Poetic Cosmology of G. R. Derzhavin

Aim. To identify the uniqueness of Derzhavin’s poetic cosmology, which is represented in all its diversity in the poet’s philosophical odes.

Methodology. The object of the research is the principles of creating outer space in Derzhavin’s philosophical poetry. Through the analysis of the semantic content of the image of the night, moon and stars in such Derzhavin’s works as “God”, “Calmed Disbelief”, “Drowning”, “Volkhov Kubre”, “Lantern”, a holistic understanding of the poet’s worldview is provided. The methodology of the work is based on the use of cultural, historical, biographical, aesthetic methods and approaches that allow us to consider the image of the universe in the context of the established range of themes and moods of the turn of the 18th – 19th century from the viewpoint of positions immanent to this period.

Results. The article specifies the significance of Derzhavin’s artistic system in the figurative representation of the universe in Russian literature at the turn of the 18th – 19th century. The essence of Derzhavin’s poetic cosmology lies in the desire to comprehend Christian truths about God’s Majesty through the measurement of the universe with an all-encompassing spiritual vision, to find visible proof of the triumph of peace in nature. Through contemplation of grandiose paintings of the cosmos, Derzhavin defined a new way of depicting the universe through an emotional-associative series, which allowed him to consider his philosophical poetry in unity with the artistic foundations of Russian Romanticism. In philosophical odes, night is presented as an ephemeral boundary that hides the vanity of earthly life and reveals a spherically arranged sky with heavenly bodies as a symbolic embodiment of an ideal world raised above everyday life. Understanding the abyss created from chaos by the cosmos, Derzhavin treats contemplation of every detail of this space as an intuitive possibility of comprehending God, finding the falsity of those scientific breakthroughs that man seeks to liken himself to the Creator, thereby destroying the foundations of the universe.

Research implications. The theoretical significance of the study is related to the identification of the innovation of Derzhavin’s poetic cosmology in relation to previous physico-theological poetry, which consists in expanding the image of outer space through the use of large and super-large plans, color and light imagery, and clarifying the emotional-associative complex for representing the cosmos.

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