Iosif Brodski i Nikołaj Rubcow – o tożsamościowych kontekstach dwóch wierszy

The paper deals with two poems: “Ты поскачешь во мраке…” by Joseph Brodsky, and “Я буду скакать по следам задремавшей отчизны…” by Nikolay Rubtsov. Analyzing some features of these poems and comparing similarities in both poets’ biographies, the author states the significant difference between them. Rubtsov, in his opinion, has an identity typical for pre-modern subjectivity. It is conventional, stereotypical, and conservative, full of faith in idealized old Russian values. Brodsky’s self-defining is in this aspect close to late modernity. It is liquid, all the time in movement, never convinced about self-identity.