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Abstract: Expressionistic «absolute metaphor» is an essential language means of expression and an element of the poetry of an Austrian poet Georg Trakl, and of all expressionistic works in German in general. The nature of such metaphor is in poetic strive of modern poetry for creation of an autonomous world, where the reality may be comprehended only metaphorically. Absolute metaphor in this world is not just a figurative means, but rather an independent cogitative construct, a means of language embodiment or verbalization of the new concept in the distant world. The problem of functions and impact of metaphors acquires the status of the basic philosophical issues of cognition. Expressionistic «absolute metaphor» possesses, apparently, cognitive depth which has not been measured yet and the function perception of reality and text production, which has not been interpreted. According to pragmatics of this field of art, this metaphor serves to reveal and express mental activity of a subject, rather than to reproduce reality. The problem of correlation and interaction of a thing and a word, implied and pronounced, was being developed in different directions, but until today the mechanisms of appearance of such metaphor have not been structures yet into clear cut cognitive or linguistic categories. They are interpreted subjectively, and the metaphor that appears in the result of these mechanisms, according to H. Neumann «codes nothing, it is similar to a flower torn from the ground and floating on the surface of a poem. Such metaphor is devoid of its essential foundation and it is transformed in some creature». Georg Trakl, an Austrian poet of expressionistic decade, can serve as an example of numerous mysterious codes: metaphors in his works need interpretation, but they resist it. Subjectivity of interpretation of his «absolute» metaphors is vividly expressed in translations of his poems into Russia — it is a real challenge for any professional interpreter. Trakl’s metaphors cannot be interpreted in one and only way, and as a result translations of his poems are often down to earth. Due to the differences in the structures of the German and Russian languages, most of translations of Trakl’s «absolute» metaphor into Russian show the loss of its cognitive functions, including the function of alienation.