Календарь: “Рождественские” стихи Иосифа Бродского

The article primarily analyzes the differences between Joseph Brodsky's early (1962–1973) and late (1985–1995) “Nativity” poems, and then strives to uncover the reasons which made the poet turn writing nativity poetry into a ritual of its kind. By marking Christmas through occasional verses, it seems that Brodsky is trying to – at least for a brief moment – abolish, or rather forget about the linearity of time, which in his poetic philosophy (and unlike Christian doctrine) does not imply time's vector-like orientation towards the salvation of human kind, but its relentless progress towards nihility. By all accounts, Christmas for Brodsky does not only mark the beginning of our era's countdown, but also is a holiday celebrating the beginning of eternal annual cycles which people start with a belief in the return of the fullness of life and the renewal of their own vital forces.