The Peasant Poet Who Defied Lenin: Klyuev and the Russian Soul

Nikolai Klyuev was a peasant poet who captured the soul of rural Russia in verse. He welcomed the February Revolution but grew horrified as Bolsheviks uprooted village life. This episode traces Klyuev's journey from celebrated '‘peasant bard’ to Soviet outcast, his friendship with Sergei Yesenin, his mystical poems like ‘Pogorelshchina’ (The Burnt Ruins), and his death by firing squad in 1937. Through Klyuev’s story we see the clash between revolutionary ideology and the ancient rhythms of the Russian countryside — a conflict that cost millions of lives in collectivisation. We also touch on the ‘Skoptsy’ sect, the ‘new peasant poets’ movement, and how the Bolsheviks weaponised culture against its own people.

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