From "melancholy" to "the double": the logic of Andrey Bely's poem transformation
DOI: 10.23951/1609-624X-2026-4-71-78
The relevance of the research is due to the need to comprehend the author's editing strategies in the works of Symbolist poets as a manifestation of the evolution of their poetics and worldview. Andrey Bely's poem "Melancholy" (1904) is a indicative case of textual transformation: during the reissue of the "Ashes" collection in 1929, a single text of seven quatrains was divided by the author into two independent poems – "Melancholy" (3 quatrains) and "The Double" (4 quatrains). The aim of the study is to identify the internal logic of this division, proving that it is not an editorial accident, but reflects the deep semantic dynamics of the early conception. The material comprises three versions of the text: the original (1904), the first edition of "Ashes" (1909), and the second edition (1929). The methodological basis is a comprehensive approach, including textual, comparative, and structural-semantic analysis, which allows for the examination of the evolution of the imagery system, spatio-temporal organization, and subject structure. The study proves that the division of the text is a deliberate authorial strategy that reveals a fundamental difference between two lyrical phases. The first part ("Melancholy") represents a state of passive contemplation by a dissolving subject in the enclosed space of a restaurant. The second part ("The Double") unfolds the drama of an active confrontation with the "other" in an open urban space. The key marker of this transformation is the symbol of the mirror, evolving from a passive interior object to the metaphysical principle of "mirror depth" generating the double as a living, pursuing force. It is concluded that the division of the text in the 1929 edition is an act of self-reflection by a mature poet, crystallizing the inner drama of the early conception and demonstrating how the text is able to outgrow the original boundaries, gaining a new semantic depth. The theoretical significance lies in refining the understanding of the Symbolist text's dynamics, the nature of duality, and the role of self-reflection in the works of Andrey Bely.
Keywords: Andrey Bely, Symbolism, textology, the double, mirror, text transformation, poetics of fragment, "Ashes", 1929 edition
References:
1. Bely A. Pepel. Stikhi [Ashes. Poems]. Saint Petersburg, Shipovnik Publ., 1909. 248 p. (in Russian).
2. Bely A. Pepel [Ashes]. 2nd ed. Moscow, Nikitinskiye subbotniki Publ., 1929. 187 p. (in Russian).
3. Bely A. Stikhotvoreniya i poemy: v 2 tomakh [Poems and Long Poems: in 2 vols.]. Comp., introd. and notes by A.V. Lavrov, J. Malmstad. St. Petersburg; Moscow, Akademicheskiy proyekt; Progress-Pleyada Publ., 2006. Vol. 1: 640 p.; Vol. 2: 654 p. (in Russian).
4. Mints Z.G. Poetika russkogo simvolizma [Poetics of Russian Symbolism]. Saint Petersburg, Iskusstvo-SPB Publ., 2004. 480 p. (in Russian).
5. Kolobaeva L.A. Russkiy simvolizm [Russian Symbolism]. Moscow, Moscow University Publ., 2000. 296 p. (in Russian).
6. Lavrov A.V. Andrey Bely v 1900-e gody: Zhizn’ i literaturnaya deyatel’nost’ [Andrei Bely in the 1900s: Life and Literary Activity]. Moscow, Novoye literaturnoye obozreniye Publ., 1995. 336 p. (in Russian).
7. Ivanov V.I. Stikhotvoreniya. Poemy. Tragediya: v 2 knigakh. Kniga 1 [Poems. Long Poems. Tragedy: in 2 books. Book 1]. Saint Petersburg, Akademicheskiy proyekt Publ., 1995. 480 p. (in Russian).
8. Poeticheskaya kartina mira: slovo i kontsept v lirike serebryanogo veka: materialy VII Vserossiyskogo nauchno-prakticheskogo seminara, 27 aprelya 2004 g. [Poetic Picture of the World: Word and Concept in the Lyrics of the Silver Age: Proceedings of the VII All-Russian Scientific and Practical Seminar, April 27, 2004]. Ed. by N.S. Bolotnova. Tomsk, TSPU Publ., 2004. 158 p. (in Russian).
