On equivalence of repetitive components in Russian translations of W.B. Yeats's verse
The paper dwells on the functions and linguistic peculiarities of the stylistic device of repetition within the frame of the two early poetic works by William Butler Yeats, the renowned Anglo-Irish poet, as well as in their Russian translations completed by Grigory Kruzhkov. According to V.P. Moskvin, the device of repetition implies usage of the same unit (it can be a sound, a morpheme, or a word) or similar units within a separate context. The repetitive components can thus be realized on all the levels of language. Apart from that, the position of the repetitive components is important. They can take up the fixed or opposite positions in several speech units, as well as swap them. The stylistic device of repetition is ontologically bound to the poetic language in general, being a characteristic feature of W.B. Yeats's style in particular. The basic aesthetic functions of repetition in Yeats's poetics are the following: 1) the imitation of the rhythmical syntax of the Celtic lore; 2) the 'discovery of the hidden semantics of the language' (O.M. Brik). According to O.M. Brik's symbolist theory, the hidden semantics stands behind the phonemic and structural similarity of the units in the poetic context. The second function can be regarded as the consequence of Yeats's interest in the mystic practices, which had influence on his verse, essays and specifically Yeatsian system of views on the art of poetry. The analysis of the linguistic peculiarities in Grigory Kruzhkov's translation of the poem <i>He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven </i>demonstrated the transformation of Yeats's images, which is the consequence of the translator's omissions. Meanwhile, the pragmatic meaning of the repetitive components was carefully reproduced in the Russian translation with the help of the translator's addition - the use of synonymous epithets. The translation of the poem <i>Into the Twilight </i>reproduces almost all the types of the numerous repetitive components used in the original. These facts allow us to draw the conclusion about the high degree of translation equivalence in both cases.