The article discusses functions of colours in the poetry of Feodor Glinka – 19th century Russian poet. The colour range of his poetry is filled with chromatic and achromatic colours mainly. Not only clear colours but also their shades have been analysed in the present survey. Red and blue appear most frequently in Glinka’s poetry, yellow, white and black coming next, and green as the least frequent. High tones predominate in the poetry, the colours are usually intense, rich and vivid. Their symbolic function is usually to link with the culture and archetypes. Rich colours help to create vividness, build atmosphere, display informative, expressive and evaluative functions. With the help of linguistic means of expression the author imitates the techniques characteristic for painting, what confirms his high poetic artistry.
Khristina Krotkova is recognised as a representative of the First Wave of Russian Emigration, she was also a member of literary association “Skit”. Krotkova’s Italian Sonnets form crown of sonnets consisting of 14 poems. Only the title of the cycle concerns the Italian theme, as the crown is formally composed of English sonnets. Italian culture, architecture monuments, masterpieces of literature and painting as well as Italian nature inspired Krotkova and became the pretext to existential and epistemological deliberations.