Владислав Ходасевич в «Столбцах» Заболоцкого

Abstract

The essay describes the influence of Vladislav Khodasevich’s poems on Nikolai Zabolotsky’s literary work. Once under his own name but mostly under the nom de plume “Gulliver”, Khodasevich repeatedly addressed Zabolotsky’s poetry in a derogatory or dismissive tone, noting, nevertheless, its striking difference from general literary production. The authors establish that Khodasevich’s fallacy was based solely on his acquaintance with the poet’s publications in the “thick Soviet magazines”. Zabolotsky’s “Pillars”, published in February of 1929, did not reach Paris. That also explains a comfortable silence of the émigré critics regarding this most striking debut in the history of Russian verse. If Khodasevich had an opportunity to get acquainted with the book in its entirety, he would have recognized in Zabolotsky the echoes of his own poems. Besides the “Pillars” the reflections on Khodasevich’s poetry could be found in Zabolotsky’s other poems of the late 1920s and early 1930s.