The Cycle Bdenja from the Pet Lirskih Krugova of Momćilo

SERBIAN STUDIES
PUBLISHED BY THE NORTH AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR SERBIAN STUDIES
CONTENTS
VOLUME 4 , NUMBERS 1/2 FALL/SPRING 1986/87
Michael Boro Petrovich
PUPIN IN SERBIAN-AMERICAN LIFE BEFORE THE FIRST
WORLD WAR
5
Edward Goy
THE CYCLE BDENJA FROM THE PET LIRSKIH KRUGOVA
OF MOMCILO NASTASI]EVIC.
29
Vladimir Milicic
SOME RHETORICAL ASPECTS OF THE NOVEL
THE BRIDGE ON THE DRINA
53
Vasa D. Mihailovich
TWENTY TWO TRANSLATIONS OF " HASANAGINICA"
INTO ENGLISH
65
Nicholas Pasic
DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS BETWEEN CANADA AND SERBIA 77
Edward Goy
29
THE CYCLE BDENJA FROM THE PET URSKIH KRUGOV A
OF MOMClLO NAST ASIJEVIC
With Bdenja the five cycles enter a new phase, though still a
variation of the two preceding cycles. Morning and evening poems
are followed logically by Vigils, thoughts in the night. Thus, just as
most of the poems in the preceding cycles arc based on a concrete,
immediate situation, those of Bdenja tend to be increasingly metaphoric and abstract, befitting thoughts rather than the immediacy of
existence. So Osama no trgu replaces the more concrete experience
of Djurdjevci and Grobnoj the poem Sestri na pokoju. Vigils suggest
an inner rather than an external confrontation of events. 1
1.
In his selection of the early versions of Nastasijevic's poetry, Stanislav Vinaver included only a small number of pieces and few of
them dated. Among those poems Vinaver did include are early versions of Frula, Rumena kap (Vecernja pesma), Roditelju and others.
One poem not included was the earlier version of the first peom of
this cycle, Molitva which was published with the title Vecernja in
Srpski knjizevni glasnik in 1922. 2 The title presents a question for
anybody reading Bdenja. Among Vinaver's selection there is both
Vecernja pesma and Jutarnja pesma, both suggesting the influence
of Ducic and Rakic on the early Nastasijevic. The singular use of the
word Vecernja may suggest the noun rather than the adjective, in
other words not evening but Vespers in the sense of night prayers,
even prayers for the dead, the Russian Molyebyen. In Bdenja the
title has changed to Molitva and the entire poem is tightened
rhythmically into a quite different experience. Yet the meaning of
the first lines depends on such an interpretation of vecernja and tihi
poj then becomes the soft chanting of hymns. This would distinguish it from its meaning in the title of the cycle Vecernje. It suggests
the generally more religious tone of Bdenja and also a reflection on
the foregoing cycles. One may be tempted to see them as Matins,
Vespers and Vigils, despite the overtly pagan tones of the earlier
cycles. At least this adds a further ambiguity and dimension to the
poems, one which, whether accepted or not, scarcely contradicts but
lends force to the essence of their strivi ng after connection and
meaning.
Edward Goy
30
11.
The poem Molitva opens with a formal reference to Frula but the
tone has changed although, surprisingly, the technique has not. Change
is to come in the final cycles Gluhote and Reci u kamenu.
Molitva
A Prayer
Smognem li 6vo dubinom u vecernju
iii je tihi poj,
II' dubina se otvori gde b6lelo?
Tiho po muci br6dim, smerni rob.
Darken 1 this with profundity
at vespers,
Or is it the soft chant,
Or did profundity 6pen where
it hUrt?
A hUmble slave, softly 1 wade
through suffering.
Pakoo meni, 6ce,
B6ljezon, dr6cu na put,
Rast6ci, o rost6ci raba.
Dublje dno dusi no strad6nju,
Bez dna rec ova smerna u vecernju,
Hell to me, father,
Sickness, thorns on my path,
Let w6cms, oh Jet worms devour
this slave.
The soul 's depths ore deeper than
suffering,
Bottomless this hUmble word at
vespers,
Koren je 6vo,
A r6ot is this,
Ctva mi, 6ce, u nagrizanje,
A w6rm to me father for the
gnawing,
Let wotms, oh let wotms dev6ur
this sl6ve.
