Lessons of mercy in S. A. Esenin ’s animalistic verses of 1910s

The article reviews the early works by Sergei Yesenin on the animalistic theme. The designation "animalism" is used in relation to works of fine art, to paintings by artists, but it can also be used in reference to verbal art. The author claims that Yesenin's poems, filled with a unique sense of admiration for all living beings on earth, deeply innovatively solve this topic, which is traditional for Russian classical literature. The article shows that in his early poetic work Yesenin turns to the images of various animals: a cow and a dog who did not have time to rejoice in the wonderful state of their fate — bright motherhood, or a wild fox that miraculously survived a fatal shot. The thoughts and feelings of beautiful horses grow in the soul of the lyrical hero to a feeling of a higher content — love for the motherland. Yesenin's poems about animals sound like a hymn to the native land in its unity with the cosmos.