trees, spring blizzard”, “poverty of the fields”, “consumptive moonlight”. Yesenin writes about his new mood: “Now I like something different.” The surrounding landscapes do not inspire him; he is delighted with the new, stone, steel, powerful country.
Field Russia! Enough
Dragging the plow across the fields!
It hurts to see your poverty
And birches and poplars.
In the poem, an image of poor, impoverished Rus' appears, which the poet cannot bear to look at when there is an alternative nearby - “steel” Rus', “motor barking”, “storms and thunderstorms”.
The poet strives with all his soul to accept the new reality, realizing that the future lies with it. He is attracted by the audacity and freedom with which the country rushed upward. However, he perceives his own fate tragically.
I don't know what will happen to me...
Maybe I'm not fit for a new life,
But I still want steel
See poor, beggarly Rus'.
Somewhere deep inside, the poet feels that that departing Rus', the world of the “log hut,” the country of “birch chintz,” is too dear to him, too close.
The entire composition of the poem is based on oppositions and antitheses. It should be noted, however, that the very artistic structure of the work refutes its “ideological content.” Vivid metaphorical images are associated with the image of “beggar” Rus' - “cart song of wheels”, “spring blizzard of apple trees”, while the new Russia brings with it only “motor barking”. The poet gradually, internally, resists the soulless power of the new country. Thus, Yesenin, contrary to his statements, did not stop loving the Russia that he glorified in his youth. His desire is only to live a united life with the people, with his country. And if she fell in love with the “motor bark,” then the poet tries to love him too. This is precisely the tragedy of the lyrical hero’s worldview; this is the basis of the psychologism of the work. In this sense, Yesenin is quite closely aligned with Blok, who, while blessing the revolution, also regretted the burning of the library in Shakhmatovo.
So, the poem “Uncomfortable Liquid Moon” reflects the poet’s ambivalent perception of the changes taking place in the country. On the one hand - an optimistic look into the future, faith in the renewal of the country, on the other - a look full of regret and sincere heartfelt affection, directed to the past. Such duality gives the poem psychologism and tragedy - qualities that are in many ways characteristic of Yesenin’s other works.
Yesenin's work had a colossal influence on Russian poetry, his deep psychologism and extraordinary skill in using visual means were the source from which more than one generation of Russian poets drew inspiration.