14/09/2022
The story of Duncan and Esenin's relationship
Their affair was not even whispered about - they spoke loudly, openly, and usually with surprise. Of course, she, though already not young, but she is famous all over the world, European capitals are waiting for her performances with awe. He, on the contrary, young and handsome, albeit rural, but a poet. And openly fighting for the title of the first in Russia. Many did not see love in their relationship, suspecting each of them of selfishness. Now it is difficult to speak of the truth of their feelings, but both Duncan and Yesenin left an indelible mark in each other's lives.
By the time of their acquaintance, which even today is recounted in literature classes, they each came up with their own baggage of considerable previous experience. Isadora was 44, and several failed romances had made her somewhat of a feminist. In any case, she did not seek to bind herself by the bonds of marriage, preferring a free relationship. Sergei Alexandrovich, already a notorious "scandalist" and "hooligan," was also quite satisfied with his bachelor life.
They might not have known about the existence of each other, but Duncan, at the invitation of the Commissar of Education Lunacharsky arrived in Moscow, settled in a mansion on Prechistenka and opened a dance school. By the way, on her way to Russia, she met a gypsy who foretold that this is where Isadora would meet her destiny. Duncan did not believe it until she met the "golden head", the "angel" and the "devil" in one person.
The relationship developed rapidly, and soon Yesenin had already moved into her house. Prior to this, Sergei Alexandrovich rented one room in a communal apartment together with Anatoly Marienhof, the poet did not have his own place.
Rumor has it that Marienhof was even jealous of Yesenin for Duncan, arguing that he could not stay near her for long. However, according to other contemporaries, the first couple practically never parted, despite the fact that they communicated mainly in gestures: Isadora did not know Russian and Esenin on principle did not want to learn any other languages.
Nevertheless, he enjoyed reading her his poems, and she listened to them with awe. Afterwards Duncan confessed to her assistant Ilya Shneider:
"I didn't understand anything, but I can hear that this is music, and that the poems were written by a genius!"
Sing, sing. On the goddamn guitar
Your fingers dance in a semicircle.
I wish I could drown in this frenzy,
My last and only friend
Don't look at her wrists
And the silk that flows from her shoulders.
I looked for happiness in this woman,
And I found her unintentionally ruined.
I did not know that love is a contagion,
I didn't know that love was a plague.
She came up and with a squinting eye
She drove the bully mad.
Sing, my friend Bring me back
The old riot of our old days.
Let her kiss the other one,
The young, beautiful bitch.
Oh, wait. I'm not scolding her.
Oh, wait. I don't curse her.
Let me play it to myself.
To that bass string.
"My days are a dome of roses.
In my heart is a dream of gold.
Many a girl I've touched,
Many a woman I've pressed in my corners.
Yes, there's a bitter truth in the earth,
I've seen with a child's eye:
Licking the c***s in line
The bitch that's leaking her juice.
So why should I be jealous of her.
Why should I be jealous of her?
Our life is a sheet and a bed.
Our life is a kiss and a whirlpool.
Sing, sing! In the fatal sweep
The fatal trouble in these hands.
You know, f**k 'em.
I'll never die, my friend, never.
1922 г.
The financial support that Lunacharsky had promised the dancer quickly came to an end, and to earn some money Isadora decided to go on a world tour, the more so because she had long been invited to Europe and the USA. But she did not want to part with her "golden head" and invited Yesenin to accompany her.
Unlike Russia and Europe at that time in America free relations were not recognized, so in order not to cause unnecessary criticism, Duncan and Yesenin decided to get married. Only before this momentous event Isadora slightly amended her passport adding a full nine years to her life.
On May 2, 1922 a wedding ceremony was held at Khamovniki Registry Office. The newlyweds took a double surname, to which Yesenin joyfully responded after the registration: "Now I - Duncan.
Not only the bride and groom were happy that day, but also the weather, which allowed
