On the main-meta-song by Bulat Okudzhava

Abstract

The article analyses Bulat Okudzhava’s ‘The Main Song’ [‘Glavnaya pesenka’] (1962). The poem’s metapoetic leitmotif and expressive structure are examined in a broader context of corresponding common literary motifs, Okudzhava’s poetic invariants, and immediately contemporary subtexts, including in song lyrics. The intertextual field comprises poems of the same metric structure, namely, three-foot amphibrachs. M. Gasparov specified themetre’s appropriate halos: suggestions of a drinking song ( ‘zazdravnaya,’ sung to toast someone’s health); a ballad; an allusion to Heine’s manner (memory, dreams, daily life); a Romantic intonation; and, lastly, a ceremonial verse, including metapoetic works, i.e., written by poets about poetry (namely, V. Bryusov’s, A. Akhmatova’s, and V. Khodasevich’s poems). Okudzhava’s ‘The Main Song’ belongs with the aforementioned series, as well as with poems united by the leitmotif of walking (departing), rejection and the actual process of poetry writing. A detailed analysis of Okudzhava’s intertext and method helps reveal the originality of the poet’s take on a traditional topic.