The article establishes presence of different figurative series and created
by them plot lines in A. S. Pushkin’s poetic narrative “House in Kolomna”
(1830), written with octaves. The actants in one of plot lines are personified
composition elements – masculine and feminine syllables. This line finishes
with allegorical conclusion about classic Italian octave inexpediency in Russian
rhyme. Pushkin’s rhyme “Autumn” (1833) also written with octaves contains
allusion to that metapoetic plot of “House in Kolomna”. The doubt, expressed in
final of the rhyme, resonate with skeptical final of “House”. For all that, octave
as strophic form, although not in its classic variant, has nevertheless got some
use in Pushkin’s époque, particularly by M. Yu. Lermontov.
Metaportic reflection of using octave as difficult form for Russian poetry took
place later by D. S. Merezhkovsky. And Pushkin’s device itself of rhyme composition
elements personifying was prolonged in Russian modern poetry. It was
regularly used by V. F. Khodasevich: in rhymes “Peon and caesura”, “Poor
rhymes”, “Daktyles”, “If not the jamb four-footed line…”. Sensual effect of this
device is experience of changed reality, especially stressed by Hodasevich in all
his life summarized rhyme “If not the jamb four-footed line…”.
Lyric subject’s placing into inward space of text inhabited by personified
composition devices realizes a kind of “alchemic” technique of poetry, because
composition devices embody such elements of poetry as rhythm, metre, intonation.
Revealed by Pushkin, this device became used in 20th century. It anticipated
modern conception of “word as object”, according to which in word-sign
equalizes aspects of insigning and insigned. Such theoretical combination of two
object lines is possible only for poetic mind understanding how “word itself”
generates image and plot. That is why just the poets became the theorists of
“word as object”: A. Belyi, V. Khlebnikov. In second half of 20th century combination
of two object lines became working device in Russian poetry: it was
used by J. Brodsky, I. Zhdanov and other metarealists, S. Gandlevsky, often by
S. Samoylenko. In prose this device was actively used by V. Nabokov, and then
S. Sokolov. It is notable that modernist literati regularly used combination of
two object lines device – V. Khodasevich, V. Nabokov, V. Khlebnikov – constantly
stressed their creation’s tie with Pushkin’s tradition.
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