THE CHRISTIAN SYMBOLISM OF FLOWERS IN V. V. GOFMAN`S LYRICS

The article examines the poetry of a relatively unknown poet of the Russian Silver Age, V. V. Gofman (The Book of Introductions, 1904; Iskus (Temptation), 1910) in the light of its links with the Gospel. As early as in Gofman's first collection of poems motifs from the Gospel come together with flower imagery. Flowers in Gofman's poems act as markers of the Paradise, the locus of eternity, truth and harmony. Flower imagery is also an important element of the image of the Faraway Lady ? one of the centerpieces of Gofman's poems. Gofman's second collection, Iskus (Temptation) (1910) reveals more conscious and clear allusions to the Gospel: the title refers to the Christian tradition, and the most important flower in the poetic 'flowerbed' is the lily with its clear biblical symbolism. We conclude by reaffirming the conceptual importance of the biblical plane in the poetry of V. V. Gofman.