Images of Russian people, countryside

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: On his safe return to earth, Yuri Gagarin was asked how it felt to be the first man in space. The story goes that the triumphant cosmonaut likened it to reading a poem by Sergei Esenin.Esenin died young, but his poems about the Russian people and the Russian countryside live on. Now, for the first time, a collection of his poems has been translated into Malayalam.Twenty-four poems by the poet from Ryazan province have found a place in ‘Sergei Esenin - Thiranjeduththa Kavithakal’ (Publishers: Russkiy Mir Foundation, Moscow, and Russian Cultural Centre, Thiruvananthapuram) by noted poet D Vinayachandran. The collection will be released at the ongoing Festival of Russian Language, Literature and Science in the city on Saturday."Esenin was essentially a lyrical poet whose themes centred around nature, love, motherhood and patriotism. His poetry may not display the same depth as the poetry of Anna Akhmatova, Alexander Blok or Voznesensky, but they are really close to the hearts of the Russian people,’’ said Vinayachandran, who spent months on the translation.There were reasons. One being, Esenin is not as familiar to Keralites as are Vladimir Mayakovskiy, Alexander Pushkin or Evgeny Yevtushenko. ‘’In fact, I had only read individual poems by him which appeared in collections on Russian poetry,’’ said Vinayachandran, who is also due to receive this year’s Esenin Prize on Sunday.Sergei Alexandrovich Esenin (October 3, 1895-December 27, 1925) was born to a peasant family and started penning verses by age nine. Russian folklore inspired his early works, but he became known to literary circles after he moved to St Petersburg in 1915. Esenin committed suicide at the age of 30, reportedly after writing a farewell poem with his own blood. Esenin’s poems give a vivid picture of the Russian countryside and the workings of daily life.'Thiranjeduththa Kavithakal’ is twice removed from the original as it is based on an English translation. ‘’I’ve tried not to make it merely a literary translation. In fact, the original translator into English has stated that Esenin had an extraordinary command over his mother tongue, and that it made translation difficult,’’ Vinayachandran said.