Rast6ci,o rast6ci r6bo.
fer i pakao je tv6j
I prop6je.
For Mil too is yours
And sings f6rth.
Zaldpim t6plo iz op6rine tela
1 karen po k6ren m6nje
Warmly I surge forth from the
body's incumbrance
And root by r6ot ever less
Mome strodilju.
Is my suffering.
The poem's structure echoes that of previous cycles. It begins with
a question, as does Frula. There is the same spondaic pause in tihi
poj and the first stanza is partly framed with the burden tiho po
muci brodim. The second stanza is addressed to the deity and framed
by the lines rastoci, o rastoCi raba. The religious atmosphere is
heightened by the use of the archaic rab instead of rob, boljezan
instead of boLest.
The poem is unified by rhyme and suggested rhyme. Thus poj in
the first stanza rhymes with tvoj in the third as also with the asso-
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nance propoje. So also the first and
assonances bolelo and iz oporine tell
stradan}u, nagrizanju, manje, stradar
rhymed poems of the cycles. The stn
the poem.
There is an immediate foregroum
smagnuti in the transitive sense: smt
nuti an intransitive sense, dunkei w•
be sun-burned. Nastasijevic used it
tamnog Vilajeta we have One smagr
fear), On smagne i prosapce, A kad
Here the usage is nearer to that of I
jace sjoti sagni/Pa im lice! pa im nor
down to shine brighter/and burn dar
The opening three lines, with thei
such are an immediate situation; th,
differs from the more meditative qua:
Do I darken this, or is it the soft ch.
perience opened with suffering? It is
as in Frula, the source of an experien
is more self assertion in the questio:
by what is almost a challenge. The hu
than suffering, the humble word is
lenged, recalling Job, by its acceptar
shall sing forth. The reference is clec
action upon the person is resolved h)
Suffering becomes merely a conditi01
itself. Connection comes through un
bed in hell, thou art there" and the h
suffering. Thus suffering is resolved
whether it is I that darken requires 2
released, warmly to pour-forth from
of the containing and suffering body.
here but returns in the second poem
CrlJspi
Sve samlji.
Sn6m poh6diS me tudja.
Gre§niji kad samotan te z6vem.
Edward Goy
31
nance propoje. So also the first and last stanzas are linked by the
assonances bolelo and iz oporine tela. The axial rhyme is vecernju,
sLradanju, nagrizanju, manje, stradanju, making this one of the most
rhymed poems of the cycles. The stress on these rhymes dominates
the poem.
There is an immediate foregrounding with the use of the word
smagnuti in the transitive sense: smagnem li ovo. Vuk gives smagnuti an intransitive sense, dunkel werden, to grow dark or even to
be sun-burned. Nastasijevi6 used it in both ways. In his stories lz
Lamnog Vilajeta we have One smagnu od strepnje (grew dark with
fear), On smagne i prosapce, A kad smagnu, ja da udjem u kucu. 3
Here the usage is nearer to that of Branko Radicevic: Sunce jarko,
jace sjati sagni/Pa im lice, pa im none smagni. (Oh bright sun, bow
down to shine brighter/and burn dark their faces and their legs.)
The opening three lines, with their question, recall Frula and as
such are an immediate situation; the sounds of Vespers. In this it
differs from the more meditative quality of most poems in the cycle.
Do I darken this, or is it the soft chanting, or has the depth of experience opened with suffering? It is rather the same sort of question
as in Frula, the source of an experience, yet it is different. Here there
is more self assertion in the question. The questioning is followed
by what is almost a challenge. The humble slave's soul is still deeper
than suffering, the humble word is bottomless. Suffering is challenged, recalling Job, by its acceptance. For hell is also divine and
shall sing forth. The reference is clearly to Psalm 139. The external
action upon the person is resolved by a re-affirmation of the person.
Suffering becomes merely a condition of existence, but not existence
itself. Connection comes through universality: "Though I make my
bed in hell, thou art there" and the humble word is profounder than
suffering. Thus suffering is resolved into profundity. The question
whether it is I that darken requires a deeper answer. Tho I must be
released, warmly to pour forth from the limitations and resistance
of the containing and suffering body. Expression is muted as a theme
here but returns in the second poem Gospi.
