ABSTRACT
Most of the Serapions, moreover, had fought in the ranks of the Red Army. A majority were fervently interested in the progress of the revolution, and it is universally agreed; even by the champions of the “party line in poetry,” that much of the literature most valued by the communist party has been produced by them. This is admitted by the party critics with surprise, or is even advanced against the Serapions as though it proved that they were wrong in their declaration of creative independence. Trotsky admonished the Serapions of the danger of drifting away from the revolution through their unwillingness to ally their art with its policies. The nature of the storm, however, and the fate of any man heroic enough to stand publicly against it, can be seen in the experience of an early teacher and inspirer of the group, Eugene Zamyatin.
