African "pictures from an old book" by Nikolai Gumilev

The paper analyzes the "African" motifs in Nikolai Gumilev’s poetry, primarily as reflected in his collection of poems «The Tent». According to the author, a poet sees the world as a magical and exotic one relying upon his personal impressions, which are dreamed-up and endured, found in books and experienced on hundreds of roads. This rootedness in literature gives the traveling protagonist a de-individualized look, and splits the lyrical self into a gallery of masks.