Abstract
<jats:p>This article examines the anthological tradition in the lyric poetry of V.S. Solovyov. It attempts to isolate the corpus of Solovyov's poems that bear the hallmarks of the anthological tradition. As a poet primarily belonging to “the poetry of contemplative thought”, Vladimir Solovyov's oeuvre both closes the 19th century and opens the 20th; consequently, his turn to antiquity and to the anthological genre – which occupies a significant place in the works of several 19th-century poets (A.A. Fet, A.N. Maikov) – is both logical and deliberate. However, Solovyov's attitude towards this genre was ambivalent. On the one hand, the philosopher was drawn to anthological poetry due to his interest in the poetry of Fet and Maikov and their interpretation of ancient culture. On the other hand, as an idealistic Christian philosopher, he held an ambivalent view of the sensual beauty of ancient art. It is argued that Solovyov's desire to formulate his own poetic strategy, to experiment with different genres and styles, together with his remarkably broad cultural horizons, prompted him to create works in the spirit of ancient verse, as well as comic experiments. Idyllic motifs, with which anthological lyrics are organically intertwined, can be discerned in a number of Solovyov's poems. It is also noted that translations of ancient authors, which reveal the texts most significant for the Russian philosopher, occupy an important place in his poetic oeuvre.</jats:p>