“Letter to Mother” Sergei Yesenin

Are you still alive, my old lady?
I'm alive too. Hello, hello!
Let it flow over your hut
That evening unspeakable light.

They write to me that you, harboring anxiety,
She was very sad about me,
That you often go on the road
In an old-fashioned, shabby shushun.

And to you in the evening blue darkness
We often see the same thing:
It's like someone is in a tavern fight with me
I stabbed a Finnish knife under my heart.

Nothing, dear! Calm down.
This is just a painful nonsense.
I'm not such a bitter drunkard,
So that I can die without seeing you.

I'm still as gentle
And I only dream about
So that rather from rebellious melancholy
Return to our low house.

I'll be back when the branches spread out
Our white garden looks like spring.
Only you have me already at dawn
Don't be like eight years ago.

Don't wake up what was noted
Don't worry about what didn't come true -
Too early loss and fatigue
I have had the opportunity to experience this in my life.

And don’t teach me to pray. No need!
There is no going back to the old ways anymore.
You alone are my help and joy,
You alone are an unspeakable light to me.

So forget about your worries,
Don't be so sad about me.
Don't go on the road so often
In an old-fashioned, shabby shushun.

Analysis of Yesenin’s poem “Letter to Mother”

In 1924, after an 8-year separation, Sergei Yesenin decided to visit his native village of Konstantinovo and meet his loved ones. On the eve of leaving Moscow for his homeland, the poet wrote a heartfelt and very touching “Letter to his Mother,” which today is a program poem and one of the most striking examples of Yesenin’s lyricism.

The work of this poet is very multifaceted and extraordinary. However, a distinctive feature of most of Sergei Yesenin’s works is that in them he is extremely honest and frank. Therefore, from his poems one can easily trace the poet’s entire life path, his ups and downs, mental anguish and dreams. “Letter to a Mother” is no exception in this sense. This is the confession of the prodigal son, full of tenderness and repentance, in which, meanwhile, the author directly states that he is not going to change his life, which by that time he considers ruined.

Literary fame came to Yesenin quite quickly, and even before the revolution he was quite well known to readers thanks to numerous publications and collections of lyrical poems, striking in their beauty and grace. Nevertheless, the poet never for a moment forgot where he came from and what role the people close to him played in his life - his mother, father, older sisters. However, circumstances were such that for eight long years the public’s favorite, leading a bohemian lifestyle, did not have the opportunity to visit his native village. He returned there as a literary celebrity, but in the poem “Letter to a Mother” there is no hint of poetic achievement. On the contrary, Sergei Yesenin is worried that his mother has probably heard rumors about his drunken brawls, numerous affairs and unsuccessful marriages. Despite his fame in literary circles, the poet realizes that he could not live up to the expectations of his mother, who first of all dreamed of seeing her son as a good and decent person. Repenting of his misdeeds to the person closest to him, the poet, nevertheless, refuses help and asks his mother for only one thing - “don’t wake up what you dreamed of.”

For Yesenin, mother is not only the dearest person who can understand and forgive everything, but also an executor, a kind of guardian angel, whose image protects the poet in the most difficult moments of his life. However, he is well aware that he will never be the same as before - the bohemian lifestyle has deprived him of spiritual purity, faith in sincerity and devotion. Therefore, Sergei Yesenin, with hidden sadness, turns to his mother with the words: “You alone are my help and joy, you alone are my untold light.” What lies behind this warm and gentle phrase? The bitterness of disappointment and the realization that life has not turned out at all as we would like, and it is too late to change anything - the burden of mistakes is too heavy, which cannot be corrected. Therefore, anticipating a meeting with his mother, who is destined to become the last in the poet’s life, Sergei Yesenin intuitively understands that for his family he is practically a stranger, a cut-off piece. However, for his mother, he still remains the only son, dissolute and left his father’s house too early, where they are still waiting for him, no matter what.

Realizing that even in his native village, where everything is familiar, close and understandable since childhood, he is unlikely to be able to find peace of mind, Sergei Yesenin is sure that the upcoming meeting will be short-lived and will not be able to heal his emotional wounds. The author feels that he is moving away from his family, but is ready to accept this blow of fate with his characteristic fatalism. He worries not so much for himself as for his mother, who is worried about her son, so he asks her: “Don’t be so sad about me.” This line contains a premonition of his own death and an attempt to somehow console the one for whom he will always remain the best, dearest and most beloved person.

