У статті з’ясовано основні композиційні, тематичні, стилістичні, поетологічні риси циклотворення українського митця й еволюцію низки його ключових образів з опертям на засадничі характеристики поетичного
циклу, сформульовані в теоретичних працях швейцарських, польських,
українських та російських дослідників. Матеріал аналізу — корпус поезій
Стефановича, опублікований у Зібраних творах (1975). Особливу увагу
приділено апокаліптичному циклу «Кінцесвітнє» (первісна авторська
назва — «Кінецьсвітнє»).
The article analyses the peculiarities of cyclization in Oleksa Stefanovych’s (1899—1970)
poetry. Based on the theoretical definitions of a lyrical cycle (cycle of poems, sequence of
poems) formulated in the works of Rolf Fieguth, Mikhail Darvin, Larisa Liapina, Ronald
Vroon, Leonid Yanitskii, et al., the research outlines the main compositional, stylistic, thematic,
and functional traits of Stefanovych’s lyrical cycles and demonstrates the evolution of certain
key images in them. The material for analysis is taken from the collection of Stefanovych’s
poetry published posthumously in Toronto (“Zibrani Tvory” / “Collected Works”, 1975).
The special attention is paid to his apocalyptic cycle “Kintsesvitnie” (“The World’s
End”) that demonstrates the whole complex of architectonic and stylistic features inherent
to a cycle of poems, particularly the presence of the ‘cyclic subject’ defined by R. Fieguth
as “the subject of all creative, especially compositional, acts which are the basis of this
poetic cycle” [13, 19].
The composition of “Kintsesvitnie” is based on the combination of the chronological
and the plot development principles allowing to encompass Stefanovych’s creative work as
a whole. The poems from various periods are selected and arranged so that they form a clear
cyclic structure with steady imagery and a distinct thematic echo between its beginning and
its end. Their dating reflects the consistency of the poet’s catastrophic worldview declared
by the cycle’s title. It also demonstrates the evolution of its key metaphors (an evil bird, a
thunderstorm, a trumpet) that arise in Stefanovych’s early works as visual or acoustic images
and gradually evolve into the apocalyptic symbols of “Kintsesvitnie”.
