Appear smiling. Poem "Black Man", Yesenin

In the January issue of the magazine New world» in 1926, a stunning

publication: S. Yesenin. "Black man". The text of the poem made a particularly strong impression against the backdrop of the recent tragic death of young poet(as you know, on December 28, 1925, Yesenin was found dead in the Angleterre hotel in Leningrad). Contemporaries considered this work a kind of penitential confession of a "scandalous poet." And indeed, the Russian lyre did not know such merciless and painful self-accusation as in this work. Here is a brief summary of it.

"Black Man": Yesenin alone with himself

The poem opens with an appeal, which the poet will repeat in his dying poem: “My friend, my friend, - begins to confess lyrical hero- I am very, very sick ... ". We understand that we are talking about mental anguish. The metaphor is expressive: the head is compared to a bird, striving to fly away, “She has legs on her neck / can no longer loom”. What is going on? At the time of tormenting insomnia, the mystical Black Man comes to the hero and sits on the bed. Yesenin (an analysis of the sources for the creation of the poem confirms this) appeals to some extent to Pushkin's Mozart and Salieri. on the eve of death, a certain sinister black man was also seen. However, Yesenin interprets this figure in a completely different way. The black man is the alter ego of the poet, his other "I". What does the bad Black Man torment the lyrical hero with?

Yesenin: analysis of the poet's inner world on the eve of suicide

In the third stanza of the poem, the image of a book arises, in which the whole human life. The Bible says that when reading the Book of Life, God judges each person according to his deeds. The letters in the hands of Yesenin's Black Man demonstrate that the devil is also closely following the fate of people. True, his notes do not contain a detailed history of the personality, but only a brief summary of it. The black man (Yesenin emphasizes this) chose all the most unattractive and evil. He talks about "a scoundrel and a bastard", about an adventurer "of the highest brand", about a "graceful poet" with "grasping strength". He argues that happiness is only "sleight of mind and hands", even if they bring "a lot of torment ... broken / And deceitful gestures." Here it is worth mentioning the newfangled theory that developed in the decadent circles of the early 20th century, about the special mission of sign language, to which Yesenin was an adherent, and the “queen” of which was the great dancer. Marriage with her was short-lived and did not bring blessings to the poet. “To seem smiling and simple” at a time when melancholy, he had to do not only at the behest of the then prevailing fashion. Only in this way could the poet hide from himself the darkness of impending hopelessness, associated not only with internal contradictions personality, but also with the horrors of Bolshevism in Russia.

What lies at the bottom of the soul?

In the ninth stanza of the poem, we see how the lyrical hero refuses to speak with an intruder, he still wants to disown scary story, which leads the Black man. Yesenin does not yet accept the analysis of everyday troubles of "some" moral "swindler and thief" as a study own life, resists it. However, he himself already understands that it is in vain. The poet reproaches the black guest for daring to invade the depths and get something from the very bottom, because he is "not in the service of ... diving." This line is polemically addressed to the work of Alfred Musset, who in "December Night" uses the image of a diver wandering along the "chasm of oblivion". The grammatical construction (“diving service”) appeals to the morphological delights of Mayakovsky, who boldly broke the established forms in the language in a futuristic way.

One by the window

The image of the night crossroads in the twelfth stanza is reminiscent of the Christian symbolism of the cross, which connects all directions of space and time, and contains a pagan idea of the crossroads as a place of unclean conspiracies and charms. Both of these symbols were absorbed by the impressionable peasant youth Sergei Yesenin from childhood. The poems "The Black Man" combine two opposite traditions, which is why the fear and torment of the lyrical hero acquire a global metaphysical connotation. He is “alone at the window”... The word “window” is etymologically connected in Russian with the word “eye”. This is the eye of the hut, through which light pours into it. The night window resembles a mirror where everyone sees their own reflection. So in the poem there is a hint of who this Black Man really is. Now the mockery of the night guest takes on a more concrete tone: we are talking about a poet who was born “maybe in Ryazan” (Yesenin was born there), about a fair-haired peasant boy “with blue eyes” ...

