First of all, I would like to note his refined and irresistible appearance, which attracted and attracted women. An equally important reason is the ability to conduct a conversation. As Yesenin’s contemporaries previously wrote in their essays, the poet’s voice was capable of bewitching and attracting girls.
Sergei could create an attractive conversation not only with the opposite sex. Growing up in the village, the poet easily found common language and with pets. Most a shining example Such communication is a poem that he dedicated to Kachalov’s dog. This work was created in 1925, when the writer was in the prime of his life and already had life experience.
Give me your paw, Jim, for luck,
I have never seen such a paw.
Let's bark in the moonlight
For quiet, noiseless weather.
Give me your paw, Jim, for luck.
Please, darling, don't lick me.
Understand with me at least the simplest thing.
After all, you don't know what life is,
You don’t know that life in the world is worth living.
Your master is both nice and famous,
And he has a lot of guests in his house,
And everyone, smiling, strives
I can touch your velvet wool.
You are devilishly beautiful like a dog,
With such a sweet, trusting friend.
And, without asking anyone a bit,
Like a drunk friend, you go in for a kiss.
My dear Jim, among your guests
There were so many different and different ones.
But the one who is the most silent and saddest of all,
Did you happen to come here by any chance?
She will come, I give you my guarantee.
And without me, in her staring gaze,
For me, lick her hand gently
For everything I was and wasn’t guilty of.
What is interesting about the history of the creation of “Kachalov’s Dog”?
The work is written the real truth. Yes, there actually was such a dog at that time, and his name was Jim. She lived in the house of the then famous actor Vasily Ivanovich Kachalov, who was known almost all over the world for his theatrical skills.Sergei Yesenin was on friendly terms with the actor and often visited his house. It should be noted that pets always feel the goodwill emanating from good people. That is why the dog very quickly fell in love with the visiting guest and became very attached to him.
The pet was looking forward to the next meeting with Yesenin, and the poet, in turn, always brought the dog a variety of delicacies. This is how friendly relations emerged not only with the owner of the house, but also with his dog.
It should also be noted that the work created by Sergei Yesenin and dedicated to the dog is not as gentle as it seems at first glance. The poem has a sad overtone.
Features of the first part of the poem “To Kachalov’s Dog”
As it became known many years later, the poet Sergei Yesenin was being followed at that time public services. He understood and felt this, the poet knew that this attitude of the authorities towards him would not end in anything good. This evoked sadness and a certain absurdity.The state of mind during the years of creation of the work was also inspired by sad notes due to the break with Isadora Duncan, who was important person in his life.
Perhaps it was these events that influenced the fact that the beginning of the work about the dog begins very strictly. In the story, the author invites the dog to howl at the moon with him.
At first glance, it should have seemed to the reader that Yesenin must be cheerful and cheerful, because he found himself in the warm atmosphere of his friend’s house. Instead, we are talking about everyday difficulties, and the author begins to pour out his soul to the dog. He explains to the dog that he doesn’t know real life at all.
These features indicate that the eminent handsome man of that time at the time of writing the work was very sad in his soul. Already from the first lines, sad negativity is traced, and there is no hint of positive emotions.
Features of the second part of the poem “To Kachalov’s Dog”
The poem is almost completely permeated with sadness and regret. Confirmation that it is the woman who is to blame for his sad state is found in the last lines of the work. The stanzas uniquely convince the reader that the reason for his depressed state of mind is in his relationship with some girl. It should be noted that on the eve of writing the poem, in the 25th year of the last century, the author met an Armenian teacher. It happened in the city of Batumi and her name was Shagane Talyan. The fact that the girl sunk into the poet’s soul is confirmed by the lines dedicated specifically to her. Previously, Yesenin wrote a work - “You are my Shagane, Shagane.” But Shagane herself tried to dispel the possibility that the poet was sad about her when she stated that she and Sergei never had an affair.
At the time of writing the work “Kachalov’s Dog,” Sergei Yesenin had already broken up with his girlfriend. The woman, to the whole of Russia, denied his words that they allegedly had an affair. She said they only had a friendly relationship. It should be noted that Yesenin’s nature was very amorous, so many biographers believe that the version of friendship can be discarded.
What is interesting about the final lines of the work?
