Mythopoetic Model of Death in S. Yesenin’s “The Black Man”

The article is devoted to the analysis of S. A. Yesenin’s poem “The Black Man” and its central figure — the mysterious and infernal visitor. The author examines the diversity of interpretations proposed by scholars, ranging from perceiving the Black Man as an accuser, a double of the poet, or a representative of dark forces, to reading him as a projection of Yesenin’s inner world and a reflection of his psychological crisis. At the same time, the connection between the poem and the poet’s biography and his religious and folkloric worldview is emphasized. The compositional and artistic techniques used by the poet include lexical and ring repetition, ascending and descending gradation, the color spectrum of the work, and expressive means containing folklore and mythological constants of death. Thanatological symbolism, ethnopoetic constants, and infernal imagery together create the poem’s sensus mortis and enhance the perception of the landscape as an omen of impending disaster. The central figure of the Black Man is interpreted not only as a mystical or infernal character but also as a participant in a kind of “black mass” aimed at seizing the hero’s soul, which is emphasized through his behavioral and speech traits. The final symbol of a broken mirror and the folkloric formula of “bluish morning” are interpreted within the framework of folk beliefs about the boundary between worlds, a foreboding of misfortune and an attempt to expel an evil spirit. As a result, the poem is presented as a mythopoetic embodiment of Yesenin’s dark premonitions and a prophetic foreshadowing of the tragic outcome of his life.