The significance of composition in comprehending the semantics of Marina Tsvetaeva’s lyric poems (as applied to the poems “Neither Here nor There” and “Three Kisses”)

Abstract

The article deals with two Marina Tsvetaeva’s early poems “Neither Here nor There” and “Three Kisses” consisting of three quatrains, which are organized according to a similar compositional principle: each stanza involves a repetition of the situation combined with a grasp of something important on a new level. That type of composition can be defined as “compositional gradation” (according to V. Holshevnikov). The lyrical comprehension of the phenomenon is conveyed through the change of one or two words, as well as through punctuation, repetitions, anaphora, epiphora and enjambments. Gesture, intonation, and rhythm also play a significant role. All levels of composition participate in the identification of the semantics of poems: lexical, syntactic, intonational, and rhythmic. Thus, at different levels of textual organization in Tsvetaeva’s three-part poems, a certain concept of the heroine’s attitude toward being is revealed.