Whatever the reality, the last lines of the work “To Kachalov’s Dog” most fully and colorfully tell us that it was sad love that was the reason for the creation of the poem. The relationship, perhaps unrequited, served as the reason for the creation of a masterpiece.In the plot, more precisely, in its conclusion, Yesenin praises the dog, saying that he is beautiful, and special attention devotes it to wool, which is velvety and very pleasant to stroke. The author also notes that the beauty of the dog attracts everyone who comes to visit Kachalov; everyone wants to pet the pet.
The work contains a description of many of the animal’s advantages, which are beautifully described by Yesenin. Here the author also describes himself, saying that he is supposedly trusting and has an open soul. These peculiar qualities are combined with qualities inherent in a dog, so it seems that the author wanted to show a certain similarity between the animal and the person.
In the last lines of the work, the poet begins to ask questions for a pet. He asks him if the woman who is usually sad and silent has visited their house. According to the author, although Jim the dog has seen many guests in his life, he could not help but remember this woman.
When forming a question, a kind of hope is traced. The reader immediately feels that parting with a young girl led the poet to mental illness.
Some critics cite other developments as an example. Perhaps Sergei Yesenin at that time suffered greatly from unrequited love. This version is considered implausible, because he was considered very popular among the opposite sex and could easily make anyone fall in love with him.
It should be noted that even his literary secretary, whose name was Galina Benislavskaya, showed sympathy for Yesenin. This woman loved the poet for many years, and was ready to share him with other women, the main thing is that he was always near her. She was afraid of losing Yesenin.
Even after the poet died, she could not survive the loss. The woman went to the cemetery where the young poet was buried and left a note saying that Galina was asking to be buried next to him. Then she shot herself.
Based on the above, you can do logical conclusion that the critics’ version of unrequited love is complete nonsense.
Who was the poet’s muse after all?
It should also be noted that at the time when the poem was written, Sergei Yesenin was not officially free. He was married to Sofia Tolstoy. This connection weighed heavily on the poet, since he did not experience any special feelings towards her. So what prompted the theme of the poem to develop in such a spiritual direction? As can be seen from the above, there could be several reasons for this. At the time of the creation of the work, he separated from his wife, Isadora Duncan. Sergei Yesenin loved his homeland very much, and could not adapt to the life of a dancer. He decided to leave Duncan and go to Russia.
It should be noted that the dog Jim himself listened carefully to the poem “To Kachalov’s Dog.” Before him, the author repented of his committed deeds. He told the dog how he offended some women who showed feelings for him.
Probably Sergei Alexandrovich did collective image beloved woman, but this particular verse became very famous thanks to the sincerity and touching that the poet put into the lyrical lines.
Eduard Asadov
“Give me your paw, Jack, for luck.”
With this famous, slightly modified line, I often greet Jack - my long-time and sincere friend, however, now, perhaps, even a friend.
He has no illustrious pedigree. Jack is an outright cross between a purebred husky and a plebeian mongrel. But it would be simply indecent to look down on him. I say with complete conviction that Jack would not be inferior to the famous Kachalovsky Jim either in beauty or in his rare canine charm. And as for kindness and intelligence, then, honestly, it is not yet known who would have to give the palm!
Every time he sees me on a walk, Jack freezes for a moment, then, with a joyful squeal, throws his short body woven from elastic muscles forward. And now he is flying along the street like a black torpedo, almost without touching the ground, picking up speed more and more. About two meters before me, he makes a push and, having flown the remaining distance through the air, pierces my stomach with his nose and front paws. Following this, something like a joyfully primitive dance begins. Jack spins at the speed of a small dynamo, jumps up, puts his front paws on me, makes the most intricate pirouettes, sometimes going against the elementary laws of physics, and tries with all his might to lick my nose. And if, despite my protests, he sometimes succeeds, then Jack’s delight knows no bounds. We are truly long-time and devoted friends. It all started with one frosty, very memorable, but not very pleasant evening for me.
