Russian literature is rich in iconic personalities who made a significant contribution to the era and influenced an entire generation. Of course, Sergei Yesenin is one of them. Many know his poems, but not everyone is familiar with the biography. Correcting this annoying omission is simple enough. You can get to know the author’s wider world in the book by Anna Yesenin, Anna Snegina. The content of the work tells the story of a poet who has visited long-forgotten places that allowed him to experience a wave of feelings that have not cooled over the years. The book is easy to read and rich in weighty verbal turns. Now without a dictionary it’s hard to understand all the jargon of that time, but they had the effect of life credibility on the work.
The intersection of characters with real people
Sergey Yesenin took all his characters from his own life experience. The prototype of Anna was Lidia Ivanovna Kashina. Other heroes do not have complete resemblance to real people. But these are all the characters of the poet's fellow villagers. Although there is much in common between Pron Ogloblin and Peter Yakovlevich Mochalin. Two at one time were engaged in propaganda of the idea of Lenin.
This is a wonderful poem, and its author is Yesenin. “Anna Snegina” is a summary of his own period of life.
The identity of the author in the work
Miller often calls the main character Sergusha, and yet there is no absolute coincidence between the author and his character. According to the description of Anna, the portrait of the narrator is similar to the appearance of the poet. But you definitely can't say that. Nevertheless, the analysis of the poem (“Anna Snegina”) by Yesenin can be done based on the fact that the book is autobiographical.
Also in one of the conversations, the protagonist says that his character is connected with the fact that he was born in the fall (Sergey Alexandrovich was born on October 3). According to the poem, he comes to the village of Radovo, in reality, in the years 1917-1918, Yesenin visited the village of Konstantinovo. Like his character, he was very tired of military events. I wanted to relax and calm my nerves, which is easiest to do away from the capital.
Even a brief summary of Anna Snegina shows how much the author put his own experiences into the poem.
The image of Anna Snegina
The image of first love, Anna Snegina, is partially copied from a real woman named Lidia Ivanovna Kashina (years of life 1886-1937). Before the revolution, she lived in the village of Konstantinovo (in the poem Radovo), where the poet came from and where the book hero came to hide from military tragedies. In 1917, her house passed into the ownership of peasants, and Lidia Ivanovna moved to another estate. Yesenin often visited both the parent and another house. But, most likely, the history of the wicket with a girl in a white cloak and a gentle "no" - did not exist. Kashina had two children who loved Sergey very much. Relations with her husband were not very close.
In 1918, Lydia moved to Moscow and worked in the capital as a stenographer. They also saw each other often in the city. Unlike Anna, Lydia did not move to London. The real Kashin is very different from the character invented by the poet, such as Anna Snegina. The analysis showed that there are many inconsistencies in the characteristics of these two figures. However, the image of the main character came out mysterious and exciting.
Arrival in Radovo
From the first lines of the poem, the author introduces us to the atmosphere of the village of Radovo. According to him, the village would appeal to anyone who is looking for peace and comfort. Near the forests there is a lot of water, fields and pastures, there are lands planted with poplars. On the whole, peasants lived well, but the authorities increased taxes over time.
In the village next door, Kriushi, things were worse, so residents cut down a forest near Radovo. The two sides met, which led to bloody consequences. Since then, problems have begun in the village.
Such news is heard by the narrator on the way.
We learn that Yesenin, from whom the narration comes, decides to forget all the hardships of the war with his arrival in the village. Summary of "Anna Snegina" - it is also the experience of the narrator. He shares his thoughts on the absurdity of war and the unwillingness to fight for merchants and to know who remain in the rear. Yesenin chooses a different fate for himself and is ready for a different kind of courage. From now on, he calls himself the first deserter.
After the author paid the cabman over the norm, he goes to the mill. There, the owner and his wife welcome him cordially. We learn from their conversation that Sergei came for a year. Then he recalls a girl in a white cloak that at the gate affectionately told him “no.” Thus ends the first chapter of the poem.
Reader's acquaintance with Anna
The miller calls the hero Sergusha when he wakes him up for breakfast, and he himself says that he is going to the landowner Snegina. On the way, Yesenin admires the beauty of the April Garden and, besides his will, recalls the crippled war.
