Artistic specificity and linguistic features of representation of the image of the Mother of God in Russian poetry of the first half of the 20th century
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51216/2687-072X_2026_3_226-247Keywords:
image of the Mother of God, poetry of the first half of the 20th century, Symbolism, Acmeism, Futurism, Imagism.Abstract
This article explores the artistic specifics and linguistic characteristics of the representation of the Virgin Mary in Russian poetry of the first half of the 20th century. The relevance of this work stems from the growing interest in traditional spiritual and moral values as the basis for preserving cultural identity, as well as the need for an in-depth study of the relationship between language and religion.
The author focuses on analyzing the transformation of the sacred image in the context of the key poetic movements of the era: Symbolism, Acmeism, Futurism, and Imagism. The research material includes works by Alexander Blok, Anna Akhmatova, Sergei Yesenin, and Vladimir Khlebnikov. The study utilizes a comprehensive approach, including discourse analysis of texts, historical and philological methods, as well as lexical, stylistic, and literary analysis, followed by a synthesis of the obtained data. Particular attention is given to the figurative and expressive means used by poets to create a multifaceted image: color symbolism, metaphors, epithets, and syntactic constructions characteristic of each movement.
The study established that the image of the Mother of God in the poetry of this period synthesizes features of canonical church veneration and popular folklore beliefs. However, through the active use of poetic expressive devices such as metaphorical series, archaic and colloquial vocabulary, and color painting, it acquires new semantic diversity and enhances its emotional resonance. The author concludes that the evolution of the image of the Mother of God from the sublimely mystical to the lyrically intimate and tragic reflects the spiritual quest of the era and becomes an important archetype of national identity, embodying the maternal and sacrificial principles in the fate of Russia and its people.
For citation: Vorobiev О. Е., priest Artistic specificity and linguistic features of representation of the image of the Mother of God in Russian poetry of the first half of the 20th century // Theological Collection of Tambov Theological Seminary 2026, no. 3 (36), pp. 226-247. (In Russian). DOI: https://doi.org/10.51216/2687-072Х_2026_3_226-247. EDN: PGLMCG
Received 11 June 2026.
Accepted for press 16 July 2026.
Conflict of interest: The author declares no conflict of interest.
Funding: This research did not receive external funding.
The content is available under a license Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
ISSN 2687-072Х
JATS XML
RCSI
Downloads
References
Список источников
1. Ахматова А. А. Полное собрание поэзии и прозы в одном томе. Москва : Альфа книга, 2017. 1007 с.
2. Блок А. А. Собрание сочинений. В 8 т. Т. 1. Стихотворения 18971904. Москва - Ленинград : Государственное издательство художественной литературы, 1960. 716 с.
3. Есенин С. А. Полное собрание сочинений. В 7-ми т. Т. 1. Стихотворения / подгот. текста и коммент. А. А. Козловского. Москва : Наука - Голос, 1995. 672 с.
4. Новый Завет. Москва : Терирем, 2012. 896 с.
5. Пощечина общественному вкусу. Д. Бурлюк, Н. Бурлюк, А. Крученых, В. Кандинский, Б. Лившиц, В. Маяковский, В. Хлебников : [стихи, проза, статьи]. Москва : Издатель Г. Л. Кузьмин, 1912. 112, [1] с.
6. С. А. Есенин в воспоминаниях современников. В 2-х т. Т. 1. / вступ. ст., сост. и коммент. А. Н. Козловского. Москва : Худож. лит., 1986. 511 с.
7. Футуризм // Литературная энциклопедия терминов и понятий / под ред. А. Н. Николюкина ; Институт научн. информации по общественным наукам РАН. Москва : НПК «Интелвак», 2001. 1600 стб.
8. Хлебников В. В. Собрание сочинений. В 6-ти т. Т. 1. Литературная автобиография. Стихотворения 1904-1916 / под общ. ред. Р. В. Дуганова. Москва : Наследие, 2000. 544 с.
9. Хлебников В. В. Собрание сочинений. В 6 т. Т. 2. Стихотворения 1917-1922 / под общ. ред. Р. В. Дуганова. Москва : Наследие, 2001. 608 с.
Список литературы
1. Апетян М. К. Литературное течение Серебряного века - имажинизм // Молодой ученый. 2017. № 43 (177). С. 233-234. EDN: https://elibrary.ru/ZRBTTD
2. Бурдина С. В. «Трагическая симфония о судьбе поколения»: лиро-эпическая трилогия А. Ахматовой // Вестник Пермского университета. Российская и зарубежная филология. 2011. № 4 (16). С.151-156. EDN: https://elibrary.ru/OJKMIV
3. Воронова О. Е. Религиозный символ в поэтическом контексте С. Есенина // Русская речь. 1998. Вып. 3. C. 14-20.