The village of Peredelkino near Moscow consists mainly of writers' dachas. And in the center of it, so to speak, the focus literary thought- The House of Creativity, the main difference of which from rest houses is that they work here rather than relax. True, not all. The extensive wooded area of the house is surrounded by a high fence. Radially from the house to different directions asphalt paths run. Several years ago I chose one of them for my daily walks. This path from the veranda rolls along an area under old poplars and pine trees, past several cottages, to a small gate overlooking Serafimovich Street. The whole way is two hundred and five steps of mine. About one and a half hundred meters. I studied this path thoroughly. I know every dimple and bump on it and stomp from end to end as confidently and habitually as I do in my apartment. I’ll put my hands behind my back and walk on the asphalt in summer, on trampled snow in winter, back and forth, back and forth... The air is glorious, good. The route was not only studied, but also timed. Thirteen times there and thirteen times back - exactly an hour. You don't have to take your watch out. Everything is accurate.
The incident I want to talk about occurred, if my memory serves me correctly, in December 1975. After relatively warm, fluffy, snow-white days, the cold weather began to set in. Frost like young good wine, every day it gained more and more degrees. That day, the mercury column of the thermometer shrank from the cold to such an extent that it hid its frost-covered crown somewhere under the purple number 23 and froze in indecision: should it go even lower or rebel against Santa Claus and rebelliously crawl up? However, the aforementioned grandfather was not going to joke and by the evening he hid the top of the column under mark 25. So to speak, know ours! My grandfather's character is serious.
However, if we talk about me, I’m not going to blame my character either. Without any hesitation, as always, at exactly nineteen-thirty I went to my daily evening walk. The air was so frosty and sonorous that the train, knocking on the rails about two kilometers from here, seemed to be rolling very close, three steps from the path. The alder and birch trees were so frozen that somehow, like an old woman, they hunched over from the cold, pressed their tops to each other and lowered their powerless, frost-covered hands onto the path. Only the pines stood straight, important and concentrated. Even in the cold they were thinking about something. It seems to me that the pines are constantly thinking about something... When the frost bothers them especially, they crackle with displeasure and sprinkle silvery dust down.
I must say that the evening was not only cold, but also surprisingly quiet. This silence was intensified by the fact that all the inhabitants of the House were at the cinema, so there was not a soul in the garden except me. With my hands behind my back, as always, I walked along the path at an even pace and concentrated on the plot of one of my future poems. The snow did not creak from the cold, but somehow squealed loudly and cheerfully underfoot. This did not interfere with thinking; on the contrary, the uniform sounds gave rise to some kind of rhythm, as if they helped to mint a word. I remember that at first I was unable to grasp something important. All the time, as if teasingly, it appeared somewhere, very close, but as soon as I mentally stretched out my hand for it, it instantly disappeared into the cold darkness. But something began to improve. I managed to catch, as if by a thread, the tip of the thought, and the ball began to unwind. Apparently, I was so deep in my thoughts that I completely forgot about everything around me. And, something that has never happened to me, somewhere in the recesses of my consciousness I stopped controlling my route.
How I managed to go outside the gate and not notice this, I still can’t understand. I only came to my senses when I suddenly, completely latently, felt something was wrong. My path suddenly turned out to be unexpectedly unusually long. There was no veranda or gate at either end. I walked a little further and stopped. Underfoot was not a narrow, familiar path, but a wide and bumpy path, driven by cars...
It became completely clear that I had come somewhere completely wrong. But where? This is exactly what I didn’t know. He took out his watch and felt the hand in the dark: exactly twenty-one zero-zero. The situation is both stupid and dramatic at the same time. For a person who, so to speak, can easily survey the surroundings, going two or three hundred steps from the gate is simply trifle and nonsense! But for a person in my situation, in twenty-five degree frost, to find himself late in the evening, in complete desertion, far from a familiar path, this is almost the same as a parachutist landing on a winter night in an unfamiliar forest.
I decided to stand still for a while. Maybe someone will pass by living soul. But no “soul” passed by, and mine began to cool more and more. Soon it became simply impossible to stand still. Go? But where? There are ditches, snowdrifts and some kind of fences around. Most of the dachas in the village are empty in winter. In some of the yards there are only hefty dogs, half-wild from the cold and loneliness, which once a day, having arrived from the city, are supplied with bones and the remains of some kind of porridge and again leave for warmth and civilization. Getting into the courtyard of such a dacha, even by chance, is not the best reliable way extend your days. And yet, something needs to be done.
