Mask'' as the subjective structure phenomenon in early lyrics of N.S. Gumilev

In the article N. S. Gumilev's early lyrics is considered in the aspect of realization of the author's tendency to removal of the "subjective" content (lyric experience), which was responsible for the appearance of ''mask'' as a phenomenon of the subjective structure in collections The Way of Conquistadors', The Romantic Flowers, The Pearls. "Mask" functions as the subject representative of the general tendency to weakening the affective side of the poetic expression in Gumilev's early works. The concept ''mask'' introduction in practice of the analysis of the subject organisation in lyrical works promotes understanding of the difficult cases of subject's discrepancy with forms of lyrical and role heroes. Uniting the situational convention (fantasy), strengthening the role of visual and narrative elements in a uniform context, the mask gets the status of the subjective form that has the properties of lyrical and role heroes (with prevalence of the lyrical hero). The mask shows objectification as one of the dominant features of the author's artistic system. The analysis of the mask is carried out on the material of such works of the early collections as The Sonnet (''Ya konkvistador v pantsire zheleznom...'' (I am a conquistador in the iron armour...)), ''Ya dolgo shel po koridoram...'' (I long walked along the corridors...), ''Oderzhimyy'' (Obsessed), ''Poyedinok'' (Duel), ''Tsaritsa'' (Queen), ''Odinochestvo'' (Loneliness), etc. The mask is connected with the themes of the dream, search, and fight. The theme of treachery (payment) intensified in The Romantic Flowers and The Pearls introduces tragical sounding to the sphere of the lyrical hero. Poems of The Pearls "Rytsar s tsepiyu'' (The Knight with a Chain) and ''Marquis de Karabas'' show a gradual loss of the mask lyrics. In Gumilev's collections following The Pearls the mask of the lyrical hero is not used. As varieties of the form the mask-symbol and the mask-metamorphosis are classified differing in the degree of the subject's behaviour types recognition on the general cultural background. The mechanism of mask formation is connected with the specificity of the romantic vision of the author (conditional lyrical situation), as well as with the factor of a creative dialogue topical for Gumilev (''Leconte de Lisle's element'' and the aesthetic principles of the French symbolism in the design of early collections images). The reasons of appearance of the mask in N.S. Gumilev's lyrics are in the artistry of the author's vision, artistic experience of the period, updating the personality problems.

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