ABSTRACT
The cerebral, rather than emotional, quality of Gippius's verse is suggested also by its construction. She was a poet of considerable technical facility, a pioneer of metrical innovations among the symbolists, such as tonic verse and half-rhyme. Her lyrics are metrically constrained, with formalized word-repetition which in some cases has the quality of a melodious refrain, but in others underlines an ironic pointe. The intellectual character of the verse is underlined by perpetual internal debate. Sometimes a single poem expresses conflict or paradox, sometimes alternative versions of one poem complement or contradict each other; or the same title is used for poems of radically different orientation.
