The article discusses B. Pasternak’s poem «Winter Night» as
a pretext of the «Christmas Star» by J. Brodsky. «Winter Night» is analyzed and interpreted in the context of the novel «Doctor Zhivago». It is shown that «Winter Night» contains Christmas motifs, and the candle is correlated with the Star of Bethlehem. The motif of a blizzard in both poets is considered. The mechanism of reception of Pasternak's poem by Brodsky is investigated. It is demonstrated that, unlike Pasternak, Brodsky interprets the theme of Christmas in accordance with the invariant motif of his poetry – the motif of loneliness.
Keywords
J. Brodsky; «Christmas Star»; B. Pasternak; «Winter Night»; pretext; Christmas; motifs; symbolism.