The article deals with the semantics of the words «dream» and «sleep»
(in Russian they are presented by one stem «спать», «сон») in
Lermontov’s poems of 1841. Displaying the results of statistical analysis
the author classifies all the examples into three large groups which show
the development of nominаtive (vocabulary) meaning of words «sleep»
and «dream» into aesthetico-philosophical terms. The poem «Dream» is
analyzed in detail. As a result, the author tries to define the exact
symbolical meaning of the word «dream» in Lermontov’s lyrics and
draws some parallels between his language and the language of Russian
poetry of late XIX- early XX century.
