Describing the verse of Russian émigré poets: Poetry by Nikolay A. Shegolev and its metrical system

Abstract

The article analyses Russian émigré poetry: it describes the lyric poetry of Russian emigrants in the Far East, its connection to the poetry of the metropolis and the western branch of Russian emigration. The work is focused on one of the least studied issues in the history of Russian émigré poetry, i. e., the specific development of its verse. Lyric poetry by Nikolay A. Shegolev (1910–1975), a poet of the so-called “Russian China”, offers extensive material in this respect. His poetry has been overlooked in terms of academic verse analysis to date; however, many scholars note that he was very much involved in experimental poetry. This article presents the results of a unique comprehensive analysis of Shegolev’s metrical system. The analyzed corpus includes all of Shegolev’s lyric texts available today, i. e., 110 works, 2470 verses. The authors’ analysis embraces the different literary contexts of Russian poetry: Silver age poetry, Soviet poetry, and the émigré poetry of the western branch. Statistical calculations demonstrate that Shegolev’s lyric poetry is distinct due to a vast variety of meters and verse patterns (i. e., combinations of metric and strophic forms). Evidence is provided to substantiate the assumption that in most poems the choice of a particular model is associated with motifs, theme, plot and style. It is concluded that the logic of Shegolev’s experimental verse was shaped by his individual pragmatic vision: in the setting of historic and cultural emigration, the poet was desperately pursuing ways to preserve the connection between pre-revolutionary and Soviet culture, and to naturally synthesize the heritage of classic Russian poetry with Russian poetry of the new era.