"Mother's Day Holiday" - In 1914, Mother's Day was declared an official holiday. Mother, as if in confession, will forgive us sin and untruth, protect and understand. In everyday worries we do not notice the nagging maternal pain. Mom is hope, love and support... Mom is like a plea for help... Mother's Day in Russia is celebrated on the last Sunday in November.

“Cool hour Mother's Day” - And less bad luck, So that joy does not decrease, And health increases. Awaken positive emotions towards the world around you. Write an SMS to your mom... (that’s what the guys write). We read poetry. Did you hug your mom like that? An essay competition about mom among adult students has been announced. Target. Congratulations, mom, I wish you a happy holiday.

“Icon of the Mother of God” - Consequences of theft. Orthodox holiday of the icon of the Kazan Mother of God. The miraculous icon of the Kazan Mother of God. Hope. Location. Return of the icon to Russia. The history of the appearance of the icon.

“Expressive means” - Training exercises. Was it not for you that flowers smelled fragrant in the silence of the night yesterday? Descending - arrangement of words in order of decreasing meaning. 1. Spring! Your mind is as deep as the sea. Antithesis. If you are afraid of wolves, do not go into the forest. Ellipsis is the omission of an element of a statement. Various eras and different scientists offered all sorts of interpretations.

“Writing Lesson” - Petya. Pictogram. Knot letter "KIPU". When I come home from school, I have a roaring appetite. We beat 4 “B” in football. I'm learning to play the guitar. My sister Olya says hello to you. I also go to music school. Wolf. I read your letter with interest. Come see me for my birthday. Hello Peter!

“The History of Letters” - 4. Learning to write letters. 5. Letters - the history of writing. 6. Writing instruments. “The history of writing or what papyrus and paper told.” At school they teach reading and writing. Time and tools of writing. And once upon a time no one knew how to write. I have neither father nor mother, only you are left with me.” Treated calf skins.

Sergei Aleksandrovich Yesenin (1895 – 1925) is a unique “peasant” poet of the first quarter of the 20th century. During the period when he joined imagism, urban motifs also penetrated into his lyrics. However, the lyrical hero of all Yesenin’s cycles, even when in the city, thinks and dreams about his native village, peasant life, “the country of birch calico,” and calls himself “a citizen of the village.” A striking example of his poetic attitude towards home is the poem “Letter to Mother.”

The story behind the writing of this work is as follows: the poet, having already become famous, gathered with his comrades to visit his native village of Konstantinovo, but stayed in Moscow, and the trip did not take place that time - after that he wrote a “Letter to his mother”, since she, Tatyana Fedorovna Titova, was waiting for him.

In 1924, when this poem was written, Yesenin’s work was already mature - he was characterized by serious experiences that did not correspond to his young age, difficult personal dramas, as a result of which a rather gloomy poetic picture of the world emerges. His uniqueness lies in the fact that, living during the Silver Age, which was characterized by various literary circles, groups and associations, he was not a member of any of these associations. Often the works of Sergei Alexandrovich are dedicated to family and friends, friends, or anyone from his circle. Along with dedications, his work contains poems and letters, one of which we are examining.

Genre, size, direction

“A Letter to a Mother” is written in the genre of elegy, which is characterized by first-person narration and sad, heart-warming reflections. Yesenin's poems and letters are a kind of poetic unity between the lyrical hero and people who existed in the real world and were dear to the poet. The meter of this verse is trochee pentameter.

The direction chosen by Yesenin is philosophical lyrics. “Letter to a Mother” is a poem that reflects the painful moods of the lyrical hero at the last stage of development - when, feeling the end of his life approaching, he writes a message to his dearest family member and tells him about his experiences. Therefore, we see in the work attempts to rethink the path traveled, as well as a desire to cheer up the mother and dispel her worries.

Composition

The structure of “Letters...” is circular: the last lines of the first two stanzas and the last two stanzas are repeated: “unspeakable light”, “in an old-fashioned dilapidated shushun”. In such a compositional structure, the emphasis is placed on the experiences of the mother’s soul: even after all the revelations of the prodigal son about his disappointment in life, in God, after all the requests not to worry about him, the mother’s heart will not calm down and will yearn for the child, anticipating trouble. A woman will go out to meet her child, even if she receives a letter saying that he will never come home again. The devotion and unchanging feelings of parents contrast with the frivolity and frivolity of the city bustle, where everyone is just casual acquaintances.

