Introductive sentences in M. Y. Lermontov's lyrics

The analysis of initial sentences and lines within structures of poetic works of small genres is presented in the article. The relevance and novelty of the research is demonstrated through the complex structural-semantic analysis of initial phrases inherent to M. Y. Lermontov poetry. The material of the article is based on Lermontov’s poetry: 253 texts of poems by M. Y. Lermontov written in 1828-1841. The length of introductive structures in Lermontov’s works ranges from one to eighteen lines. The most frequent introductions coincide with boundaries of quatrains and octave, though some introductive sentences are in several stanzas. Lermontov’s poem rarely starts with a mononuclear, monopredicative structure or a two-part simple sentence with ellipsis of components. The tendency to complicate introductive structures from the first to the second stage of the work is observed. In terms of semantics, factual, chronotopical, existential, descriptive, interpretive, rhetorical, and appellative introductions are encountered in the first phrases of Lermontov’s poetry. The analysis of poetic introductions allows us to extend denoted structural trends in syntactic organization of lyrical discourse in general. The study of relationship between syntax and rhythm-metric model of poetic introductions is instrumental in determining characteristics of “grammar of poetry”.