The theme of the poet and poetry in J. Brodsky's early compositions. The problem of the romantic code

The article focuses on such a controversial issue in literary studies as the closeness of Brodsky's works to the aesthetics of Romanticism. The author of the article discovers the elements of the Romantic code and determines their functions in Brodsky's poems of the 1960s devoted to the theme of the poet and poetry. The ideas, subjects, and vocabulary of Romanticism play a major role in developing this theme. In his early compositions, the poet is often portrayed as a bard; he is an individual combining in himself the material origins with the ideal ones; he values art, freedom of creativity, and individuality above all other things. The ambiguous nature of the poet enables him to gain immortality through self-objectification in his own works. The conflict between the poet and the crowd, traditional for Romanticism, is amplified by an additional one between the poet's other two representations: as a poet-human and as a poet-creator. The problem of poetry genesis is not drawn to a final resolution: the author acknowledges the importance of the intuitive, as well as the rational in the creative process. The Romantic idea about the divine origin of poetry and about poet-prophet is denied. The article highlights the connection between the romantic ideas, manifested in Brodsky's early compositions, and his biography, and personal outlook. The author comes to the conclusion that the use of the Romantic code is a way of demonstrating Brodsky's attitude towards a dialogue with the tradition, and this dialogue aims at separating the real and true-to-life from the theoretical and fictitious.