The image of a lyrical hero

In general, the image goes through three stages of development:

• a rural young man who finds himself from his native village into the alien, hostile world of urban civilization (these motifs are heard, for example, in the poem “Sorokoust”, written in 1921);
• then the urban poet-hooligan, rebel, later clearly embodied in the image of the bandit Nomakh in the poem “Country of Scoundrels” (1925);
• and, finally, a suffering, melancholy poet, tired of life, feeling the approach of death, depressed from hopelessness - “The Black Man” (1925).

Since “Letter to Mother” was composed in 1924, the type of lyrical hero belongs to the third phase of image development. He is a tired and completely lost wanderer who fled from his home in search of a better fate, but life returns him to his roots, forcing him to admit that he did not find the most important thing, but left it in his native land. It would be appropriate to compare him with the prodigal son, who, according to the Gospel parable, comes to his father with repentance, throwing away pride.

Subject

1. Disappointment in life. Before us is a message from a son who has burned his life to his mother. The hero writes in the hope that she will understand and forgive him, because he found neither understanding nor forgiveness in the city, but strong, sincere feelings. Women and friends rush by in a fussy line, change and betray, and only the family loves and waits for its part, without reproaching or setting conditions.
2. The poem also contains the theme of justification to one’s own mother: “I’m not such a bitter drunkard...”. The hero wants to reassure his family, but does not find the strength to tell a white lie: nevertheless, he admits that alcohol has taken a depressingly strong position in his life.
3. The theme of the poet’s love for his small homeland can be traced - and this feeling for him is more sublime than even love for God. In his works he skillfully wove dialectisms of the Ryazan province - his native land. This small homeland is a garden, “white like spring,” a village house for the lyrical hero is a kind of paradise, saving from the hustle and bustle of life and anxiety, and the mother in this paradise is an angel, “unspeakable light.” And before this angel he confesses, reveals his fate, burdened with suffering, hopelessness and sadness.
4. The poem “Letter to a Mother” traces another theme characteristic of literature - the misunderstanding that always arises between the old and new generations.

His work harmoniously combined peasant, rural lyrical motifs and the mood of rebellion, uprising, struggle, but in this work the struggle gives way to bitterness and a premonition of fatal defeat.

Idea

1. Firstly, the poet’s main idea is that we must not forget our father’s house and family, no matter what happens in life. Only there can one find support and selfless, sacrificial love, which is so lacking for an adult separated from his small homeland.
2. Secondly, the idea of ​​relieving the soul through confession to the woman who brought him to this earth is obvious. Perhaps in her image he sees his destiny, what the Lord intended him to be, and he sums up the life results of his flight from fate and the calling given from above.
3. Thirdly, the meaning of the work is to show the onset of a new world (contained in the image of a son) and the retreat of the old (contained in the image of a mother). He openly declares: “And don’t teach me to pray, don’t! // There is no going back to the old ways!” - here the author hints that new times have come - that is, Soviet times, in which they do not believe in God, and there is no religion at all, so learning old prayers is pointless. And the lyrical mother still wears an “old-fashioned, shabby shushun.” The key words here are "old-fashioned" and "decrepit", referring to the mother. After all, she still belongs to the old, dilapidated past, where they believe in God and pray; she and her generation cannot fully understand the present, much less the future.

The son, despite his love for his homeland and peasant life, refuses to live according to the laws of yesterday, he accepts tomorrow’s and today’s charter, he grew up in it and became famous, whereas yesterday he, by right of birth, would have plowed the land and did not even dare to think about creativity. However, disappointment and sadness reveal a rejection of many new realities, so his attitude towards the surrounding reality is ambivalent.

Means of artistic expression

• epithets - for example, “unspeakable light”, “painful delirium”, “bitter drunkard”, “rebellious melancholy”;
• rhetorical exclamations - “Hello, hello!”, “Nothing, dear!”;
• anaphors - “Don’t wake up like eight years ago. // Don’t wake up what was noted”; “You alone are my help and joy, // You alone are my unspeakable light”;
• repetitions - “Don’t worry about what was noted, // Don’t worry about what didn’t come true”; “Don’t be so sad about me. //Don’t go on the road so often...”;
• rhetorical question - “Are you still alive, my old lady?”;
• inversions - “I am a bitter drunkard”, “our low house”, “rebellious melancholy”, “our white garden like spring”.

