THE BOOK OF POEMS IN TWENTIETH-CENTURY ... - TopReferat

no more suffering. 239
In the culminating poems of the book, Lavinia incorporates
Buddhist elements into her experience of the Christian holy week. 240
While the last explicit mention of an event in the Christian calendar comes in the
seventieth poem, "Ночь на Великую Субботу," the poems which follow suggest links to
Holy Week as well. The book's seventy-second poem, "В трапезной," recalls the Last
Supper. 241 In her typical, unorthodox fashion, Lavinia reinterprets the biblical story,
again placing herself at the center. She sits at a table shadowed by a decanter. The
tablecloth is prophetically red (Скатерть/ Краснеет веще), apparently foretelling the
blood that will soon be shed. A starling chirps ominously (чик-чик скворца зловеще),
suggesting the cock's call which would signal Peter's betrayal. 242
Like Christ, Lavinia
herself does not eat or drink. Instead, she recalls her past births, directly invoking the
Buddhist notion of Karma:
Я хлеб крошу и вспоминаю
Свои протекшие рожденья.
Не дай Бог птицей—свист крыла
Как вспомню и ночевку на волне.
Боль в клюве и как кровь текла
Скачками. Птичьего не надо мне!
Была я пастором и магом,
Мундир носила разных армий.
Цыганкой... Больше и не надо!
Сотлела нить на бусах Кармы.
239 Peter Harvey has described the state of nirvana as "a timeless imperturbable state beyond change and
suffering," "the ending of all suffering, rebirths and limitations." Peter Harvey, Buddhism (London:
Continuum, 2001), 64 and 66 respectively.
240 In addition to these final poems, Lavinia directly addresses Buddhism in the book's twenty-sixth poem,
"Перед праздинком," in which she spins a Buddhist prayer wheel and watches the Buddhist quarter of the
convent prepare for their holiday. Buddhas are also mentioned in the sister's letter to the editor and in the
book's fourth, twenty-eighth, and fortieth poems. Other Buddhist references can be found in the second and
forty-second poems.
241 The Last Supper was previously invoked in the book's tenth poem, "Уроки Аббатиссы."
242 In the gospels of Luke and John, Christ foretells Peter's betrayal at the Last Supper: "I tell you, Peter,
the cock will not crow this day, until you three times deny that you know me." (Luke 22:34) The gospels
of Matthew and Mark place this at the Mount of Olives.
180