Possible parallels between Mandelstam’s “Silentium” and Paul Verlaine’s “Art poétique”: the experience of translation reception

Abstract

The present research is based on a comparative analysis employing semiotic interpretation of symbols and Paul Verlaine’s reinterpretation of “Art Poétique” (1885) aiming to prove the influence of Verlaine’s conception of the nature of art on Osip Mandelstam. The analysis of the poems has shown that Mandelstam did not merely adopt but also rethought Symbolist techniques. The analysis revealed that sound dominates in Mandelstam’s lyric poetry, becoming its primary language. Drawing upon the results of translational reception, we were able to identify that for Verlaine, the sea serves as a metaphor for infinity and enigma, whereas in Mandelstam’s case, rhyme – his central structural component – is sacralized within the image of the sea. Notably, there is a shift towards the corporeality of the representation of Aphrodite. Of particular interest here is the actualized symbolism of the shell and the pearl, wherein the shell represents the poet himself and his oeuvre, serving as a repository of profound meaning, while the pearl contained within embodies the wonder and splendor of poetry itself.