Doppelgänger murder

Unable to restrain his rage and anger, the lyrical hero tries to destroy the damned double, throws a cane at him. This gesture - to throw something at the ghost of the devil - is found more than once in literary works Russian and foreign authors. After that, the Black Man disappears. Yesenin (an analysis of the allegorical murder of a double in world literature proves this) is trying, as it were, to protect himself from the persecution of his other "I". But such an ending is always associated with suicide.

The poet standing alone in front appears in the last stanza of the work. The symbolism of the mirror, as a guide to other worlds, leading a person away from reality into a deceitful demonic world, enhances the gloomy and meaningful ending of the poem.

Requiem for Hope

It is difficult, almost impossible, to castigate oneself in front of a huge audience, as Yesenin does. His incredible sincerity, with which he reveals his pain to the world, makes confession a reflection of the spiritual breakdown of all Yesenin's contemporaries. It is no coincidence that the writer Veniamin Levin, who knew the poet, spoke of the Black Man as magistrate"on the affairs of our entire generation", which nourished many "the most beautiful thoughts and plans." Levin noted that in this sense, Yesenin's voluntary burden is somewhat akin to the sacrifice of Christ, who "took infirmities" upon himself and bore all human "diseases."

"The Black Man" is one of the most mysterious, ambiguously perceived and understood works of Yesenin. Poem became the last major poetic work Yesenin. The idea of the poem arose during his trip abroad in 1922-1923. The author read The Black Man in the autumn of 1923, shortly after returning to his homeland. In November 1925 Yesenin revised the text. New text became shorter and less tragic than the one that Yesenin read before.

My friend, my friend

I am very, very sick.

Is the wind whistling

Over an empty and deserted field,

Or, like a grove in September,

Showers brains with alcohol.

My head flaps its ears

Like the wings of a bird.

She has legs on her neck

Loom more unbearable.

Black man,

black, black,

Black man

He sits down on my bed,

Black man

Doesn't let me sleep all night.

Black man

Runs a finger over a vile book

And, sneering at me,

Like a monk over the dead

Reads my life

Some scoundrel and bastard,

Bringing sadness and fear to the soul.

Black man

Black, black...

"Listen, listen, -

He mumbles to me -

There are many wonderful things in the book.

Thoughts and plans.

This person

Lived in the country

the most disgusting

Thugs and charlatans.

In December in that country

The snow is pure as hell

And the blizzards start

Funny spinning wheels.

There was a man that adventurer

But the highest

And the best brand.

He was graceful

Besides, the poet

Even with a small

But with gripping strength,

And some woman

Forty plus years

Called me a bad girl

And my sweetheart."

"Happiness," he said,

There is dexterity of mind and hands.

All the awkward souls

For the unfortunate are always known.

It's nothing,

What a lot of torment

Bring broken

And false gestures.

In thunderstorms, in storms

Into the hell of life

For severe loss

And when you're sad

To seem smiling and simple -

The highest art in the world."

"Black man!

You dare not!

You are not in service.

You live as a diver.

What do I care about life

Scandalous poet.

Please others

Read and tell."

Black man

He looks straight at me.

And the eyes are covered

Blue puke.

Like he wants to tell me

That I'm a crook and a thief

So shameless and brazen

Robbed someone.

. . . . . . . . . . .

My friend, my friend

I am very, very sick.

I don't know where this pain came from.

Is the wind whistling

Over an empty and deserted field,

Or, like a grove in September,

Showers brains with alcohol.

Frosty night...

Quiet crossroads.

I'm alone at the window

I am not expecting a guest or a friend.

The whole plain is covered

Loose and soft lime,

And trees like riders

We gathered in our garden.

Somewhere crying

Night ominous bird.

wooden riders

They sow a hoof knock.

Here again this black

He sits on my chair,

Raising your top hat

And casually throwing back his coat.

