EVANGELICAL IMAGES AND MOTIFS IN SERGEY ORLOV'S POEMS ABOUT THE BATTLE OF KULIKOVO (IN COMPARISON WITH ALEXANDER BLOK'S CYCLE OF POEMS "ON THE FIELD OF KULIKOVO")

The Battle of Kulikovo is one of the most significant events in Russian history. This article studies five poems by Alexander Blok and Sergey Orlov devoted to this battle. Alexander Blok's cycle of poems On the Field of Kulikovo prophetically predicts future changes in Russia. Sergey Orlov's poems devoted to this historical event can be seen as a certain indicator of his creative evolution. The image of the homeland, as well as the image of his wife (widow), both in Blok's and Orlov's poems originates from the image of the Mother of God. Images of a celestial body used by both poets are associated with military paraphernalia and arise from the evangelical images, while the warrior image is based on the evangelical image of brotherhood. Poetic experience of Alexander Blok and Sergey Orlov reveals Orthodox roots that nourish the entire Russian culture

BIBLICAL METAPHORS IN LETTERS OF LEV OF OPTINA

This article presents the first analysis of tropes in the letters of the first Elder Lev (Nagolkin) of Optina Pustyn Monastery (Opta’s hermitage) – i. e. proverbs, allusions, allegories periphrasis and metaphors. Elder Lev most frequently used such tropes as "the storm of temptations", "the heart field", "happy harvest", "rags of the passions", "the marriage of the soul", "verbal sheep", "soldier of Christ", "spiritual milk", "the mind’s wolf", "a log of pride". One special thing about these tropes is that they blend together severalbiblical quotations and the Gospel images. Both simple and extended metaphors are used, and all the metaphors in the letters of St. Lev of Optina have a special function: they actualize biblical events, describe symbolically the inner world of a person and show the way to the salvation of the soul. It is typical of the Elder to use his own unique tropes, which are very diff erent from the traditional poetic images of the Russian literature of the 19th century