“Automatic poems” by Boris Poplavsky

The paper delves into the concept of music as portrayed in Boris Poplavsky’s “Automatic poems.” It thoroughly analyzes the musical code of the book, which can be seen as a fusion of symbols, mythological poetics, and musical imagery. Additionally, the paper explores how the musical essence of the verses is expressed through the architectural structure of the text. One of the central images in the book is sound, which holds great ontological significance. Within “Automatic poems,” the symbols representing the internal sounds of the persona are consistently associated with water motifs, creating a profound and specific spatial connection. This aquatic and subterranean imagery alludes to the music that resides within the persona’s soul. The book disrupts the Boethian dichotomy, with Musica Mundana overpowering Musica Humana. Furthermore, some verses depict a celestial world devoid of sound, capable of petrifying the entire world, thereby establishing an opposition between the persona, Orpheus, and the outer world, represented by Medusa. The sounds from the lower worlds are fragments of “eclectic” music, intertwined with eschatological ideas. The architectonics of “Automatic poems” resemble the methods used in constructing the genre of theme and variations, where the descending theme introduced in the first verse reappears in various manifestations throughout the series of verses. Overall, the structure of the book adheres to a monothematic principle. “Automatic poems” is an experimental work by Boris Poplavsky that was created using the techniques close to those employed by composers.

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