Batyushkov’s “arrogance” (On Mandelstam’s poem “No, not the moon, but a bright clock-face...”)

The article clarifies the possible sources of Osip Mandelstam’s poem“No, not the moon, but a bright clock-face...” (1912, first published 1913). A newinterpretation of references to K. Batyushkov, which more than once attracted theattention of poet’s contemporaries and modern researchers, is proposed. Accordingto the author of the article, Mandelstam, theoretically asserting the “thingness” (evensuper-lightness, quintessence of thingness) of surrounding world as the very essence ofpoetry, enters into a consistent debate with the mad poet, and through Batyushkov —with Symbolism as a certain world outlook and the artistic system reflecting it. Thepoem sets a contrast between the phenomena of life that live in real time of the shakyeternity of Symbolism, which fits into the general context of the book “Stone”. As a result of a detailed analysis, it is concluded that Mandelstam’s little poem “No, not themoon...” played a significant role in the history of Russian poetry. At the very initialstage, it reflected the opposition (struggle) of two most important poetic systems of theSilver Age — Symbolism and Acmeism.