Cos pi
Sve s6mlji.
Sn6m poh6di~ me tudja.
Gre~niji kad s6moton te z6vem.
To the Lady.
Ever more alone.
With dreams you vfsit me, alien.
More· ~fr'lful when, al6ne. I call you.
Edward Goy
32
Tudja su deca iz tebc zaplakala .
Another's children cry out of yo u.
Smfluj se.
Truje ne celi tvoj Mk.
Sil6vito me cemerom prostreli.
Hudi svoj, g6spo,
No pesmu procerd6vam svoj vek.
Have mercy.
Your remedy rots, not cutes.
Vi6/enl/y has it pierced me with
grief.
My own enemy, madam,
I squander my life on poetry.
I cry 6ul,
But my v6ice is lost in space.
Somewhere on a star is the
sweet-voiced salvation
That i. the sick poet, stammered
here on earth.
Zavdpim,
AI' izvije se glas.
Mfloglosan je negde no zvllzdi spas,
Sto b6/ni pevac promucoh ovde dole.
Jcr nema ruke do razdnMi nom cvor,
AI' t6mo i no vekc
Zriik lvoj h6ce li b6/eti?
Tudja iz tebe bica h6cu li v6/eti?
Smf/uj se.
Truje ne celi tvoj Mk.
Sil6vito me cemerom prostreli.
Hudi svoj, g6spo,
No poeziju procerd6vom svoj vek.
For there is no hand to unravel
us the kn6t.
But there and for ever
Does your roy seek to pain?
Sholl I 16ve lien Mings fro m
out of you?
Have metcy.
Your remedy rots, not cures.
Vi6/ently has it pierced me
with grfef.
My own enemy, madam,
I hove sq(wndered my lf/e on
p6etry.
The title suggests again a possible religious tone. G6spa is usual as
meaning a lady in Dalmatian literature, but it also has the connotation of the Virgin. Yet this is far from necessary, for it refers back
to the theme of sexual love in the earlier cycles. Indeed the terms
have all appeared before. The idea of sickness and cure, the word
and the poem. Sex is a unifying force, but one which is rejected, for
the alien children, the non-me is a negation of the I as much as it is
a unifying force. For the predicament of existence sex, love and its
results are no solution, but only a major element of the problem.
The life of the individual is not to be equated with the maintainance
of the infusoria which is race or species.
The poem is framed by the second and final stanzas with their
rhyme of leklvek. These seem to bear the strain of the whole. The
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relation is back to the rec smema
vidual is ever more alone and the I~
adds to pain. Her cure rots rather thai
the knot. The word of the poet is li
state of existence is the affirmation
waste, a squandering. The "have m
sum up the rejection of the proces
circle which, despite the longings of
in pain and vacuity. The poet can 01
connection with being and a meanin
seem a vain struggle.
The poem seems to pick up and u
cycles to present them in a more tn
uation is not immediate. It is metap
Meaning and connection in the imn
reality of being which is that of tht
seem to be both a rejection and a n
faith be tragic and apparently in vai
one may truly think of a departu.n
morning and evening to the meditat
Botjok
Prebol je,
Kuii ova noc.
zemljo mi tela,
H6di on.
Zoldpi gr6zo
:-!a st6pe 86gu gde 6stale.
.Mn6ga te m6jko b6lelo
flad' ova tiho prebola.
O,m6 lo li je
Zo muku tvoje utrobe.
To b6tjak
Do ne r6dim sino
U 6voj gr6zi od fskoni,
Kod h6di on.
fe r nema z6re,
No zenice li ne zapl6vi,
Ni b/dgo p6ja ne,
fl6dnu li ovu gr6zu ne- prekuiim.
Edward Goy
33
relation is back to the rec smerna of the previous poem. The individual is ever more alone and the lady with her dream visit merely
adds to pain. Her cure rots rather than cures. There is none to loosen
the knot. The word of the poet is lost. Salvation is on a star. The
state of existence is the affirmation of expression, yet this too is a
waste, a squandering. The " have mercy", repeated as it is, seems to
sum up the rejection of the process of reproduction, the vicious
circle which, despite the longings of the one for the other, ends only
in pain and vacuity. The poet can only express his desire for a real
connection with being and a meaning in existence. Yet this too may
seem a vain struggle.