During breakfast, the author talks with the “old woman”, the wife of the miller, who is one of the characters in the poem “Anna Snegina”. A summary of her monologue is complaints about the troubles that came to them after the overthrow of tsarism. The woman recalls a man named Pron Ogloblin. He was the killer during a fight in the forest.
During the conversation, the narrator decides to visit Kriushi.
On the way meets with the miller. He says that when he shared his joy about the arrival of the guest, the young, married Anna, the daughter of the owners, was delighted. She said that when the poet was young, he was in love with her. During this, the miller smiled slyly, but Yesenin's crafty words do not offend. Sergei thinks that it would be nice to have a little romance with a beautiful soldier.
The village of Kriushi met him with rotten houses. A controversy erupted around new laws. Sergey greeted his old friends and began to answer the questions of the peasants that were strewed from all sides. When asked: “Who is Lenin?” - he answers: “He is you.”
Feelings of Anna and Sergey
The third chapter of the poem begins with the poor health of the author. He was delirious for several days and understood little from what guest the miller had gone for him for. When the hero woke up, he realized that the figure in the white dress was his old acquaintance. Further in the poem they recall past days, there we will find out their brief content. Anna Snegina has not been in his life since his youth. It was with her that he sat under the gate. The woman talks about how together they dreamed of fame, Yesenin achieved his goal, and Anna forgot about dreams because of the young officer who became her husband.
The poet does not like thoughts about the past, but he does not dare to express his point of view on the chosen topic. Seamlessly, Anna begins to rebuke him for the booze that the whole country knows about, asks what their reason is. Yesenin only sprinkles jokes. Snegin is interested in whether he loves someone, Sergei replies: "No." They broke up at dawn, when in the poet’s heart the feelings that had raged there at the age of sixteen were renewed.
After a while, he receives a note from Ogloblin. He calls Yesenin to go with him to Anna and ask for land. He reluctantly agrees.
There was some kind of grief in Anna’s house, which, exactly, is unknown to the poet. From the threshold, Ogloblin asks for land. The allotment requirement remains unanswered. Anna's mother thinks that the man came to his daughter and invites him. Yesenin enters the room. Anna Snegina mourns her husband, who died in the war and reproaches the guest for cowardice. After such words, the poet decides to leave the woman alone with his grief and go to the tavern.
Separation of the main characters
In the fourth chapter, Yesenin tries to forget about Anna. But everything changes, and Ogloblin comes to power with his lazy brother. Without losing time, they describe the house of the Snegins along with property and cattle. The hostess takes the miller to her house. A woman apologizes for her words. Former lovers talk a lot. Anna recalls the dawn they met when they were young. The next evening, the women headed in an unknown direction. Sergey also leaves to dispel sadness and sleep.
Letter with hope
Further, the poem "Anna Snegina" tells of the six post-revolutionary years. The summary of subsequent events is as follows: the miller sends Esenin a letter stating that Cossacks shot Ogloblin. His brother, meanwhile, was hiding in the straw. He sincerely asks Sergey to visit him. The poet agrees and sets off. He is joyfully greeted, as before.
An old friend gives him a letter with a London seal from Anna. She writes simply and ironically, but through the text the poet captures her sense of love. Yesenin goes to bed and looks again, like so many years ago, at the gate, where once a girl in a white cloak said affectionately "no." But this time, Sergey Alexandrovich concludes that in those years we loved, but, it turns out, loved us too.
Themes of the work
The summary of Anna Snegina, which was set out above, shows how clearly the author reflected the problems of the then society and her youthful experiences. At that time he was worried about the fate of Russia and its inhabitants.
Events in the work begin in 1917. The last, fifth chapter is dated 1923. In the poem, the war between the two villages, which is interpreted as a civil one, is highlighted. You can draw a parallel between the Snegins estate and power, this symbolizes the failure of tsarism.
Although Sergei Yesenin wrote in a letter to a friend that he was in a creative crisis and his muse had left, the work of Anna Snegina can be easily attributed to the “pearls” of Russian literature.