DREAM MOTIF IN VLADISLAV KHODASEVICH’S POETRY COLLECTION “EUROPEAN NIGHT”

Abstract

The article describes the semantic content and poetics of the dream motif present in Vladislav Khodasevich’s collection “European Night”, and we form our own concept of “inspiration”. It is shown that the dream leitmotif characterises the psychological state of the lyrical hero associated with the arrival or absence of creative inspiration. The semantics of the motif is implemented antinomically. On the one hand, the dream-inspiration saves the lyrical hero from the mundane routine. On the other hand, ordinary earthly life in some poems appears to the lyrical subject as a dream-obsession. The story of this dream-obsession gets a particularly tragic sound in the context of the collection. The expanded metaphor “European Night” in the author’s incarnation reinforces two intentions – obsession dream and salvation dream are opposed. In the lyrical space of Vladislav Khodasevich’s “European Night”, dream becomes a metaphor for a special borderline state, instilled and even “imposed” from the outside on the creator hero. According to the poet’s artistic philosophy, inspiration, being the result of the mobilisation of all word artist’s abilities, is an “otherworldly” being sent from above, leading to greater creative productivity. The “dream” motif in the contradictory context of the above-mentioned poems of “European Night” indicates the salvation function of inspiration, which allows the creator to get rid of the “earthly dream”, to spiritually “see through” and to lead people.