The great Russian poet and favorite of women Sergei Yesenin was born in 1895, September 21, old style. What was so attractive to the opposite sex about him? Firstly, of course, an irresistible appearance. Secondly, his ability to speak. According to contemporaries, the poet’s voice was simply mesmerizing. He knew how to talk beautifully not only with women, but also with animals. Proof of this is the poem that Sergei Yesenin dedicated to Kachalov’s dog. He created this work in 1925.
The history of writing a masterpiece
Indeed, at that time there lived a dog named Jim in the house famous actor Yesenin was friends with the artist and often visited him. Animals feel good people, and Jim quickly fell in love with the poet and became attached to him. In turn, Yesenin often brought various delicacies to Kachalov’s dog. Thus, friendly relations were quickly established between man and dog. However, the poet's work is not so serene. There is a sad subtext to be found in it.
Yesenin, “To Kachalov’s Dog”: analysis of the first half of the poem
In our time, the poet was monitored by people from the State Security Committee. He felt it; such attention from the authorities did not bode well for the poet. Its sad state of mind can also be explained by a disagreement with main love life - Isadora Duncan. Maybe that’s why Yesenin begins the work by inviting the dog to bark at the moon together. It seems that the poet should be having fun in a warm atmosphere, because he came to his friend. But Sergei pours out his soul to the dog. He tells the animal that he does not know life. Apparently, at this time the famous handsome man was very sad in his soul, since he speaks negatively about life. Here Yesenin pours out his soul to Kachalov’s dog.
Analysis of the second half of the work
Confirmation of these words can be found in the following lines; they increasingly convince the reader that the reason for the poet’s depressed state at that time was a woman. Just on the eve of 1925, Yesenin met Shagane Talyan, an Armenian teacher, in the city of Batumi. You can be convinced that he really liked the woman by reading the poem “You are my Shagane, Shagane.” By the time he wrote the poem addressed to Jim, the poet had broken up with Talyan. However, she denied rumors about them whirlwind romance and claimed that there was only friendship between them. Yesenin was quite amorous, so the most likely version is that they were connected by love.
Final lines
Be that as it may, the last lines of the work eloquently tell about the sad love that served as the reason for writing the poem. But first, the poet praises the dog for being handsome by dog standards. Yesenin writes about the animal’s velvety fur, which is so pleasant to stroke. And everyone who comes to the great actor’s house strives to do this. And then Yesenin’s poem continues the description of Jim’s merits. He tells Kachalov’s dog that he is trusting, that he has an open soul. It can be assumed that the poet, when describing Jim, attributed his own traits to him. He was just as open, simple, and used to trusting people.
Oh, this love that makes you rejoice and suffer
At the end, he asks his four-legged friend if the saddest and most silent one came to visit them? After all, Jim saw many guests, and could see her too. The poet asks this with hope. It is felt that he is having a hard time with the woman. One more assumption can be made: the poet suffered at that time from But this version seems completely implausible. After all, this man had many women, he knew how to make them fall in love with him. Even his personal secretary, Galina Benislavskaya, adored him. She loved Yesenin for many years, she was ready to share him with other women, just so as not to lose him. After the poet died, the secretary could not survive it. She went to his grave, left a note asking him to bury him next to her idol, and then shot herself.
Therefore, the version that the poem that Yesenin wrote to Kachalov’s dog was created under the yoke of unrequited love is untenable.
Who is that muse anyway?
While writing of this work the poet was formally not free; at that time he was tied by marriage to Sofia Tolstoy, but he did not love this woman, and this union was very burdensome for the poet.
So let’s try to understand who the poem was dedicated to. At that time, Yesenin broke up with Isadora Duncan. She was two decades older than the poet. In addition, he loved his homeland very much, and therefore left Duncan for Russia. Most likely, Yesenin wrote his work to repent before. Kachalov's dogs listened to the verse attentively, or rather, one dog - Jim. The poet repented to her because he had offended Galina by telling the woman that they could only be friends, thus ending their romance. After all, she loved her idol so much that she could not survive his death. As if anticipating this, the man asks her for forgiveness for everything.
“To Kachalov’s Dog” Sergei Yesenin
Give me your paw, Jim, for luck,
I have never seen such a paw.
Let's bark in the moonlight
For quiet, noiseless weather.
