S. A. Yesenin: «Черёмуха» and the bell poem

Sergey Aleksandrovich Yesenin (1895–1925) was born on 21 September 1895 in the village of Konstantinovo in Ryazan province into a peasant family. He studied at the local zemstvo school, in 1913 entered the City People’s University in Moscow, then moved to Petersburg and met famous poets and writers. His first poems were printed in 1914. He sang of the modest, outwardly unbright nature of Russia, which he called the land of «берёзового ситца»; his verse is melodic and many poems became songs. He was interested in the East: after visiting Baku, Tbilisi, Tashkent and Bukhara he wrote the collection «Персидские мотивы»; Persia seemed to him the heart of Asia. Yesenin died at 30. There is a Yesenin museum in Tashkent. In «Черёмуха» the blossoming bird cherry has golden branches curled like locks of hair, and the stream sings to its branches. In the bell poem a dozing bell wakes the fields and the sleepy earth smiles at the sun.