After the revolution of 1917, he was torn between delight and longing for the passing of Russia. In 1919, he joined the imagists, wrote bold, metaphorical poetry, but increasingly drank and brawled. In 1922, he married Isadora Duncan and went abroad, where he longed for Russia, got drunk and made scenes. By 1923, the marriage had broken up, and he returned to the USSR, disappointed, ill, but still capable of brilliant lines.