On translating metaphors. Problems of research methodology

Sa？etak The article presents the analysis of three Russian translations of the poem The Sea by Croatian poet Josip Pupa？i？ and seeks to point out some aspects of the translation and reception of poetic texts and to develop a new methodology of research of the reception of poetic texts. Two groups of respondents completed a questionnaire: the first group was represented by native speakers of the Russian language; the second group contains Croatian native speakers. This research proves that questionnaires can be used in researching the semantic equivalence of poetic translation to the original text. Both groups pointed out the same two most important elements of the poem: the personification of the sea as well as the rhythm of the poem. The survey method proves to be adequate to reveal the problems of equivalence between the original and translation of specific elements of text, especially problems in the translation of metaphors