Hafez and the "Bashnya" Symbolists of Saint Petersburg: A Study of the Use of Symbols and Vocabulary

Symbolism is one of the prominent schools of Russian literature in the early twentieth century, in which some of its representatives composed outstanding works inspired by mysticism and teachings of the poets of the ancient land of Iran, including Hafiz. Vyacheslav Ivanov and Mikhail Kuzmin, two representatives of this school, were active members of an association founded in 1905 by Ivanov in his apartment in Hafez's honor, named Hafez's disciples.  This clique, known as Bashnya (Dome), was considered the most important literary and philosophical center of its time. The members of the association were lovers of Hafez and Hafez's teachings in this place became the source of inspiration for mystical poems. The purpose of the present study is to examine the linguistic and lexical units that Ivanov and Kuzmin have used in connection with the thoughts of Hafez and his mysticism in their poems. An attempt was made to answer these questions: How did the Russian symbolist poets understand Hafez's poems? Which linguistic elements of Hafez did they use to express their thoughts and what common linguistic units and vocabulary did they use? Examining the poems of Ivanov and Kuzmin in connection with the subject under discussion, we conclude that despite cultural and linguistic differences, they have combined Eastern and Western symbols in their poems and, like Hafez, they have used a combination of earthly and metaphysical vocabulary, symbols, contradictions, metaphors, polysemous words, and paradoxical concepts to express ontological thoughts. The vocabulary used in their poems, such as Hafez's poems, include the concepts of love, dialogue, call for unity between nations and religions, "other-praising", as well as an understanding of the beauty of the universe.