in the poem “The Tsyganovs” by David Samoylov
David Samoylov in the poem “The Tsyganovs” refers to the idyllic topos and comprehensively
changes it, undermining the reliability of social utopia by questioning (through the inner voices
of Tsyganov) the sense of all its elements: work, family and love. The tragic uncertainty in which
we find Tsyganov in the last part of the poem, as it was noted by scholars, reminds the plot of
“The death of Ivan Ilyich” by Leo Tolstoy. We invite the reader to a closer look into Tolstoy’s
motifs in the poem.
Using Samoylov’s memoirs and diaries, adding the literature and biographic context, we show
different aspects of the dialog between poet and writer. This side of “The Tsyganovs” was not
in the focus of researchers previously. Broadening and correcting a common interpretation of the
correspondence between the episode of death of Tsyganov and the “The death of Ivan Ilyich”, we
comment other references: the birth of Tsyganov’s son corresponds to the episodes of Levin’s son
birth in “Anna Karenina”; the motif of chopping wood reminds several scenes of “Three deaths”.
We assume that Samoylov reconstructs the ideal peasant world, using references to “Cossacks,”
“Anna Karenina,” “The death of Ivan Ilyich,” “Idyll,” “Tikhon and Malanya” and enters into
a polemic dialogue about the sense and content of simple happy life.
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in the poem “The Tsyganovs” by David Samoylov // Сибирский филологический журнал. 2019. № 3. Pp. 131–142. DOI: 10.17223/18137083/68/12.