Metaphorical Structure of the Poetry of the symbolists (based on the poems by V. Ivanov)

Abstract

The aim of this article is to show that metaphorical and symbolic word in the symbolist poetics are the interdependent phenomena, and to reveal how a poem becomes symbolic through the realization of a certain metaphorical structure, based on the analysis of V. Ivanov's poems. The study of Ivanov's work “Dve stihii v russkom simvolisme” (“Two Elements in the Russian Symbolism”) has led to the conclusion that the author’s thinking is personalized and creates entities; in the numerous phenomena of existence, he sees a single personal entity. Thus arises the semantic perspective of defining a single essence through a series of comparisons. This is why a number of Ivanov's poems are based on multiple metaphor, a framework of definitions expressed in metaphors. In each of the analyzed works (“Ulov” – “The catch”, “Alpiyskiy rog” – “Alpine horn”, the cycle “Lira i os’” – “Lyre and axis”), the poet establishes several levels of metaphorization, where the real and the ideal planes are constantly exchanging places. The metaphorical comparison of different objects builds transitions from one level to another. Thus, a kind of synthesis emerges, things become transparent, flexible, and they are permeated by upward currents. It is this dynamic symbol of existence that makes it possible to accumulate and revive the past content, and interact with the world cultural context. It has a certain structure – a crystal, whose facets are separate and intrinsically valuable, but deep down they are united, and this unity lives in each of the facets. The detected structure also expresses the main tendency of Ivanov's creative work: the contemplation of an immediate feeling, an instinct, i.e. a heroic attempt to break through to a sense of the unity of everything with everything through rational comprehension and analysis.