Based on the fact that a comprehensive study of the author idiostyles and description of the transformations of archetypal and traditional images-symbols is a prerequisite for a qualitative study of the history of a national artistic language, the article explores the peculiarities of metaphors and symbols implementation in the poetic language of Todos Osmachka, namely zoonyms, ornithonyms, dendronyms and florisms. For the first time ever individual figurative parallels of the author are described in details, a comparative method and seme-component analysis are used to establish semantic transformations of such plant symbols as верба, калина, дуб, ромен-зілля, акація, дзвіночок, роза, semantic transformations of genonymum of квітка and faunonyms such as вовк and ворон, ornithonyms голубка, орел, зозуля. The traditional symbolic parallels as «людина – дерево», «осінь – кінець життя», as well as those that indicate the specificity of the author's worldview: «квіточка-дзвіночок – серце поета», «зрубана акація – втрачене кохання» are considered. It is emphasised on the necessity for a clear distinction between individual authorial and inherited symbols, consequently for an adequate interpretation of such concepts as “archetypal image-symbol”, “individual author's symbol”, “folk poetic symbol” etc. For this analysis there were taken deliberately both the early works of the poet and his works created in exile. Such approach gives the opportunity to trace the development of figurative paradigms. It is pointed out that despite the absolute value as a subject of study, the considered images-symbols do not constitute an idiostylistic dominant. They usually perform an auxiliary function and form the background for the perception of another, more important, according to the author’s opinion, image. But their usage by the poet even during a prolonged exileprovides the indication that these faunonyms and “plant” symbols are components of the mental base that should determine the ethnicity of the author. To establish the primary meaning of traditional images-symbols were used the works of Mykola Kostomarov “Slavic Mythology” and of Jack Tresidder “Dictionary of Symbols”, semecomponent analysis was performed with the help of “The Dictionary of the Ukrainian language” in 11 volumes.