9. Bely A. Simvolizm kak miroponimaniye [Symbolism as a Worldview]. Moscow, Respublika Publ., 1994. 528 p. (in Russian).
10. Toporkov A.L. Mifopoetika dvoynichestva v russkom simvolizme [Mythopoetics of Duality in Russian Symbolism]. Izvestiya RAN. Seriya literatury i yazyka, 2018, vol. 77, no. 3, pp. 24–33 (in Russian).
11. Hansen-Löve A. Mifopoeticheskiy simvolizm. Teoriya i poeticheskiy mir Andreya Belogo. Perevod s nemetskogo [Mythopoetic Symbolism. The Theory and Poetic World of Andrei Bely. Translation from German]. Moscow, Yazyki slavyanskoy kul’tury Publ., 2003. 816 p. (in Russian).
12. Silard L. Poetika simvola v tvorchestve Andreya Belogo [The Poetics of the Symbol in the Works of Andrey Bely]. Studia Slavica Hungarica, 1986, vol. 32, no. 1–4, pp. 119–137 (in Russian).
13. Dolgopolov L.K. Andrey Bely i yego roman «Peterburg» [Andrey Bely and His Novel "Petersburg"]. Leningrad, Sovetskiy pisatel’ Publ., 1988. 416 p. (in Russian).
14. Piskunov V.M. Chistyy ritm Mnemoziny: Andrey Bely – stikhoved [The Pure Rhythm of Mnemosyne: Andrey Bely as a Verse Scholar]. In: Piskunov V.M. Gogol’ – Bely – Bulgakov: intertekstual’nyy analiz [Gogol – Bely – Bulgakov: Intertextual Analysis]. Moscow, RGGU Publ., 2009. Pp. 210–245 (in Russian).
15. Spivak M.L. Andrey Bely – mistik i sovetskiy pisatel’ [Andrei Bely – Mystic and Soviet Writer]. Moscow, RGGU Publ., 2006. 577 p. (in Russian).
16. Bezrodnyy M.V. K voprosu o «dvoynichestve» v poezii Andreya Belogo [On the Question of "Duality" in Andrei Bely's Poetry]. Blokovskiy sbornik [Blok Collection]. Issue 14. Tartu, 2000. Pp. 156–168 (in Russian).
17. Koretskaya I.V. Tsiklizatsiya v tvorchestve Andreya Belogo [Cyclization in the Works of Andrei Bely]. In: Koretskaya I.V. Nad stranitsami russkoy poezii i prozy nachala XX veka [Over the Pages of Russian Poetry and Prose of the Early 20th Century]. Moscow, OGI Publ., 2001, pp. 287–312 (in Russian).
18. Magomedova D.M. Avtobiograficheskiy mif v tvorchestve A. Bloka i A. Belogo [Autobiographical Myth in the Works of A. Blok and A. Bely]. Izvestiya Rossiyskoy akademii nauk. Seriya literatury i yazyka, 2021, vol. 80, no. 2, pp. 25–33 (in Russian).
19. Nayman E.A. Poetika fragmenta v lirike russkogo simvolizma [Poetics of the Fragment in the Lyrics of Russian Symbolism]. Voprosy literatury, 2022, no. 5, pp. 78–94 (in Russian).
20. Isupov K.G. Dialog stolits v istoriosofii Andreya Belogo [Dialogue of Capitals in the Historiosophy of Andrei Bely]. Filosofskiye nauki – Russian Journal of Philosophical Sciences, 2019, no. 2, pp. 67–82 (in Russian).
21. Trimoruk E.D. Mifopoetika zerkala i teni v lirike K.D. Bal’monta [Mythopoetics of Mirror and Shadow in the Lyrics of K.D. Balmont]. Nachala Russkogo mira – The Beginnings of the Russian World, 2026, no. 1, pp. 42–47 (in Russian).
( 659.82 kB ) 
( 654.66 kB )
Issue: 4, 2026
Series of issue: Issue 4
Rubric: RUSSIAN AND FOREIGN LITERATURE
Pages: 71 — 78
Downloads: 188