"Listen, listen!-

He wheezes, looking into my face,

Himself getting closer

And leans closer.-

I didn't see anyone

Of scoundrels

So useless and stupid

Suffered from insomnia.

Ah, let's say I was wrong!

Because today is the moon.

What more do you need

To a world filled with slumber?

Maybe with thick thighs

Your dead languid lyrics?

Ah, I love poets!

funny people.

I always find in them

History, familiar to the heart,

Like a pimply student

long haired freak

Talking about worlds

Sexual languor.

I don't know, I don't remember

In one village

Maybe in Kaluga,

Or maybe in Ryazan,

There lived a boy

In idle peasant family,

yellow-haired,

With blue eyes...

And then he became an adult

Besides, the poet

Even with a small

But with gripping strength,

And some woman

Forty plus years

Called me a bad girl

And my sweetheart."

"Black man!

You are a bad guest!

It's glory for a long time

It's spreading about you."

I'm furious, furious

And my cane flies

Straight to his face

Into the carrier...

. . . . . . . . . .

The moon is dead

Dawn shines through the window.

Oh you night!

What have you done, night?

I'm in a top hat.

Nobody is with me.

And a broken mirror...

Analysis of Yesenin's poem "The Black Man"

The original version was longer and more tragic. The wife of the poet Sofya Tolstaya-Yesenina told how he read the poem immediately after writing: "It seemed that my heart would break." It is not known what prompted Yesenin to destroy the abridged version, however, it is also filled with its depressive power.

Attempts of the inflamed consciousness to analyze itself, a split personality, alcoholic delirium. Work on the poem lasted a long time, "The Black Man" is not a stream of thoughts that rushed overnight onto paper. The idea arose during foreign trips Yesenin, where is he, who loved to a frenzy native land felt like a stranger. The black melancholy, which in those days more and more often overcame the poet, strengthened this feeling and gave terrible inspiration.

Year of completion of the poem - 1925 - Last year Yesenin's life. And just a premonition of the end life path able to give the work such depressing colors.

At the beginning of the poem there is an appeal "My friend, my friend", the same as in his last poem created before death. The reader immediately becomes involved in the action of the poem, as if listening to the confession of a friend. The hero of the poem does not spare himself and from the first lines admits that the reason mental illness, the arrival of a "black man" may be alcohol, and then speaks of promiscuity and self-deception. And this recognition makes you sincerely feel sorry for such a person.

The morbid metaphor “The head flaps its ears like a bird’s wings” and “it can’t stand to loom on the neck anymore” refers to suicidal thoughts, and the next refrain “black man” pumps the mood to the limit, preparing for its appearance. Everyone, come! He sits down on the bed... and then - a scattering of unpleasant words that reinforce the gloomy mood: "vile", "nasal", "departed", "longing", "fear".

The direct speech of the "black man", this second "I" of the hero of the poem, is perceived as a revelation, a recognition that the soul is trying to hide. Not only scolding, but also praise: "an adventurer of the best brand", "a poet with a grasping strength" ... and then a caustic mockery - about "a woman of more than forty years old, a nasty girl, his sweetheart." The hero listens without interrupting, and the black man explains the life of the poet and reveals self-deception: in anguish and despondency, he does his best to seem smiling and simple, and tries to pass it off as happiness. Here his speech is interrupted: the lyrical hero refuses to recognize himself in a terrible portrait. And the black man, looking straight ahead, wants to call him a swindler and a thief, but - pause, the terrible guest disappears.

The second part of the poem begins with a repetition of the initial dreary stanza. Quiet winter landscape, night, the hero does not wait for anyone. And suddenly horror creeps up again: "the sinister bird", "wooden horsemen", and - "again this black man sits on my chair", now described more clearly, in a top hat and a frock coat. The denunciation of the hero is repeated, a scattering of the words "scoundrel", "unnecessary", "stupid", "dead languid lyrics". At the climax of the poem, the black man attacks the most important thing, the essence of inspiration and poetry. And so that there is no longer any doubt about who he has in mind uninvited guest, follows exact description: "a boy in a simple peasant family, yellow-haired, with blue eyes ... he became an adult, moreover, a poet." And the hero cannot stand it: enraged, enraged, he throws the cane "directly to his muzzle, into the bridge of his nose."