4. Дубель К.А. Ритмические эксперименты с народным стихом в поэтической практике В. Хлебникова и А. Крученых // Новый филологический вестник. 2015. № 4 (35). С. 57-69. EDN: https://elibrary.ru/VNXXPJ
5. Земная жизнь Пресвятой Богородицы и описание святых чудотворных Её икон / сост. София Снессорева. Москва : Терирем, 2010. 640 с.
6. Казаков Е. Ф. Образ Богородицы как архетип русской души // Вестник Кемеровского государственного университета. 2014. № 3-1 (59). С. 206-209. EDN: https://elibrary.ru/TCEVPX
7. Копырюлина О. М. Семантика цветообозначения в лирике С. А. Есенина и Э. Верхарна. // Неофилология. 2021. № 26. С. 320-327. DOI: 10.20310/2587-6953-2021-7-26-320-327
8. Кузнецова В. В. София как образ вечной женственности в философии В. С. Соловьева // Известия Саратовского университета Новая серия. Серия «Философия. Психология. Педагогика». 2013. Т. 13, № 2. С. 38-42. EDN: https://elibrary.ru/ROCYIJ
9. Мечковская Н. Б. Язык и религия. Лекции по филологии и истории религий. Москва : Агентство «Фаир», 1998. 227 с.
10. Михаленко Н. В. Иконописная цветопись в библейских поэмах С. А. Есенина // Проблемы исторической поэтики. 2014. № 12. С. 455-470. EDN: https://elibrary.ru/TKQMOX
11. Соколов В. Н. Слово об Ахматовой // Царственное слово : [сб.] / Ахмат. чтения; ред.-сост. Н. В. Королева, С. А. Коваленко. Москва : Наследие, 1992. 234 с.
12. Соловьев В. С. Россия и Вселенская Церковь / пер. с фр. Г. А. Рачинского. Москва : 1991. 362 с.
13. Спивакова Е. М. Свет в мире «Стихов о Прекрасной Даме». // Филологические науки. Вопросы теории и практики. 2020. Т. 13, № 2. C. 130-134. DOI: 10.30853/filnauki.2020.2.25
14. Филатова О. А. Евангельские образы в ранней лирике Сергея Есенина // Русская речь. 2010. № 6. С. 21-27. EDN: https://elibrary.ru/NOGMFT
Sources
1. Akhmatova A. A. Polnoe sobraniepoezii iprozy v odnom tome [Complete collection of poetry and prose in one volume]. Moscow, Alfa Kniga Publ., 2017, 1,007 p. (In Russian).
2. Blok A. A. Sobranie sochinenii [Collected works]. Moscow, Leningrad, State Publishing House of Fiction Publ., 1960, vol. 1, Poems 1897-1904, 716 p. (In Russian).
3. Yesenin S. A. Polnoe sobranie sochinenii [Complete works]. Moscow, Nauka-Golos Publ., 1995, vol. 1, Poems, 672 p. (In Russian).
4. Novyi zavet [The New Testament]. Moscow, Terirem Publ., 2012, 896 p. (In Russian).
5. Poshchechina obshchestvennomu vkusu [A slap in the face of public taste]. Moscow, Publisher G. L. Kuzmin Publ., 1912, 112, [1] p. (In Russian).
6. S. A. Yesenin v vospominaniyakh sovremennikov [S. A. Yesenin in the memoirs of his contemporaries]. Moscow, Khudozhestvennaya Literatura Publ., vol. 1, 1986, 511 p. (In Russian).
7. Futurism [Futurism]. Literaturnaya entsiklopediya terminov iponyatii [Literary Encyclopedia of Terms and Concepts]. Moscow, NPK Intelvac Publ., 2001, 1600 col. (In Russian).
8. Khlebnikov V. V. Sobranie sochinenii [Collected works]. Moscow, IMLI RAS “Nasledie” Publ., 2000, vol. 1, Literary autobiography. Poems 19041916, 544 p. (In Russian).
9. Khlebnikov V. V. Sobranie sochinenii [Collected works]. Moscow, IMLI RAS “Nasledie” Publ., 2001, vol. 2, Poems 1917-1922, 608 p. (In Russian).
References
1. Apetyan M. K. Literaturnoe techenie Serebryanogo veka - imazhinizm [Literary movement of the Silver Age - Imagism]. EDN: ZRBTTD Molodoi uchenyi [Young Scientist]. 2017, no. 43 (177), pp. 233-234. (In Russian).
