Город и море в поэзии Семена Кесельмана

Abstract

Semen Keselman (pen name Eskess) is one of the writers of Odessa literary school 1920-th years whose name was forgotten for a long period of time. Yury Olesha (1929), Zinaida Shishova (1936), Alexandr Bisk (1947) mentioned the lines from his poetry. In 1977 Valentin Kataev depicted him in his book „My Diamond wreath”. Kataev named Keselman „eskess”, described his life in details and cited the lines of the most well-known poems „Winter engraving”, „Agnessa”, „Saint Nicholas”. After the novel was published Odessa researcher Sergei Luschik restored the biography of the writer and published the book of his poems „Glass dreams” (2013). Semen Keselman was born in Odessa in 1899. He finished the fifth Odessa gymnasium with gold medal and graduated from New Russian University (the faculty of law). In gymnasium he started to write poems and to draw. His first manuscript is dated by 1914. His first poems were published in local newspaper „Odessa mail” (1911). In 1911-1912 he was a contributor of Odessa comic magazine „The Crocodile”. In 1914 Semen Keselman and Petr Pilskii started the circle of young poets. Among the members of the circle were Eduard Bagrickij, Valentin Kataev, Anatolij Fioletov. In that year Keselman’s poems were published in two literary miscellanies „The Sun way” and „Silk lights”. During the Civil War the poet published his poems in next magazines: „he Southern Flicker”, „The Flickers”, „The Figaro”, „Melpomene”. He also participated in literatures evenings. In 1922 he stopped writing poems, explaining that the New Power doesn’t need his poems. He died in 1940. His lyrical poems were signed „Eskess”. In lyrical and in ironic poems the city landscape plays an important role. He described the past of Odessa (side-street Red), and the present (Autumn country-side, The Spring, The night city, The barrel organ). He depicts two contrary images of the city: the past is joyful and bright, the present – slush, sadness, decay and despair. In his ironic poems (In caféshantan, The lyrical stanza, The view from the window – the same picture of vulgarity and sadness. The Sea is opposite to the city. All the poems about the Sea are lyrical and signed „Keselman”. The contrast of the Sea and the city (The evening city, In red House), sea landscape, tragic destinies of the sailors (The Barks, The Ship’s song, The landslide). The most popular poems about the Sea are two poems of the same name „Saint Nicholas” (The serf got subsided, 1913 and Where the miracles on The Black Sea, 1917). Keselman was sure that they are the best.