The poem seems to pick up and unite images already used in the
cycles to present them in a more tragic and complex way. The situation is not immediate. It is metaphoric and, in a sense, abstract.
Meaning and connection in the immediate sense are useless to the
reality of being which is that of the individual. The poem would
seem to be both a rejection and a restatement of faith, even if that
faith be tragic and apparently in vain. This is the first poem where
one may truly think of a departure from the direct evocation of
morning and evening to the meditation of night thoughts.
Bozjak
Prebol je,
Kuzi ova not.
Zt?mljo mi tela,
H6di on.
Zalapi gr6za
No st6pe B6gu gde 6stole.
Mn6go te m6jko b61elo
Rod' ovo tfha pr~bolo.
O,malo li je
Za muku tvoje utrobe.
To b6zjak
Da ne r6dim sino
U 6voj gr6zi od fskoni,
Kod h6di on.
fer nema z6re,
Na zenice li ne zap/6vi,
Ni bl6ga p6jo ne,
H6dnu li ovu gr6zu n e p reku zim.
The Beggar.
'Tis rec6very,
Plagues this night.
Earth my b6dy,
He walks.
T~rror drfves
On the steps of G6d where they have
stayed.
Much, m6ther, did it pain you
For this a qui~t recovery.
Oh, little is it
For th e pain of your w6mb.
So, a beggar
That I breed no s6n
In this prim~vol t~rror,
When he walks.
For there's n6 dawning,
No blue ski~s for the eyes,
Nor gentle singing,
This innate Mrror I survive not
its plague.
Edward Goy
6bol mi pruze, mojko,
Po drhtaj B6ga
J6 njima no d6r,
B6zjak ja raspevani.
34
Sickness they 6ffer me, m6ther,
To each a shUdder of God
My gift to them,
I, the sir'\ging beggar.
The dominating imagery of this poem reflects that of Gospi. It is
sickness, now plague, and cure, now recovery. The predicament
remains the same. The whole poem is really a metaphor. So the
smerni rab has now become the beggar, bozjak, not prosjak, thus
offering a link with the "holy beggar", the yurodivy of Russian. The
beggar is still the poet. The bottomless word of Molitva becomes a
more powerful force, a shudder of God. There is a general intensification of the imagery. The knot that is not to be untied has now
become the innate terror or even horror (groza) and involves some
obscurity. In the first stanza the line zemlja mi tela without a verb
makes the sense reversible-earth is my body/my body is earth. Still
more difficult at first is Hodi on, repeated in the third stanza-kad
hodi on. This is clarified in lines 5-6 zalapi groza/na stope Bogu gde
ostale. The pronoun can only refer to God. So the terror drives in
God's steps. The earth God's steps tread is at once the real earth, the
poet's body and the poet's body, the earth.
The questioning of the birth cycle is intensified. Now the recovery,
if recovery it is, has been surely paid for by the mother in giving
birth. The beggar refuses to continue this process in the horror which
is primeval and intrinsic. The individual, here the poet, the singing
beggar, offers in place of sickness a "shudder of God." yet this innate
plague is not to be overcome. The song stammered here on earth in
Gospi, is still no more than a slim chance. One cannot help recalling
T.S. Eliot's "Four Quartets". The first three poems are really a unity.
Molitva proclaiming the depth of the soul and its word, Gospi reaffirming this while rejecting what is alien and now still the rejection of the alien. My body is the earth and so alien. There is no
dawning, nor is there a gentle singing to act as balm to the horror
of being. Thus love, sex, nature, even beauty itself are not a solution.
The poetry of the beggar appears as a challenge or at least a refusal
to accept what is irrelevant to the problem.
The metaphoric element bears the weight of the poem. The short
line with its two or sometimes single stresses is emphatic. The only
framing is the repetition of hodi on. Rhyme is reduced to occasional
Edward Goy
assonance. The poem consists of a ~
The address to the mother (instead (]
contained, rather than framed, ben~
the poem's pessimism and rejection.
ing beggar (raspevani). As in Molin•
my suffering is less, so here the he:!!
process (the Igre of Vasko Papa?) pr
or at least a truth to self.
