“Out There, Beyond…”: The Image of the Future and the Poetic Ideal in the Works of S. A. Yesenin in the 1910s

The article is devoted to the analysis of the artistic content and the evolution of the poetic ideal in the works of S. A. Yesenin of the 1910s: the subject of the study is both the poet’s lyrical works and his narrative and philosophical prose (the article “Native Word”), as well as biblical poems. The peculiarity of the literary and philosophical toponym “Rus” in Yesenin’s works as an ethical ideal and a symbol of a special national historical path, which is part of “God’s Providence,” is revealed. The polemical unity of toponym “Rus” with the idyllic image of the indefinitely beautiful “there,” which Yesenin drew from the literature of romanticism, along with the mythologeme of the poet’s fateful path, is demonstrated. A conclusion is made about the influence of Symbolist aesthetics on Yesenin’s understanding of art as a visionary experience that allows him to comprehend supersensual reality. By means of comparative analysis of A. A. Blok’s articles “Gogol’s Child” and Yesenin’s “Native Word,” the hypothesis that N. V. Gogol’s image of Russia was perceived by Yesenin in symbolist transcription is substantiated. The poem “Inonia” is considered as a transformation of Russia’s poetic ideal in the context of Yesenin’s religious and philosophical aspirations.