The subject of this thesis is a characterisation of key motivic units in lyrical works of Jaroslav Vrchlický and Jiří Karásek ze Lvovic, thus it explores Czech parnassian and decadent poetry of the end of 19th century. It observes and traces literal, esthetical and thought shifts of both authors from the aspect of various motives usage. The thesis is divided into five chapters, each of them dealing with one specific motivic unit. The chapters are: 1. Motives of woman, body and sexuality. 2. Motives of dream, imaginary and escape. 3. Motives of dying, disease and decay. 4. Motives of depressiveness, grief, bitterness and vanity. 5. Motives of nature and landscape. Each chapter compares these motives, examines their usage by both authors and looks at how their form and expression undergo a process of certain changes. It also focuses on those motives that appear as completely new elements in their poetry. The conclusion provides with brief summaries of all chapters and a short look through frequency word dictionary of relevant volumes of poems.