Before embarking on an artistic analysis of the poetic work “Letter to a Mother,” you should find out the history of its creation. This poem was written by Sergei Yesenin in 1924, a year before his death. Yesenin’s later work is rich and bright: the author seemed to have gained courage and expressed everything that he had been carrying around as a heavy burden in his soul for so long.

“Letter to a Mother” is one of the most famous and touching poems of this period. This work can be seen as an ambiguously appeal to Mother Motherland, or mother as a woman who gave life.

The image of a mother in the poem “Letter to a Mother”

The main images in the poem “Letter to a Mother” are the lyrical hero himself and his mother. For the lyrical hero, mother and home are a symbol of childhood, easy life and all-forgiving love.

At the beginning of the work, he asks his mother if she is alive, this indicates that the son is a very infrequent guest in his native land. The lyrical hero, just like in childhood, seeks protection and understanding from his mother.

He pours out all the hidden sadness of his soul, experiences, life disappointments in his letter and turns from an adult into a small defenseless child, as we all are in the eyes of our mothers.

The idea of ​​the poem is that we should all appreciate the dear and close women who gave us life. After all, they are the only ones who will always come to our aid in difficult times; they forgive their children the most serious sins and sacrifice their lives for the well-being of their children.

The lyrical hero of the poem asks his mother for forgiveness for having actually forgotten her and not being in his native land for a very long time. He has no doubt that his mother will forgive him; his mother’s love is taken for granted.

The image of the Russian village and the Russian state

Sergei Yesenin in “Letter to a Mother” describes the beauty of the nature of his native land. The Russian village in which his old mother lives is a real oasis for the poet, in which he can hide from life’s hardships.

Also, the image of the mother can be interpreted as an image of the Russian state. After all, the relationship between the Motherland and a person is as strong as a mother and son.

Russia is the personification of an old mother who has gone through many shocks and hardships, often faced with ingratitude and betrayal on the part of her citizens. But still she has the maternal quality of forgiveness and joyfully accepts repentant children into her arms.

The meaning of the poem “Letter to Mother”

It doesn’t matter what exactly Sergei Yesenin personified in the image of his mother. The main thing is that he teaches us to love and appreciate what really has the greatest value in the life of every person - mother, Motherland, home.

Very often we do not pay due attention to our mothers, as we are absorbed in daily worries, but we should always remember that that fateful moment may come when we are simply too late to say words of love to our loved one.

Sergei Aleksandrovich Yesenin wrote works on various topics during his life. He dedicated truly exclusive masterpieces to his family. Most of the works are still popular today, admiring their modernity. A striking example is the poem “Letter to a Mother,” which is dedicated to the dearest person in his life.

This creation was created in the 24th year of the last century and is one of the poet’s brightest poems. The theme had previously been used by Yesenin and was announced when creating the work “Soviet Rus'”, which caused a storm of excitement among readers. And now, the topic is returning in a new format. This is a kind of continuation of a previously started cycle of works.

What prompted the poet to create the poem?

After Sergei left his native village at the age of 17, he rarely appeared in his small homeland. And his arrival in 1924 greatly pleased his mother and sisters. Here he wrote a poem full of tenderness and warmth.

Such a meeting was very significant for Yesenin, so he reflected it in his work. Sergei was going through a difficult stage in his life, and the connection with his native land and family greatly revived him. True, he could not avoid dramatic events - the turning point was able to crush many talented people.

Each individual poem by Sergei Yesenin is a kind of novel with a lyrical orientation. The plot of the poems always traces the features of his biography, and precisely those moments that occurred along his life path. Yesenin's works are the story of the poet's life. The theme of the homeland is described more fully in the work “Return to the Homeland,” but the work “Birch” also reflects no less number of the most significant moments for the poet.

Analysis of the masterpiece “Letter to Mother”

This work was created in a special genre; it represents a specific message to the dearest person in his life. This direction was used by many poets of that time, for example, Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin wrote the poem “To Chaadaev.” Sergei Yesenin managed to convey this genre as gently and simply as possible, expressing only sincere emotions in the lines.

It should be noted that this poem was created in such a way that the message became as similar as possible to a real letter. The lines contain only trusting emotions and experiences. Credibility in this verse is created through the use of the exact mood, as well as correctly selected speech patterns when expressing thoughts.

