The Paradise Lost as a Metaphor in Russian Poetry of the XVIII–XIX Centuries: Origin and Existence

The article is devoted to the study of the metaphor Paradise Lost, which goes back to John Milton’s poem title, in Russian poetry of the XVIII–XX centuries. The objectives of the study are to analyze the specifics of metaphorization of the phrase ‘lost paradise’ in Russian poetry. Within mythological topology, the image points to paradise (in the poems of Zhukovsky, Polonsky, Davydov, in Merezhkovsky’s — through Dante’s world), it can denote Italy (G. V. Ivanov), a monastery (Lokhvitskaya), the lost spirit homeland (Lermontov, Shaposhnikov), spring (Merezhkovsky). In the psychological aspect, the metaphor is interpreted as an image of childhood (Lokhvitskaya, Basovsky) and lost love (Lokhvitskaya, Merkuryeva, Sologub, Mayakovsky, Semenov, Schwartz, Chertkov), the alluring past (Klenovsky), human unity (Eisenberg). The image of Milton’s book itself is encountered (Mayakovsky sees it as condemnedly religious, Shalamov — as a poetic achievement, Lisnyanskaya — as a sign of dreaminess). There are parodic references to paradise lost as a world of ideals (Mey, Zhemchuzhnikov, V. S. Solovyov). The psychological interpretation of the metaphor deepens when using the image as a sign of the original state of the human soul (Teplyakov), fruitlessly sought (Chukovsky, Sologub). Paradise lost receives sublime interpretations: the goal of creativity (Zdanevich), the starting point of labor (Kuzmina-Karavaeva), the end point of life (Terapiano), mystical experience (Velichansky). The metaphor of paradise lost has also political interpretations: the monarchical past of Italy (Karabanov), the missed socio-cultural opportunities of Russian proletariat (Ragozin, Gatov); finally, pre-revolutionary Russia, and then Russia as such (Bunin, S. M. Solovyov, Ladinsky, Kublanovsky, Gorbanevskaya, Basovsky). Thus, the article draws a conclusion about the wide semantic variability of the metaphor in Russian poetry is logical.