Yesenin was 18 years old when he left his village in order to try his luck in a big city. Like a wizard, he enlivens in the imagination of the reader the beauty of familiar things. Folklore and expressiveness - that is what is attractive in the poem "Birch". It, like a Russian folk song, fills the soul with warmth and light. Sergei Alexandrovich wrote the poem “Birch” in 1913, even before the tragic events in the Russian Empire, which radically influenced state policy. Along with many other poems about nature, it refers to the early works of the poet. In his youth, his focus was most on the theme of the peasant landscape.
A brief compositional analysis of Yesenin's poem :
“Birch” is one of those verses in which you can clearly see that its composition is based on a description of nature. It consists of four quatrains. The first includes the main meaning of the poetic work: in it, the writer reveals to the reader the source of his inspiration. The main compositional technique is personification. In addition, an analysis of Yesenin's poem indicates a lack of plot development, climax and denouement. This work can surely be attributed to the landscape genre.
A brief rhythmic analysis of Yesenin's poem gives a general idea of its form. Playfulness and lightness are ensured by the structure in which there are three forms of syllabotonic versification: monosyllabic chorea, five-foot iambic meter and two-compound dactyl. Female and male rhymes constantly alternate with each other, with the first line ending with a female rhyme, and the last with a male rhyme. Throughout the verse, Yesenin used the same rhyme, which is called "single": it rhymes only the second and last lines of the quatrain (ABCB). A brief phonetic analysis of Yesenin's poem: in a large number there are protracted vowels, in particular about and e , and sonor consonants n and r . Due to this, the intonation when reading aloud is affectionate and tender. Yesenin's style is full of sensory experiences that instantly fill the reader’s imagination with eloquent images.
The semantic analysis of the poem:
Yesenin, though attracted to urban life, but in his heart he remained faithful to the beauties of the Russian hinterland and, yearning for the landscapes of his small Motherland, wrote many lyric poems on this subject. This short, but no less beautiful, work has a theme in nature. The main role in creating a poetic image is played by the attitude to the birch of the lyrical hero, with whom Esenin himself associated himself. The analysis of the poem and the impressions it evokes reveals to the reader the youth, ease and romance of the author. At first glance, the title of the poem “Birch” is simple and uncomplicated, but it personifies the poet’s deep affection. To chant our native birch is a whole tradition of oral folk art. For Yesenin, it is not only a tree: it is a symbol of Russia. In addition, in his poems, the author more than once compared the image of his beloved woman with this truly Russian tree. The very love of Russia was Esenin's unique talent, because this feeling is the only thing that can endow the poet with immortal glory.