Osip Mandelstam: Poems Literary Elements

The speaker in From Poems: 140 1 January 1924 is Mandelstam, who speaks in the first person and narrates events from his point of view. At times it is confusing, for example, he mentions 'an everyday passer-by,' who is 'trying to button the lap-robe,' and then mentions that he 'can't get the button through the button-hole,' as 'it keeps slipping out of,' his 'fingers.' This links the stranger and the protagonists and raises questions concerning the strangers identity and the possible ordinary or extraordinary nature of Mandelstam.

From Poems: 140 1 January 1924 is written in nine regular octets in blank verse.

In From Poems:140 1 January 1924, Mandelstam uses the simile, 'whoever kisses time's ancient nodding head will remember later, like a loving son, how the old man lay down to sleep in the drift of wheat outside the window.' This simile also combines itself with a metaphor, having 'time' represented as an 'old man.'

Mandelstam uses alliteration to link the 'pattern,' of branches, with its adjective 'precise,' and the simile attached to it linking it to the lines 'on a porcelain plate.' This precise description creates a vivid image of 'the birch tree's branches,' in From Stone: 6.

Mandelstam's desperate request 'Let me be in your service,' and recognition of what that means, to be 'like the others mumbling predictions,' seems ironic as his mouth in this situation would be 'dry with jealousy,' yet at the end of the poem and in the second stanza he assures that he is 'not jealous any more.' Therefore, his desire appears to be what he is adamant he is not, which has an ironic humor to it. (From Stone: 122)

From Stone: 6 is predominately a nature poem, but with reflective undertones.

The setting of From Poems:140 1 January 1924 is Moscow, Russia and a lot of the narrative takes place in the winter time of January 1924.

The Tone of the poem From Stone: 6 has a melancholic and solemn tone.

The Protagonist of From Poems:140 1 January 1924 is the speaker, Mandelstam, and the antagonist appears to be Moscow and time itself as an entity.

The major conflict in Stone: 122 appears to be twofold. First of all, it initially seems to be between Mandelstam as the speaker and an unnamed person that he desires, saying 'Come back to me,' as an imperative, yet having a pleading tone in his words. This desire seems to be wrought with conflict as admits 'it's not joy but torture you give me,' and 'I'm drawn to you as to a crime.' Mandelstam also appears to be in conflict with himself, secondly, as this desire is harmful and he also has had to make himself appear 'not jealous any more.'

In From Stone: 24, the opening lines 'leaves scarcely breathing / in the black breeze,' emphasized by alliteration, foreshadows the 'dying heart,' of the protagonist in the second stanza and the 'twilight,' that 'is coming.'

The last two, questioning lines of From Stone: 24 'Why has the music stopped?' and 'Why is there such silence?' mark the end of the poem and its climax, yet do not specifically mention the nature of what is happening.

The understatement of the sky's vast blue color in 'Against pale blue enamel, the shade /That makes every April the same,' in From Stone: 6, creates a seasonal,, yet understated backdrop for the rest of the poem.

The comparison of 'the simple sonatina of typewriters,' to 'great sonatas,' being only 'a faint shade,' of them, is a reference to lyrical and musical works in From Poems:140 1 January 1924.

In From Poems: 140 1 January 1924, Mandelstam refers to his 'own doorstep,' which is Moscow.

In From Poems: 140 1 January 1924, the description 'tyrant century,' is an example of personification that gives the period of time a human characteristic, yet could denote the tyrannical rule of someone in power, rather than the tyrannical nature of time.

Mandelstam's description of 'the eyes of the age,' in From Poems: 140 1 January 1924, as 'two large sleepy apples with inflamed lids,' is an exaggerated portrayal of sleepy eyes, yet seems to encapsulate the vast nature of time.

The sibilance in 'the lanes smoked like kerosene stoves, swallowed snow,' and in the simile 'like a Soviet sonatina,' act as onomatopoeia to reveal the sound of the snow in the lane, in a musical tone. (From Poems: 140 1 January 1924).