Dve rane
Ubod li ,
To buja vbistvu,
T6ljubim.
Vreo vfh macu
Zaiudi do bc!Maka u telo.
Jer, i kroz ranu,
I tiSe tim,
Prizivlju se bfti.
AI' dve se 6tvore,
Prebo/i, te zadadoh,
Mojo bez prebola, br6Je.
Jer je tfho s6tkana duso,
Na lise btdo uv6dile
Pr6zirne ruke.
Za 6ziljkom se
U vidanje prikr6de.
Bieda vid6rica bez node.
Al' k6ze mi se do/ina.
R6mori sto je skfgut ovde zuba.
Tiho se tclmo sjarani/u
Sto se kfvavo mili ovde i ljubi.
Nema za mene bilja 6vde d6le.
34
is
ent
the
hus
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assonance. The poem consists of a sestet followed by four quartets.
The address to the mother (instead of to the lady) and the whole is
contained, rather than framed, between two words which oppose
the poem's pessimism and rejection, prebol (recovery) and the singing beggar (raspevani). As in Molitva it is a paradox. Root by root
my suffering is less, so here the beggar, in rejecting the earth, the
process (the Igre of Vasko Popa?) proclaims an echo of a solution,
or at least a truth to self.
fsh:
Dve rane
hsiow
me
erb
ttill
t~~in
the
in
fing
ity.
re·ecno
art
mly
Jnal
35
The Two Wounds.
Tis o stab.
Ubod li,
To bUja vbistvu,
Toliubim.
It burgeons to killing.
That I /6ve.•
Vreo vfh ma~u
Zazudi do b616aka u tela.
The sword's h6t p6fnt
Thirsts to the hflt in o bOdy.
fer. i kroz ronu.
tim,
Prizfv/ju se bfti.
For through o wound
And quieter thus
Are they summoned to M.
AI' dve se otvore ,
Preboli, te zodadoh,
M6ja bez prebola, brole.
But two wounds open
Those I gave you rec6vererd,S
Mine is unhealing. brother.
Jer je tfho satkana dusa,
No me btdo uv6di/e
Pr6zirne ruke.
For the soul is sflent/y w6ven,
To a quieter hill have it led
Tw6 transparent h6nds.
Za 6iiljkom se
U vidanje prikr6de,
Bieda vidarica bez node.
Creeps to healing
A pole sorceress without hope.
I
ti~e
AI' kate mi se d6lina.
R6mori sto je ~kfgut ovde zuba.
Tiho se tamo ~jaranilu
$to se ktvavo mrii ovde i /jubi.
Nema za mene bflja 6vde d6/e.
After the scar
But the valley speaks to me
The murmers that ore gnshing of
teeth here.
TMre all is s6ftly reconciled
That here bl6odi/y hates and loves.
No parenthood is for me here
bel6w.
Edward Goy
36
The metaphoric structure of this maintains its link through the use
of preboJ, rane, ubod, dolina, with earlier cycles. Poznoj (Vecernje)
Iz tri sto zadadoh rane and now the valley from Frula (Jutornje)
which is a real valley, takes on a metaphoric character. Rhyme is
limited to duse/ruke, prikrade/nade, Zubo/ljubi. Mainly the short
and heavily stressed line of Bozjok stresses the continuation of the
theme. The first lines rythmically correspond. The tight syntax and
the foregrounding makes this a forerunner of the style of the final
cycles Gluhote and Reci u komenu. The statement is a further and
more complex development of the theme of Bozjok.
The poem is in three parts, two of three stanzas each and the last
of one plus a final line. Each is a stage of the expression of connection and alienation. The subjective is in terms of experience rather
than of statement as in Bozjok. The development may be followed
from part to part. The first refers to wounding, but also it is clearly
erotic. Thus the final line; through the wound they are summoned
to being suggests the same process of continuation, generation. The
second part presents a complication of the metaphor. There are two
wounds. That of the speaker is without recovery. It is not the wound
of eros, but something else. The vocative brale contrasts with gospo
and mojko with its intimacy. BraJe, an intimate diminutive of brat,
may be used for either sex (as the shorter form bre!). The other
wound is of the soul, the sickness, the plague of the preceding poems.
