A day that spanned years… David Samoylov’s sketch ‘A Day with Zabolotsky’ [‘Den s Zabolotskim’]: Semantic counterpoints

Abstract

The article discusses the history and context of D. Samoylov’s poem ‘Zabolotsky in Tarusa’ [‘Zabolotsky v Taruse’] (1958–1961), inspired by Samoylov’s personal memories of the meeting with the poet, as well as the sketch ‘A Day with Zabolotsky’ [‘Den s Zabolotskim’]. Samoylov’s poem and sketch offer two different portrayals of the older-generation poet, both using various associations and allusions to Zabolotsky’s lyrical works and biography. Reznichenko’s choice of the two works was primarily guided by the fact that Zabolotsky was an artistic as well as moral influence on Samoylov, who appreciated the other poet’s fascinating and unconventional personality and moral code that distinguished him from fellow poets. In Samoylov’s depictions, the single day spent in Zabolotsky’s company translates into the last day in the life of the poet, who senses the approaching end; in some mystical way, his premonition begins to affect the narrator. Through comparison of Samoylov’s journal entries with the sketch and the poem, the researcher finds that Zabolotsky’s image as a hero watching his ‘last sunset’ becomes more nuanced, prompting Samoylov to develop the reminiscence into a tribute to the poet in its classical sense of a monument.