The excerpts from the new book by Zakhar Prilepin "Yesenin. We'll meet again the stars foretell" feature examples of personal and creative interaction of S. A. Yesenin with prominent representatives of the country's poetic scene of the 1910-1920s. (A.A. Blok, imaginists, "new peasant" poets), who had a significant impact on his worldview, life and career. The author notes that there was a special connection between Yesenin and Blok, which can conditionally be described as the "student - mentor" opposition: for example, Yesenin shared Blok’s ideas about the "music of revolution", about the purpose and significance of the changes that were taking place in the country; adopted the methods and means of creating color and sound images, which are typical for the poetics of the famous symbolist; like Blok, he rejected a mocking, sarcastic attitude towards the depicted; followed the same vector of selfknowledge and selfawareness. The ambiguous reaction of Yesenin to the death of Blok combines the feeling of sorrow, orphanhood and the desire to "surpass the teacher", to take the vacant place of "the master of Russian poetry." Together with other imaginists, Yesenin prepared a "great invasion into the old culture of Europe", declaring his superiority among contemporary poets, which was facilitated by the success of imaginism, the popularity of which could be overshadowed neither by A.V. Lunacharsky, nor by the weak resistance of representatives of other literary movements who could not meet the competition of the deliberately outspoken selfpresentation of imaginists. The author draws attention to the fact that Yesenin, however, openly showed sympathy for the less successful "new peasant" poets, trying to help develop their literary careers. However, the failed performances in the Pegasus Stall and the lack of interest in the metropolitan audience only further alienated the poet’s supporters, who accused him of betraying previous ideological and aesthetic worldviews.
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