"Нетварная твердь": Вяч. Иванов и С. Булгаков (об одном стихотворении)

Studia Litterarum. 2022. Т. 7. № 1. С. 338–355.

Ermakova L.

Russian symbolist Vyacheslav Ivanov and religious philosopher Sergius Bulgakov in 1905–1918 were connected by formal relations and friendship. In 1914 Ivanov published the poem “Mother” (“Te glyby chto nezhno zasypali grob ...”), with a dedication to Bulgakov. The article discusses this poem and its draft version, which allows to trace the movement of the poet's creative thought. The biographical context is the death of Bulgakov's mother – he described his intimate experience in the “Unfading Light” (“Svet Nevecherniy”). Special attention is paid to the symbols and motives typical to Ivanov's poetics: the firmament, the sun-heart and the motive of transparency. An idea, common both for Ivanov and Bulgakov, is that of some pre-world feminine principle that appears in their texts under different names: as Sophia, the Soul of the World, Great Mother, Mother Earth. They are also united by the special attitude towards death which is understood in a Christian way – as a birth into a new life and just a step on the path of resurrection. The intertextual connections of the poem with the philosophical and theological works by Bulgakov may be considered as a result of mutual influence and their reliance on common sources.

Keywords: символизм, Vyacheslav Ivanov, Вячеслав Иванов, symbolism, Сергий Булгаков, Sergius Bulgakov, Sophia, Mother Earth, София, Мать-Земля

Publication based on the results of: Магия, астрология и наука в русском модернизме (2019)