This article deals with a new range of musical topoi that entered the literature of the 20th century following the invention of new techniques of recording and copying of sound. The phonographic revolution led to a wide-ranging revision of traditional musical terms and opened the way for new approaches to the problem of ontology of the musical work of art. Its ripples also reached the realm of poetry, giving rise to new motifs and themes of ‘poetic musicology’. Stanisław Barańczak is without doubt a typical phonographic poet, and his work both reflects the general developments in the world of music and shows a uniquely personal literary-musical profile.