Sacral rhizome of poetry in the essays by K.D. Balmont and S.A. Yesenin: culturological commentation

The object of the article is the poetry rhizome phenomenon which has the qualities of apophaticism. The subject of the research is apophaticism of poetry. The material for the article is represented by well-known essays on art by two representatives of the Silver Age, K.D. Balmont and S.A. Yesenin. The cultural and philosophical analysis focuses on the interrelation of the Logos and silence, the phenomenal and the noumenal, the rational and pre-rational in the poets’ essays “Poetry as Magic” and “Mary’s Keys”. Much attention is paid to the problem of metaphysics in creativity, its apophatic aspect in the Russian cosmo-psycho-logos, which is crucially important for understanding the ontological issues connected with the writers' creativity. The research methodology involves the holistic onto-hermeneutic analysis aimed at highlighting the cultural potential of the given works of art, which makes it possible to describe the importance of the poetic word for a Russian in culturological terms, to delve into the specifics of the national way of life. Much attention is paid to the comparison of the two essays on art in the folkloristic and mythological aspect, as created by the Symbolist poet and the Imaginist poet at the same time. The research results may be of interest for literary historians who treat literature in the aspect of its inclusion in the space of a broader dialogue of cultures. Additionally, they may be used in teaching cultural studies and Russian philosophy.