Sergei Esenin in the Mirror of American Periodicals, 1922–1925

Abstract

Despite a vast amount of the studies by American critics, memoirists and scholars devoted to the analysis of Sergei Esenin's works, not all the pieces of the American press on the life and work of the Russian poet have been introduced into scientific use. The article considers materials on Esenin in Yiddish, English and Spanish, published in the United States in 1922–1925. Most often the American press wrote about Esenin in the following periods: during his trip with Isadora Duncan to the United States (October 1922 — February 1923), during their stay in Europe (February — July 1923), just after Esenin’s tragic death (December 1925), and after Isadora Duncan’s death (September 1927). The article Some Bolshevistic Troubadours by a well-known American translator, editor and journalist Nathan Dole is of a special interest, and is introduced into scientific use. Dole included in his review large fragments of Esenin’s poems, translated into English and called Esenin’s book Triptych “a red rhapsody”.

Keywords

• sergei esenin
• isadora duncan
• nathan haskell dole
• john clayton
• george seldes
• us periodicals
• biography
• creativity