What follows is a dramatic denouement that strikes with surprise. “What have you done, night? I'm in a top hat. Nobody is with me. I am alone… And a broken mirror…” Two details: the top hat worn by the “black man” and the mirror undoubtedly indicate that the hero had a terrible conversation with himself. The picture of denunciation and censure becomes more tragic: how, realizing all this and carefully hiding from oneself, could one not go crazy and continue writing?

The poem is a frank confession of Yesenin, he himself becomes close and understandable. And even his death appears in a different light, after reading the "Black Man" - the poet's requiem for himself.

My friend, my friend
I am very, very sick.
Is the wind whistling
Or, like a grove in September,
Showers brains with alcohol.

My head flaps its ears
Like the wings of a bird.
She has legs on her neck
Loom more unbearable.
Black man,
black, black,
Black man
He sits down on my bed,
Black man
Doesn't let me sleep all night.

Black man
Runs a finger over a vile book
And, sneering at me,
Like a monk over the dead
Reads my life
Some scoundrel and bastard,
Bringing sadness and fear to the soul.
Black man
Black, black…

"Listen, listen, -
He mumbles to me -
There are many wonderful things in the book.
Thoughts and plans.
This person
Lived in the country
the most disgusting
Thugs and charlatans.

In December in that country
The snow is pure as hell
And the blizzards start
Funny spinning wheels.
There was a man that adventurer
But the highest
And the best brand.

He was graceful
Besides, the poet
Even with a small
But with gripping strength,
And some woman
Forty plus years
Called me a bad girl
And my dear."

"Happiness," he said,
There is dexterity of mind and hands.
All the awkward souls
For the unfortunate are always known.
It's nothing,
What a lot of torment
Bring broken
And false gestures.

In thunderstorms, in storms
Into the hell of life
For severe loss
And when you're sad
To seem smiling and simple -
The highest art in the world."

"Black man!
You dare not!
You are not in service.
You live as a diver.
What do I care about life
Scandalous poet.
Please others
Read and tell."

Black man
He looks straight at me.
And the eyes are covered
Blue puke.
Like he wants to tell me
That I'm a crook and a thief
So shameless and brazen
Robbed someone.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

My friend, my friend
I am very, very sick.
I don't know where this pain came from.
Is the wind whistling
Over an empty and deserted field,
Or, like a grove in September,
Showers brains with alcohol.

Frosty night...
Quiet crossroads.
I'm alone at the window
I am not expecting a guest or a friend.
The whole plain is covered
Loose and soft lime,
And trees like riders
We gathered in our garden.

Somewhere crying
Night ominous bird.
wooden riders
They sow a hoof knock.
Here again this black
He sits on my chair,
Raising your top hat
And casually throwing back his coat.

"Listen, listen! -
He wheezes, looking into my face,
Himself getting closer
And leans closer.-
I didn't see anyone
Of scoundrels
So useless and stupid
Suffered from insomnia.

Ah, let's say I was wrong!
Because today is the moon.
What more do you need
To a world filled with slumber?
Maybe with thick thighs
Secretly "she" will come,
And you will read
Your dead languid lyrics?

Ah, I love poets!
Funny people.
I always find in them
History, familiar to the heart,
Like a pimply student
long haired freak
Talking about worlds
Sexual languor.

I don't know, I don't remember
In one village
Maybe in Kaluga,
Or maybe in Ryazan,
There lived a boy
In a simple peasant family,
yellow-haired,
With blue eyes…

And then he became an adult
Besides, the poet
Even with a small
But with gripping strength,
And some woman
Forty plus years
Called me a bad girl
And my dear."

