Image of John Milton in Russian Poetry of 18th and 19th Centuries

This study is dedicated to the analysis of the formation and understanding of the dynamic development of the image of the English poet John Milton in Russian lyrical and lyric-epic poetry. The material for this investigation consists of lyrical and lyric-epic works by Russian writers from the 18th and 19th centuries that reference Milton. Employing hermeneutic, historical-cultural, and comparative methods, the article identifies three distinct trajectories in the interpretation of Milton's image within Russian poetry during this period. The first trajectory, situated within the framework of Classicism, involves the incorporation of Milton's name into the canon of classical literature and the use of his image as an argument for shaping a unique, distinctive identity in Russian poetry. The second trajectory (within the realms of Sentimentalism and Romanticism) leads to the creation of the image of a solitary, tragically misunderstood genius — a blind seer; moreover, authors of the Sentimentalist era appreciate the contrasts present in Milton's stylistic poetics, while poets of the Romantic tradition perceive him as a quintessential figure of their age. The third trajectory (beginning in the early 19th century, primarily within Romanticism and Realism) is characterized by an ironic, diminutive, and distancing interpretation of Milton's poetics.