Give me your paw, Jim, for luck.Please, darling, don't lick me.
Understand with me at least the simplest thing.
After all, you don't know what life is,
You don’t know that life in the world is worth living.Your master is both nice and famous,
And he has a lot of guests in his house,
And everyone, smiling, strives
I can touch your velvet wool.You are devilishly beautiful like a dog,
With such a sweet, trusting friend.
And, without asking anyone a bit,
Like a drunk friend, you go in for a kiss.My dear Jim, among your guests
There were so many different and different ones.
But the one who is the most silent and saddest of all,
Did you happen to come here by any chance?She will come, I give you my guarantee.
And without me, in her staring gaze,
For me, lick her hand gently
For everything I was and wasn’t guilty of.
Analysis of Yesenin’s poem “To Kachalov’s Dog”
The poem “To Kachalov's Dog,” written by Sergei Yesenin in 1925, is one of the most famous works poet. It is based on real events: the dog Jim, to whom the author addressed these surprisingly tender and touching poems, really existed and lived in the house of the artist of the Moscow Art Theater Vasily Kachalov, who often visited Yesenin. According to eyewitnesses, a very friendly and trusting relationship was established between the dog and the poet literally from the first days of their acquaintance. Freedom-loving Jim always rejoiced at the arrival of Yesenin, who pampered him with various delicacies.
However, the poem dedicated to Jim has a deeper and more tragic connotation. This becomes clear from the first stanza, when Yesenin suggests to the dog: “Let’s howl with you in the moonlight for quiet, noiseless weather.” What exactly lies behind such a spontaneous and absurd desire of a person who came to visit a friend, expecting to spend the evening in pleasant company?
Researchers of the life and work of Sergei Yesenin associate the general mood of the poem “To Kachalov’s Dog,” filled with sadness and regret about what can no longer be returned, with the names of several women. One of them is the Armenian teacher Shagane Talyan, whom the poet met in Batumi on the eve of 1925. Many attributed a passionate romance to them and believed that the poet’s depressed state was due to the fact that he had parted with his “Armenian muse.” However, Shagane Talyan refutes these speculations, claiming that she had warm friendly relations with the poet.
The second woman who could be the reason heartache The poet is his wife, dancer Isadora Duncan, with whom Yesenin broke up after returning from a trip to the Caucasus. But this version turned out to be far from reality. After the poet’s death, it turned out that during his stay in Batumi, he had an affair with journalist Galina Beneslavskaya, who had been in love with the poet for many years, and he considered her his best and most devoted friend. History is silent about the reason why Beneslavskaya and Yesenin met in Batumi. However, it is known for certain that soon Isadora Duncan, who was on tour at that time in Yalta, received a telegram from her husband’s mistress that he would not return to her.
Subsequently, this is what happened, however, the poet soon broke up with Galina Beneslavskaya, declaring that he valued her very much as a friend, but did not love her as a woman. And it was from her, who also often visited Kachalov’s house, that Yesenin wanted to ask forgiveness for what he had caused to his best friend so much heartache.
It is worth noting that by the time he wrote the poem “To Kachalov’s Dog,” the poet was already married to Sofya Tolstoy, and was very burdened by this marriage. There were only a few months left before his fatal death.
Therefore, in the last line of the poem, when the poet asked to gently lick the hand of the one who is the most silent and saddest of all,” he not only asks Beneslavskaya for forgiveness “for what he was and was not to blame for,” but also says goodbye to her, as if anticipating imminent death. AND It is this premonition that colors the work “Kachalov’s Dog” with special tenderness and sadness. In addition, among the lines, the loneliness of a person who is disappointed in love and has lost faith in those closest to him clearly emerges. AND - acute feeling guilt for the fact that the author could not make those who sincerely loved him truly happy, despite his fickle character, recklessness and desire to be free from any obligations.
Sergei Yesenin was born into a peasant family in the village of Konstantinov near Ryazan on September 21 (October 3), 1895 and was seventeen years younger than the outstanding artist. As a child, he studied as diligently as Vasya Shverubovich in the city of Vilna, showing his poetic gift early on. After graduating with honors from a four-year school in his native village, Sergei entered the Spas-Klepikovskaya teacher’s school. In 1912, having successfully completed the course of study, he moved to Moscow.
