The article examines in a typological aspect the work of M.I. Tsvetaeva and E.T.A. Hoffmann. The lyrics of the Russian poetess and the fairy tale "The Golden Pot" of the German classic are analyzed in a wide cultural space, since both authors were well aware of the world mythological and folk tradition. In the poetics of the claimed writers archetypal constructions are revealed. Much attention is paid to the archetype of the snake, snake symbolism, which we find in the Slavic cultural tradition, and in the Indian. There is a reference to the latter in the tale of Hoffmann. We turn to the comparative-typological and systematic methods of analysis. The methodological basis of the work was the work of V.M. Zhirmunsky, B.A. Rybakov, R. Graves, D. Fraser, W. Turner.