Early sonnets of Pavel Antokolsky in the literary continuum of literature of the beginning of the 20th century

The article is devoted to the evolution of Pavel Antokolsky’s sonnet writing, focusing on two key aspects: the early (“youthful”) sonnets of 1914–1920 and the large-scale “Wreath of Sonnets” (1920–1967). The early sonnets, created under the influence of the Vakhtangov Theatre Studio and the poetics of the late Silver Age, reflect the search for a poetic voice and biographical motifs (love, art, fate). Having remained in the archives of the poet and his descendants for a long time, they were first published in 2010. The central motifs of the “Wreath of Sonnets” are time, memory, sacralization of the creative process, and the fate of the “revolutionary” generation of Soviet poets, which connects the wreath with Antokolsky’s late lyrics. The article emphasizes the unity of the two periods: early experiments became the basis for the virtuoso mastery of the form of mature creativity, while the “Wreath of Sonnets” represents an understanding of the creative and life path. The analysis is based on archival materials, sonnet texts and the literary context of the era.

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