"Black man!
You are a bad guest!
It's glory for a long time
It's spreading about you."
I'm furious, furious
And my cane flies
Straight to his face
Into the carry...

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

... The month died,
Dawn shines through the window.
Oh you night!
What have you done, night?
I'm in a top hat.
Nobody is with me.
I am alone…
And a broken mirror...

Analysis of the poem "The Black Man" by Yesenin

The poem "The Black Man" is perhaps Yesenin's most gloomy and sinister work. The idea of the poem arose from the poet during overseas trip with A. Duncan. In 1923 he read the first version to his friends. They were struck by the hopelessness emanating from the poem. Yesenin worked on the text for a long time. The final version for publication was ready only towards the end of 1925. Those who heard the original version claimed that it was longer and much more tragic and terrible.

From the very first lines, Yesenin declares his painful illness associated with alcohol. Given the circumstances of his life, this statement is quite natural. Immoderate drunkenness with violent antics seriously affected the poet. Psyche creative person especially sensitive to external stimuli.

Yesenin says with horror that every night he suffers from visits from a mysterious black man. It is known that the poet was repeatedly subjected to attacks of delirium tremens and even underwent a course of treatment. Probably, the image of a black man is generated by these bouts of a semi-crazy state. According to the book, he tells Yesenin all the circumstances of the crazy life of "some scoundrel and bastard." The stranger mentions not only negative things, he notes that the man was "moreover, a poet", full of "the most beautiful thoughts and plans." The book features "a woman of more than forty", in the image of which A. Duncan is guessed.

Exhausted by the story, the lyrical hero begins to scream desperately, trying to drive the black man away and stop this torture with reading someone's useless life. But this does not help: the stranger stubbornly sits and does not tear his heavy gaze from him.

The next night the visit is repeated. The author tries to get rid of the unbearable vision and curses his insomnia. Yesenin begins to reminisce about his childhood, about a simple village boy "with blue eyes." Having reached in his memories to "a woman of more than forty years old", he realizes with sudden horror that the book that the black man is reading tells about himself. The enraged poet throws his cane right into the "face" of the stranger...

"The Black Man" is not just the nonsense of a poet suffering from alcoholism. Yesenin was a genius. True talent is always regarded as certain kind madness. "The Black Man" is a merciless introspection of the author, caused by the desire to convey to the reader all the horror of his spiritual conflict.

The narrator says that he is very ill. A black man comes to him. He sits on the bed and does not allow the narrator to sleep. A black man reads a book like a monk at a funeral. This book is about a man who drank a lot and was an adventurer, but he had big and good plans. But the country he lived in was full of bad people. The narrator is afraid of what the black man says to him.

In the country where the narrator lives, a lot of snow falls in December. And there are often blizzards. Then the black man reads his book again. The person about whom it was written was a poet. He loved a woman who was about forty years old. In his opinion, happy people must be dexterous. It's hard to stay positive in life under any circumstances: bad weather, in case of problems with family life, with losses. The narrator asks the black man to stop reading about this poet, because he is not interested in this information. The black man looks at the narrator, he gets angry and leaves.

Another night, the narrator sits alone by the window. He doesn't wait for anyone. He looks at the trees, at the plain. He hears a knock, a bird's song that seems ominous to him. The black man comes again, wearing a frock coat and top hat. He approaches the narrator and begins to talk to him, he has never seen people suffer from insomnia so senselessly. The black man assumes that the narrator is waiting for his beloved. He says he loves poets. Then he talks about a boy who lived in a peasant family. The child had blond hair and Blue eyes and now it has grown. The narrator scolds the black man and throws his cane at him

The night is over, the narrator realizes that he is alone in the room, he is wearing a top hat, and he has broken the mirror.

The poem teaches healthy lifestyle life, the fact that you can not drink a lot.

