Symbolic Image Evolution in the Poetry of Boris Poplavsky

The article is devoted to the study of some poetic imagery features of Boris Poplavsky, who is one of the representatives of the first wave of Russian emigration. The paper aims to trace the evolution of the image-symbol in Poplavsky’s poetic system. The dynamics of the meanings of symbolic imagery in the poet’s lyrics is considered by the example of the image-symbol of snow in three poetry collections: “Flags”, “Snow Hour” and “Automatic Poems”. Structural, descriptive, cultural, historical and psychological methods are used as the main research methods, thanks to which the image-symbol of snow is considered in a historical and literary perspective, and motivic analysis is also used to link the semantics of snow as a natural phenomenon with a whole range of physiological and emotional states, intra- and interpersonal relationships. As a result of the research, it was found that the image-symbol of snow in Poplavsky’s poetry collections undergoes a significant evolution of meanings: in the first collection “Flags” it appears as a symbol of death, in the collection “Snow Hour” – as a fear of death, in the collection “Automatic Poems”, in addition to the motives of death and fear, it accompanies the motives of separation, ignorance, sleep, and loss of a sense of reality (derealization and depersonalization). In Poplavsky’s lyrics, the image-symbol of snow evolves in its meanings from those peculiar to its predecessors, primarily symbolists, to individual and personal ones caused by the tragic circumstances of the poet’s life and worldview.