Sergey Aleksandrovich Esenin

Russian lyric poet. Born to a peasant family in Ryazani province, central Russia. After graduating from teacher training school, he went to Moscow, where he studied, wrote poetry, and became involved in political activities while working at a printing press. In 1915, he moved to Petrograd (St. Petersburg) and became acquainted with the poet Klyuev and the great symbolist poets Blok and Bely. He made his debut on the capital's poetry scene with his first collection of poems, "The Summoning of the Dead" (1915). At the root of his poetry are the religious songs and quatrains of the poor pilgrims of rural Russia that he had been familiar with since childhood. In his first collection of poems, he sang praises of his love for poor rural Russia, his wanderings, buckwheat flowers, and the kindhearted Russian Christ placed in the background of idyllic nature. In 1917, he welcomed the October Revolution with joy, and at the same time, he was an active member of the "Scythian" group, which was passionate about the idea of ​​peasant socialism. He considered himself a poet on the far left, a prophetic singer who embodied the essence of the Russian Revolution, and wrote the long poem "Inonia" (1918) in which he dreamed of a rural utopia. He eventually joined the Imaginists, and in 1921 he superimposed the reality of the revolution on his lyric drama "Pugachev," which depicts a peasant revolt. From 1921 to 1923, he traveled through Europe and America with his mistress Isadora Duncan, but he became disillusioned with civilization and the future of revolutionary Russia, so he returned to the kingdom of the peasant revolt and tried to overcome his spiritual crisis by writing "Drunken Moscow" and the lyric drama "The Land of Bastards" from 1922 to 1923. In his autobiography, he even wrote, "The best fans of my poetry are prostitutes and robbers," yet he also wrote a collection of poems on the theme of love, "Persian Motives" (1925), and the long poem "Anna Snegina" (1924), which realistically depicted the new rural area. He also married Tolstoy's granddaughter, Sofya, and attempted to make a comeback from his decadent lifestyle with the long poem "The Unlucky Man" (1925), in which he reminisced about the dark side of his life. However, just before that, on December 28, 1925, he hanged himself in a hotel in Leningrad (St. Petersburg) where he was staying, leaving behind the poem "Goodbye, Friend" written in blood.

[Masahiro Kudo]

"World Poetry 53: The Poems of Yesenin" (translated by Gosuke Uchimura, 1978, Yayoi Shobo)" ▽ "The Life of Yesenin" by Toshiro Ochiai (1974, Daisanbunmeisha)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

ロシアの叙情詩人。中部ロシア、リャザニ県の農民の子に生まれる。教員養成学校卒業後モスクワに出、印刷所などで働きながら学び、詩作し、政治活動にも触れる。1915年ペトログラード（サンクト・ペテルブルグ）に移り、詩人クリューエフ、象徴派の大詩人ブロークやベールイと知り合う。処女詩集『招魂祭』（1915）で首都の詩壇にデビュー。彼の詩の根底には、幼少時から親しんだ農村ロシアの貧しい巡礼者たちの宗教歌や四行俗謡が流れている。処女詩集で、貧しい農村ロシアへの愛、漂泊、ソバの花や、牧歌的自然の遠景に置かれたロシアの心優しいキリストを賛歌した彼は、17年、十月革命を歓喜して迎えると同時に、農民社会主義の理念に燃える「スキタイ人」グループの積極的一員として活躍。詩人としての自分を、もっとも左であり、ロシア革命の根本を体現する予言者的歌い手として自覚、農村ユートピアを夢想する長詩『イノニヤ』（1918）を書く。やがて印象派イマジニストに属し、21年には農民反乱を描いた詩劇『プガチョフ』で革命の現実を重ね合わせる。21～23年、愛人イサドラ・ダンカンとヨーロッパ・アメリカ旅行に出るが、文明に絶望、また現実の革命ロシアの未来像にも幻滅し、農民反乱の王国へ回帰し、22年から23年にかけて『酔いどれモスクワ』や詩劇『ろくでなしの国』を書くことで精神上の危機を乗り越えようとする。「ぼくの詩の最良のファンは淫売(いんばい)や強盗」とまで自伝にいう彼だが、他方では愛のテーマの詩集『ペルシアのモチーフ』（1925）や新農村を写実的に描く長詩『アンナ・スネーギナ』（1924）を書き、トルストイの孫娘ソフィヤと結婚、生涯の暗部を回想した長詩『不吉の人』（1925）でデカダンな生活から再生しようとしたが、そのやさきの25年12月28日、投宿中のレニングラード（サンクト・ペテルブルグ）のホテルで、血で詩「さようなら友よ」を書き残して縊死(いし)した。

［工藤正広］

『内村剛介訳『世界の詩 53　エセーニン詩集』（1978・弥生書房）』▽『落合東朗著『エセーニンの生涯』（1974・第三文明社）』

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