triptych

The article is devoted to one of the difficult problems in the study of Mandelstam’s lyrics, namely the problem of distinguishing different versions and cyclic structures based on repetition and variations of poetic fragments. The author offers the criteria of distinction, analyzes several controversial cases, shows the importance of presenting different versions of text as a dynamic unity.

The article focuses on one of the little-researched author’s edition of a cycle of poems «Petropolis» and shows that in the form of a triptych it has an inherent artistic value. The analysis demonstrates the birth process of the individual poetic myth and the synthesis of various levels of meaning.