He did not teach literacy, but got a job in a butcher shop with his father, who served there as a clerk. Having quarreled with him, Sergei moved from the shop to work in a book publishing house, and then to a printing house. At the same time, he attended lectures at the historical and philosophical department of Shanyavsky University and classes at the Surikov Literary and Musical Circle. At the age of nineteen, the poet began publishing his poems in magazines. He greeted the proletarian revolution enthusiastically, and the poems “Heavenly Drummer” and “Dove of Jordan”, written by him in 1918, were imbued with the expectation of the transformation of Russia.
In 1925, the poet Sergei Yesenin finally met the artist Vasily Ivanovich Kachalov. He had dreamed about this for a long time, but it didn’t work out. IN civil war, in June 1919, a group of artists from the Moscow Art Theater led by Knipper and Kachalov, toured Kharkov and found themselves cut off from Moscow by military operations.
They were unable to get to Italy, where Russian artists were invited to film a film based on K. Hamsun’s play: the Consulate of Constantinople refused to issue them visas, and they had to tour in Bulgaria and other countries. Only in 1922 did the lost artists return to their homeland and go on tour again as a united troupe.
Sergei Yesenin in 1920 after three years divorced from Z. Reich, drank a lot with “strange and laughing rabble” and in the collection of poems “Confession of a Hooligan” appears as a brawler, a visitor to brothels. In the fall of 1921, he met the famous American dancer Isadora Duncan, married her and went abroad. From May 1922 to August 1923 they were in America, where the troupe of the Moscow Art Theater arrived and successfully toured. Vasily Ivanovich Kachalov, the performer of the title roles, was called by the press an outstanding artist in the world.
After returning to Russia, Sergei Yesenin and Isadora Duncan separated. Having learned that the Moscow Art Theater troupe returned from a tour in 1924, the poet was inspired by the idea of meeting the famous artist, who carried a volume of his poems with him everywhere as a reminder of his beloved homeland. And so, one March day, the artist V. Klyucharev and the writer B. Pilnyak asked Vasily Ivanovich to organize an evening meeting with Sergei Yesenin at his home, noticing that the poet was drinking only milk in the morning, preparing for a possible acquaintance with the great artist.
Rising up the stairs to his apartment after the performance, Kachalov heard the cheerful barking and joyful squealing of his dog. From the very first minutes of the appearance of the new guest with rye-colored hair, Jim began to show special affection towards him, trying to lick his ear and face. The guests sat at the table for a long time, arguing about all sorts of differences, and then Sergei Yesenin read his soulful creations and told how he began to write poetry, how he met Blok, Gumilyov: “May you be blessed forever, that you came to flourish and die.”
They parted late, already at the door the poet pressed Jim’s paw for a long time and did not let go, saying: “... it’s hard to part with you.” Saying goodbye to Kachalov, Yesenin promised to write poems about his dog. A few days later, the poet came to Vasily Ivanovich in his absence, festively dressed, with a silk top hat on his head, to read lines dedicated to Jim. Soon the ceremony was repeated, and famous poem“To Kachalov’s dog”: “Give me a paw, Jim, for luck, I haven’t seen such a paw in my life. Let's bark in the moonlight for quiet, noiseless weather. Give me your paw, Jim, for luck...”
Sergei Yesenin became so attached to Jim that during his illness he raved about him and told the doctors: “You don’t know what kind of dog this is! If Kachalov brings her here, I’ll get better right away.” Kachalov did not bring his Doberman to Baku for the summer tour, and Yesenin was very upset, but he pulled through and came to the theater to visit Vasily Ivanovich. Soon the poet got married again and invited the honored artist to a “bachelor party.” They became friends, and Yesenin always asked through his friends to “bow to Kachalov. And definitely for Jim.” The poet made his last bow to the “golden log hut” in December 1925 from Leningrad on the eve of his strange “summing up”.
He felt doom and alienation after his poem “The Land of Scoundrels.” He was not invited to literary debates, he was accused in the press of drunken fights, and surveillance was established. On the night of December 28, Sergei Yesenin’s life ended. Jim’s paw did not bring happiness to the poet, and “revenge for death on the other shore” is just revenge...
Sources: TSB, ZhZL "Kachalov"