2. Burdina S. V. “Tragicheskaya simfoniya o sud’be pokoleniya”: liriko-epicheskaya trilogiya A. Akhmatovoi [“Tragic Symphony about the Fate of a Generation”: A. Akhmatova’s Lyric-Epic Trilogy]. Vestnik Permskogo universiteta. Rossiiskaya i zarubezhnaya filologiya [Bulletin of Perm University. Russian and Foreign Philology]. 2011, no. 4 (16), pp. 151156. (In Russian). EDN: https://elibrary.ru/OJKMIV
3. Voronova O. E. Religioznyi simvol v poeticheskom kontekste S. Esenina [Religious symbol in the poetic context of S. Yesenin]. Russkaya reck’ [Russkaya Rech]. 1998, issue 3, pp. 14-20. (In Russian).
4. Dubel K. A. Ritmicheskie eksperimenty s narodnym stikhom v poetich-eskoi praktike V. Khlebnikova i A. Kruchenykh [Rhythmic experiments with folk verse in the poetic practice of V. Khlebnikov and A. Kruchenykh]. Novyi filologickeskii vestnik [New Philological Bulletin]. 2015, no. 4 (35), pp. 57-69. (In Russian). EDN: https://elibrary.ru/VNXXPJ
5. Zemnaya zkizn’ Presvyatoi Bogoroditsy i opisanie svyatykk ckudotvornykk Ee ikon [The earthly life of the Most Holy Theotokos and a description of Her holy miracle-working icons]. Moscow, Terirem Publ., 2010, 640 p. (In Russian).
6. Kazakov E. F. Obraz Bogoroditsy kak arkhetip russkoi dushi [The image of the Theotokos as an archetype of the Russian soul]. Vestnik Kemerovskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta [Bulletin of Kemerovo State University]. 2014, no. 3-1 (59), pp. 206-209. (In Russian). EDN: https://elibrary.ru/TCEVPX
7. Kopyryulina O. M. Semantika svetooboznacheniya v lirike S. A. Yesenina i E. Verkharna [Semantics of color designation in the lyrics of S. A. Yesenin and E. Verhaeren. Neofilologiya [Neophilology]. 2021, no. 26, pp. 320-327. (In Russian). DOI: 10.20310/2587-6953-2021-7-26-320-327
8. Kuznetsova V. V. Sofiya kak obraz vechnoi zhenstvennosti v filosofii V. S. Solov’eva [Sophia as an image of eternal femininity in the philosophy of V. S. Solovyov]. EDN: ROCYIJ Izvestiya Saratovskogo universiteta Novaya seriya. Seriya “Filosofiya. Psikhologiya. Pedagogika”. [Bulletin of the Saratov University New Series. Series “Philosophy. Psychology. Pedagogy”]. 2013, vol. 13, no. 2, pp. 38-42. (In Russian).
9. Mechkovskaya N. B. Yazyk i religiya. Lektsii po filologii i istorii religii [Language and religion. Lectures on philology and history of religions]. Moscow, Fair Agency Publ., 1998, 227 p. (In Russian).
10. Mikhalenko N. V. Ikonopisnaya tsvetopis’ v bibleiskikh poemakh S. A. Yesenina [Iconographic color painting in the Biblical poems by S. A. Yesenin]. Problemy istoricheskoipoetiki [Problems of Historical Poetics]. 2014, no. 12, pp. 455-470. (In Russian). EDN: https://elibrary.ru/TKQMOX
11. Sokolov V. N. Slovo ob Akhmatovoi [Speaking about Akhmatova]. Akhmatovskie chteniya. Sbornik “Tsarstvennoe slovo” [Akhmatova’s Readings. Collection “The Royal Word”]. Moscow, Nasledie Publ., 1992, 234 p. (In Russian).
12. Soloviev V. S. Rossiya i Vselenskaya Tserkov’ [Russia and the Universal Church]. Moscow, 1991, 362 p. (In Russian).
13. Spivakova E. M. Svet v mire “Stikhov o Prekrasnoi Dame” [Light in the World of “Poems about the Beautiful Lady”]. Filologicheskie nauki. Voprosy teorii iprktiki [Philological Sciences. Theoretical and Practical Issues]. 2020, vol. 13, no. 2, pp. 130-134. (In Russian). DOI: 10.30853/fil-nauki.2020.2.25
14. Filatova O. A. Evangel’skie obrazy v rannei lirike Sergeya Yesenina [Gospel images in Sergei Yesenin’s early lyrics of]. Russkaya rech [Russkaya Rech]. 2010, no. 6, pp. 21-27. (In Russian). EDN: https://elibrary.ru/NOGMFT
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
Categories
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Theological Collection of Tambov Theological Seminary
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
