„Bio je divan, uz to poeta, mada s nevelikom al’ ozbiljnom snagom; i neku ženu, od preko četrest leta, zvao je laficom i svojom dragom“, ovekovečio je Sergej Isidoru Dankan i sebe stihovima koji su preživeli sve one decenije koje njih dvoje nisu “Oh, he was elegant, and also a poet, albeit with small but serious strength; and some woman, with over forty years, he called his “naughty girl”, his “darling”,” - thus Sergei Yesenin immortalised Isidora Duncan and himself, in verses that survived all the decades they didn’t
M alo koja literatura je da- la tako veliki broj knji- ževnih remek-dela, a u isto vreme tako ma- lo ljubavnih priča kao ruska. U jed- nom takvom podneblju, okovanom snegom i ledom, obojenom večitim siromaštvom i vođenom jakim hri- šćanskim i političkim idealima za koje se proliva krv, nema mesta za one koji su živeli „srećno do kraja ži- vota“. Čak i kada se zbog ljubavi od- lazi u smrt, ne radi se to na šekspirov- ski način, onako kako su svoju žrtvu položili Romeo i Julija. Ne, Ana Ka- renjina strada sama, ali ne zbog lju- bavi, nego zbog njenog nedostatka. Čak je i ruska poezija takva. Vi- še je stihova ispisano iz ljubavi pre- ma zemlji, Bogu ili idealu nego pre- ma dragoj ili dragom. I upravo jedna takva Rusija je morala dati najneo- bičnije primere ljubavi, a to su pe- snikinje koje uče napamet stihove svojih ljubavnika ne bi li ih sačuvale od zaborava onda kada komunistič- ka vlast odluči da spali sve njihove zbirke. Rusi su, za razliku od svojih zapadnih suseda, uvek više voleli ve- likim delima nego velikim rečima. Iz susreta Istoka i Zapada rodila se jedna od najneobičnijih ljubavnih priča poznatih svetskoj književnosti. Početkom dvadesetih godina proš- log veka američka plesačica Isidora Dankan srela je ruskog pesnika Ser- geja Jesenjina i prekršila svoj mlada- lački zavet da se nikada neće udati. Učinila je to u svojim ranim četrde- setim godinama, a na večnu ljubav se zaklela dve decenije mlađem po- eti koji nije govorio ni reč engleskog jezika, dok je ona slabo razumevala ruski. Jesenjina je privukao njen ne- svakidašnji pristup plesu, a Isidoru strast kojom je plamtelo celo njego- vo biće dok je recitovao stihove po moskovskim birtijama. Njihovo poi- manje jedno drugog prevazilazilo je sve jezičke barijere. „Bio je divan, uz to poeta, mada s nevelikom, al’ ozbiljnom snagom; i neku ženu, od preko četrest leta, zvao je laficom i svojom dragom“, oveko- večio je Sergej Dankanovu i sebe. Ipak, čak ni razarajuća strast ko- ja ih je povezala nije mogla preživeti sukobljenost Isidorinog kosmopoli- tizma i Jesenjinove patriotske veza- nosti za Rusiju. Ceo svet je bio njen dom. Od San Franciska, u kojem je 1877. godine rođena, i iz kojeg je, be- Tekst / Words: Nemanja Madžarević Fotografije / Photography: Profimedia.rs
Isidora i Sergej, tragični akteri neobične ljubavne priče Isidora and
V ery few bodies of literature have provided so many impressive lit- erary masterpieces, and simul- taneously so few love stories, as Russia’s. In such a region, shackled by snow and ice, coloured by eternal poverty and led by strong Christian and political ideals for which blood is shed, there is no place for those who lived “happily ever after”. Even when death comes because of love, it does not come in a Shakespearian manner, like the self-sacrifice offered by Romeo and Ju- liet. No, Anna Karenina dies alone, though not because of love, but rather the lack of it. Russian poetry is also like that. There are more verses written about love for the earth, God or an ideal than there are for loved ones. And such a Russia had to pro- vide the most unusual examples of love, and those are the poets’muses who mem- orised the verses of their lovers in order to preserve them from oblivion when the Communist authorities decided to incin- erate all of their collections. Russians, un- like their neighbours to the west, have al-
ways preferred great works to great words. One such encounter between East and West gave birth to one of the most unusual love stories of famous world literature. In the early 1920s, American dancer Isidora Dun- can met Russian poet Sergei Yesenin and broke her childhood vow that she would never marry. She did this in her early 40s, swearing an oath of eternal love to a poet who was two decades younger than her and who didn’t speak a word of English, while she had only a weak understanding of Russian. Yesenin bought into her unu- sual approach to dance, and Isidora fell for the passion that engulfed his entire being as he recited lyrics around Moscow’s tav- erns. Their perception of one another sur- passed all linguistic barriers. “Oh, he was elegant, and al- so a poet, albeit with small but se- rious strength; and some woman, with over forty years, he called his“naugh- ty girl”, his “darling”,” wrote Sergei, immor- talising Duncan and himself. Nevertheless, even the devastating pas-
Sergei, tragic figures of an unusual love story
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