Pugachev by Sergei Yesenin. Short summary

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Dreaming of a free life, the Cossack Yemelyan Pugachev rebels against tsarist authority. Cossacks join him, more and more people flock to his army.

1 minute

The main character of the poem is the freedom-loving Cossack Yemelyan Pugachev, who finds himself after a long wanderings on the banks of the river Yaik. Here he meets a local resident, who tells him that the people are waiting for a «people’s tsar» who would free them.

Yemelyan plans a coup d’état. He goes to the Kalmyks and convinces them to leave the army and join him. Pugachev’s army grows rapidly. The rebellious Cossacks join him. Pugachev and the Cossack atamans decide to march on Moscow.

The rebels are joined by a runaway Siberian convict Khokhlusha, who proposes to capture Ufa, where there are plenty of supplies and weapons.

But the first defeats lead to discord among the rebels. One of the troublemakers is Tworogov, who offers to turn Yemelyan over to the authorities. Pugachev tries to stop the panic, but to no avail. To put an end to the loss of life, the Cossacks tie up their own leader and hand him over to the authorities.