Urban themes in Russian and Belarusian poetry of the late XIX : early XX century (based on poetry of V. Brusov and M. Bahdanovič)

The city as a cultural phenomenon arises in a conflict with nature and initially promises security to the human being who is forced to exists in a hostile world. The city helps to overcome the feeling of helplessness, weakness and fear of the forces of nature and becomes an instrument of vertical space partitioning. Brusov reinvents the reality of Russia on the eve of global cataclysms and concludes that the city has a destructive power and a dreadful influence on the human. The soulless machines have become the symbol of the city. Brusov in his poetry makes references to the biblical interpretation of the city as the concentration of vice, poverty and corruption. In the city's symbology Brusov presents an eschatological code – we can talk about a specific retransmission of the old testament motif of the New Zion daughter from The Book of Lamentations. M. Bahdanovič found the inspiration in the traditions of Classicism and the Enlightenment, in neo-romantic aesthetics, and the traditions of the Decadence, Impressionism and Symbolism. West-European modernist poetry not only reflected the mood of fin de siècle, but also was in tune with the personal Bahdanovič’s feelings and experience. Bahdanovič is also an important person in the Belarusian-Russian cultural dialogue. Talking about Brusov’s creativity and his impact on M. Bahdanovič’s poetry, one essential fact should be noted. There are some similarities in ideological and artistic quest of both poets in terms of the artistic orientations and instruments for their implementation. Both Brusov and Bahdanovič praises the pure beauty. In their urban poetry we can see the manifestation of an idea of a city as supreme, perfect reality. We can also find semantic dualism of the symbology of the city as a lost paradise and as a place with an aura of sacredness which is directly associated with the act of sacrifice