First of May
First of May - context Summary
May Day Celebration
Composed for a May Day celebration, Yesenin’s poem records a speaker’s vivid eyewitness account of public revelry, toasts, and marching crowds. The narrator alternates sincere solidarity with the working class and light irony, moving through sequential toasts—to the government, workers, peasantry—and ending with a self-directed drink. Local detail (Balakhani) and the speaker’s mingled enthusiasm and caution give the poem a social, convivial backdrop rather than doctrinal polemic.
Read Complete AnalysesThere is music, poetry and dances, Lies, flattery too... What if I'm abused for my Stanzas - What I wrote is true. I saw a May Day celebration - Now my head whirls. I'd gladly break my back embracing Those pretty girls. Can "whimperers" ever, I wonder, Visualise Balakhani resplendent under Those sunny skies? Such scenes bring songs to the heart springing. I thrilled to view Those 40,000 marching, singing And drinking, too. My verse! Don't be too Left or modish! Simpler is best. It was the health of oil we toasted And of the guests. The first toast of the day proposing My arm I bent To drain the glass, congratulating The government. The second toast, alert lest drink should Trouble provoke. I proudly drank to the working-class While someone spoke. I raised my third glass, feeling slightly A potentate, To changes that might the peasant's lot Alleviate. Drink deep, my heart! But not point-blank To cause my death... That's why the fourth toast which I drank Was to myself.
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