Metaliterary Lyrics of Maksym Rylsky

This article examines the artistic features of Maksym Rylsky’s metaliterary lyrics. Metaliterariness, or poetology, is interpreted here as a specific artistic phenomenon associated with an author’s reflections on the creative process – whether relating to their literary environment, involving the self-reception of their own artistic endeavors, or demonstrating an aspiration toward self-awareness and defining the essence and purpose of their creative pursuits. Rylsky’s poetic oeuvre provides one of the most vivid examples of such lyrical poetological reflection, which constitutes a dominant thematic priority in his writing. The article categorizes Rylsky’s metapoetic and self-referential observations into four thematic groups: 1) laudatory receptions of works by contemporary Ukrainian poets (e.g., P. Savchenko, M. Zerov, V. Sosiura, P. Tychyna, M. Bazhan, Ostap Vyshnia, K. Herasymenko, O. Dovzhenko, A. Malyshko, M. Stelmakh, Y. Yanovskyi, P. Voronko, L. Pervomaiskyi); 2) tributes to Ukrainian writers from previous historical periods (e.g., M. Gogol, T. Shevchenko, I. Franko, M. Kotsiubynskyi, Y. Fedkovych, Lesia Ukrainka, V. Stefanyk); 3) poetic responses to the musical and theatrical legacies of figures such as L. van Beethoven, F. Chopin, M. Kropyvnytskyi, M. Zankovetska, L. Revutskyi, and M. Lysenko; and 4) Rylsky’s own reflections on the essence and trajectory of poetic creativity.