The work makes full use of vernacular language, which allows you to maintain intrigue while reading:

“...They write to me that you, harboring anxiety, are very sad about me,
That you often go on the road in an old-fashioned, shabby shushun..."

Almost every quatrain contains such special words, For example, “...This is only a painful nonsense...”

Sergei Yesenin's creations have many colloquial forms. The work is not devoid of vulgarism and jargon. These features indicate that the vocabulary used in the poem is very familiar to the poet himself and he uses it in life:

“...It’s as if someone stuck a Finnish knife under my heart in a tavern fight... I’m not such a bitter drunkard...”

The poem itself is written in a confidential manner. The lines express tender sincerity. Such an appeal can only be applied to the dearest person, and the conversational style emphasizes sensuality:

“...Are you still alive, my old lady? I'm alive too. Hello, hello!..."

It is worth considering these lines in more detail, as they are interesting in their own way. Here there is and stands out an appeal to your mother - “...You are still alive, my old lady...”, there are also thematic calls to action - “... nothing, dear! Calm down...” The poem is full of all sorts of exclamatory points – “..and don’t teach me to pray. No need!" The poet affectionately reminds that he has grown up a long time ago, and he himself knows what to do.

There is nothing accidental in the work; all literary turns are aimed at creating a feeling of complete trust in the reader. Stylistic turns, even at the initial perception, create the impression that the reader is presented with a conversation between individuals, the main characters of the plot itself.

The work contains not only an appeal to a loved one. Sergei Yesenin recalls in his lines his home and garden of numerous apple trees. To express such thoughts, the poet used various metamorphic personifications in the poem, for example:

“...I will return when our white garden spreads its branches like spring...”

The poet also uses various epithets in his lines:

“...Let that evening unspeakable light flow under your hut...”
“...To quickly return from rebellious melancholy to our low house...”

In addition to the features described above, the poem is filled with a variety of syntactic phrases, as well as phraseological units used only in the book style of writing works, for example:

“...There is no longer any return to the old ways. You alone are my help and joy, you alone are my unspeakable light...”

In this work, Sergei Yesenin uses two stylistic plans inherent in individual works of that time. The plot is created in such a way that an intimate one-on-one conversation gradually turns into a tense monologue with a lyrical focus. The facts of life used in the text gradually begin to acquire social significance. The lines describe the human values ​​that everyone has. They gradually develop into something lofty and beautiful, personifying the high significance of what is happening.

There are also anaphoric repetitions in the work, for example, “... you are the only one for me...”. Such special phrases in their own way enhance the expression present in the phrases, allowing them to sound even sadder.

Particularly prominent in the lines of the poem “Letter to a Mother” is the hope that the contradictory features tearing apart the poet’s soul will soon be overcome. According to the author, this is possible only after a personal touch with vital shrines - home, mother’s love, the special beauty of nature in native places, for example:

“...I am still as gentle and I only dream about
To quickly return from rebellious melancholy to our low house..."

Sergei Yesenin's poem also has disturbing notes in the lines, slightly intriguing the reader. The author points out that his hopes and life goals are practically untenable. And the key reason for this outcome lies within himself, since he has long ceased to control his destiny and has lost control over it:

“...I have experienced loss and fatigue too early in my life...”

These lines hint to the reader that the life events taking place in the poet’s life are not very pleasing to him. The author is disappointed. Everything did not work out as planned and this saddens him. This is manifested in pain and bitterness, which sounds in many lines of the work:

“...Don’t wake up what was dreamed of, don’t worry about what didn’t come true...”

At the end of the verse there is the phrase “...there is no longer a return to the old…”. This is a kind of chord that ends the poet’s youth and his childhood and early dreams.

The poem-address “Letter to the Mother” is a real declaration of love of an adult son for the woman who gave him life, raised him and raised him, who misses him, peering into the distance. This is a sensual recognition and a kind of work on mistakes in relationships with a loved one. The poet wishes a long life to his mother: “Let that evening unspeakable light flow over your hut,” and asks not to worry: “Nothing, dear! Calm down. This is just a painful nonsense,” and asks not to stir up the past: “Don’t worry about what was celebrated, Don’t worry about what didn’t come true.”

No one yet knew that in a year the poet would lose his life. But he managed to explain himself to his mother and express to her his gratitude, gratitude and filial love.