Merefa — Fata Morgana. On a poem by Vladimir Strochkov

Abstract

The article uses the close reading method, which implies efforts to recover the context of, and clarify hidden meanings in, a given text. For her analysis, G. Kalinkina chooses V. Strochkov’s At a train stop on the route to Kharkiv… [Na uchastke pod Kharkovom…], a poem that describes an unremarkable incident at the Merefa station. Drawing on recorded historical mentions of the station (including reminiscences and diaries written before and after the October revolution, as well as Soviet-era memoirs) and internal poetic metaphors, Kalinkina argues that the poem tells a story of a convict who declines a stranger’s offer of freedom. She suggests that the odd-looking traveller encountered by the lyric hero (himself travelling in a train car with barred windows) at Merefa symbolizes destiny disguised as a somewhat unsteady passer-by: “…descending the steps to the tracks was a nondescript fellow. / He was somewhat tipsy and looked both like diamonds and clubs…” Such a detailed analysis seeks to prove that Strochkov’s poetics is defined by a combination of the absolute clarity of verse and simplicity of the plot, but also completely impenetrable semantics and Aesopian language.