Mayakovsky’s poem A vy mogli by? as a “boundary” text

Abstract

The article discusses the special position of the poem “A vy mogli by?” in the context of Mayakovsky’s creative career, concerning the point of his early non-heroic series. In Mayakovsky’s early poems (“Noč’”, “Utro”, “Port”, “Ulichnoe”, and “Iz ulicy v ulicu”) there is no grand “I” that is so characteristic of the poet’s writing and that would represent the main source of creative will. The “boundary” status of “A vy mogli by?” is determined by the fact that the poem introduces the lyrical hero of Mayakovsky for the first time, and for the first time the strategy of the art world development in the anthropological terms is defined. In connection with the “world-building” goal, Mayakovsky’s creative interest in symbolism is comprehended, and the transformation of symbolist imagery in the process of developing a new poetics is traced. It is shown that the search for a compositional solution reflects the formation of the lyrical hero settings. The final version of the text is considered in the aspect of the most important properties of the poetics of the early Mayakovsky: the recreation of the art world, the image of the newly created reality simultaneously designs the position of the lyrical hero in the world. Due to the dynamic principle of composition and boldness of associations, the things familiar to the eye and ear appear in their own willingness to change. In the result, heterogeneous objects filling the space become united: this is unity of the face (the face of the universe). The question about the addressee of the final line and the meaning of the title of the poem is stated: looking at the face of the universe, “I” (Mayakovsky’s lyrical hero) hopes to find kinship with it in the act of creation.