CYCLIZATION IN OLEKSA STEFANOVYCH’S POETRY

Abstract

The article analyses the peculiarities of cyclization in Oleksa Stefanovych’s (1899—1970) poetry. Based on the theoretical definitions of a lyrical cycle (cycle of poems, sequence of poems) formulated in the works of Rolf Fieguth, Mikhail Darvin, Larisa Liapina, Ronald Vroon, Leonid Yanitskii, et al., the research outlines the main compositional, stylistic, thematic, and functional traits of Stefanovych’s lyrical cycles and demonstrates the evolution of certain key images in them. The material for analysis is taken from the collection of Stefanovych’s poetry published posthumously in Toronto (“Zibrani Tvory” / “Collected Works”, 1975). The special attention is paid to his apocalyptic cycle “Kintsesvitnie” (“The World’s End”) that demonstrates the whole complex of architectonic and stylistic features inherent to a cycle of poems, particularly the presence of the ‘cyclic subject’ defined by R. Fieguth as “the subject of all creative, especially compositional, acts which are the basis of this poetic cycle” [13, 19]. The composition of “Kintsesvitnie” is based on the combination of the chronological and the plot development principles allowing to encompass Stefanovych’s creative work as a whole. The poems from various periods are selected and arranged so that they form a clear cyclic structure with steady imagery and a distinct thematic echo between its beginning and its end. Their dating reflects the consistency of the poet’s catastrophic worldview declared by the cycle’s title. It also demonstrates the evolution of its key metaphors (an evil bird, a thunderstorm, a trumpet) that arise in Stefanovych’s early works as visual or acoustic images and gradually evolve into the apocalyptic symbols of “Kintsesvitnie”.