Picture or drawing Yesenin - Black man

Analysis of Yesenin's poem "The Black Man"

It is no secret that for several years Sergei Yesenin foresaw his tragic death, which can be found multiple references in his poems. No, the poet did not know exactly how and when this would happen. However, he understood that he did not fit into the world, which became for him a stranger and unfriendly. And that means that the moment will soon come when, according to the universal logic, it should be left.

Death is seen by the poet in the form of a black man, and it is to him that he dedicates his poem of the same name, the first version of which was completed in 1923. Eyewitnesses recall that this work turned out to be too cumbersome, gloomy and not entirely clear to ordinary people. Therefore, Yesenin soon decided to make adjustments to the poem and finished work on this work only in 1925. He did not tell anyone about the new version of this work, which was published only in 1926, a few weeks after the tragic death of Yesenin.

Already in the first lines of the poem, the poet declares that he is “very, very sick,” although he does not fully understand the reason for his malaise. Moreover, we are not talking about the physical, but about state of mind Yesenin, who is trying to drown out his fears with alcohol. But that doesn't help, because "the black man keeps me up all night."

If you delve into the essence of the image of a mysterious stranger that the author recreates, it becomes clear that a black man is not only a harbinger of death, but also accumulates in himself all the fears of the poet. He makes Yesenin listen and hear what the poet does not want to know, and also touches upon the issues of immortality human soul. To save it, you need to go through a hard path of deprivation and suffering. At the same time, a black man reads Yesenin a book every night about the life of a certain person, and the poet realizes with horror that it is about his own fate, broken, bizarre and ending very tragically. “I am furious, furious, and my cane flies right to his muzzle, into the bridge of his nose,” the poet says, while admitting that such a shocking act does not bring the expected relief. The black man himself continues to visit Yesenin every night, harassing him with his stories, terrible laughter and gloomy prophecies.

The epilogue of this poem is rather unexpected, but quite understandable. The poet wants to smooth out the impression that he made on the readers. And he presents the situation in such a way that he himself acted as a black man, in a drunken stupor, talking all night long with a mirror. As a result, after a well-aimed throw with a cane, it turns out to be broken, and the poet himself admits: “I am standing in a top hat, there is no one with me.” For what happened, the author blames only the night, which "wrong" something there. However, the essence of the work does not change from this, as Yesenin is more and more convinced that his life is coming to its logical conclusion, and there is very little time left for repentance.

Yes, and there will be no repentance, because Yesenin is not interested in life after death. It is much more important for him to understand why his own fate has developed so ridiculously and stupidly.. There is fame, but there is no ordinary human happiness, a lot of money, but there is no freedom, which the poet intuitively strives for. The poet does not have answers to all these questions, and he hopes to get them from a mysterious black man, even if he exists only in his imagination. Each line of this work is filled with tragedy and a sense of the inevitability of what is happening. And the author humbles himself before such fatalism, entrusting his fate higher powers, although he never differed in love for mysticism and did not believe in the existence of other worlds.

Portal for the student. Self-training

Appear smiling. Poem "Black Man", Yesenin

"Black Man": Yesenin alone with himself

Yesenin: analysis of the poet's inner world on the eve of suicide

What lies at the bottom of the soul?

One by the window

Doppelgänger murder

Requiem for Hope

Analysis of Yesenin's poem "The Black Man"

Analysis of the poem "The Black Man" by Yesenin

Picture or drawing Yesenin - Black man

Other retellings for the reader's diary

Analysis of Yesenin's poem "The Black Man"

Portal for the student. Self-training

"Black Man": Yesenin alone with himself

Yesenin: analysis of the poet's inner world on the eve of suicide

What lies at the bottom of the soul?

One by the window

Doppelgänger murder

Requiem for Hope

Analysis of Yesenin's poem "The Black Man"

Analysis of the poem "The Black Man" by Yesenin

Picture or drawing Yesenin - Black man

Other retellings for the reader's diary

Analysis of Yesenin's poem "The Black Man"

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