The fate of the soul is born in the metaphor of the transparent hands
and, after it has become a cacatrice, the pale sorceress without hope.
This is symbolism. But the rejection of eros is extended to the valley
where the love and hatred have achieved a quiet reconciliation. The
dolino returns to the poem Frulo but now it is metaphoric as in
Frulo it is not. The valley has assumed metaphoric proportions. The
murmers which here are a grinding of teeth are something else in
the valley. So the final line confirms as well as explicating the rejections of Gospi and Bozjok, Nemo zo mene biljo ovde dole. The
usage of the term bilje7 (the male power to propagate) links with the
line do ne rodim sino from Bozjok. It is a rejection of the circular
process of love, hate, clash and propagation. There is no connection
here that is significant.
The metaphoric nature of the poem's statement is certainly an
example of how far Bdenja, even though it retains much of the same
imagery and syntax, is a departure from the first two cycles.
Edward Goy
Osomo no trgu
T6 kudo nepr6hod im,
Cudno mi se 6tvor put.
T6 kudo stupaj ih lOki,
StUknem, brale.
Pl6c i smeh vtve u vrevi ,
Bukcu koo sm6lo,
Bledi pron6se tugu.
I j6 bih u vrevi do vtvim,
Osomo no tfgu me sn6dje,
Tisina njinom Mku:
Kud 6ni §est6rim,
Sa rujnih lfca stijem l6banje k6b.
Pr6streli, o, pr6streli me r6bo.
Pr6minu njinom,
SobJasno ovo ostoj6nje.
Pr6streli, o. pr6streli ,
K6men da sam na v~ki.
Po mojoj s~nci, da mere
Smfroje i svitdnja
No trgu.
This is both a development and a\'
of isolation, an isolation which i~
easy to the crowd is hard to the sub
of isolation links with Dve rane l
(sardonic?) in tone. Yet the laughtE
up) bears a sadness for the subject
the predicament with the domim
final couplet contains a difficulty ·
dened (sun-burnt) faces? Why doe
skull? Perhaps the skull, as the seal
Certainly the sadness born by the I
is within them but of which they
vidual beings, even though for th•
individual also has the same crow
Edward Goy
Osoma no trgu
37
Loneliness on the Squa re.
T6 kudo nepr6hod im,
Cudno mi se 6tvor put.
Whither they have no passage,
Strangely fo r me o way 6pens.
T6 kudo stupaj ih 16ki,
Stuknem, brole.
f step bock, little br6ther.
Pl6l! i smeh vfve u vrevi,
Bukcu kao sm61a,
Bledi pron6se tugu.
I j6 bill u vrevi do vfvim,
6sama no tfgu me snadje,
1'isino njinom Mku:
Kud 6ni sest6rim,
So rujnih lfca stfjem 16banje k6b.
Pr6streli, o, pr6streli me r6ba.
Pr6minu njfnom,
Sablosno ovo ostojanje.
Pr6streli, o, pr6streli,
Kam en do sam no veki.
Whither their light step,
In the seething swarm tears and
laughter.
Flare up like tar,
Pale. they Mar sadness.
l to6 would in the seething s'v6rm,
Beset by J6neliness on the square,
A silence to their tumult.
Whither tMy, I stride,
From flushed foees I read the
skull's fate.
Pierce, oh pierce me through , the
sl6ve.
to their pagsing
Spectral this lingering.
Pierce, oh pierce,
That /. be etcfnally a st6ne.
Po mojoj senci, do mere
Smfraje i svitanjo
No trgu.
'~'Y
e
h:
in
ehe
he
lar
pn
an
me
That by my sh6dow they measure
Duskings and dawriings"
On the square.
This is both a development and a waver. The first part is a statement
of isolation, an isolation which is in the nature of being. What is
easy to the crowd is hard to the subject and vice versa. The statement
of isolation links with Dve rane by the use of brole: it is intimate
(sardonic?) in tone. Yet the laughter and noise (likened to tar flaring
up) bears a sadness for the subject. The contradiction is stressed as
the predicament with the dominant assonance of tugu/huku. The
final couplet contains a difficulty which is not syntaxical; why reddened (sun-burnt) faces? Why does the speaker read the fate of the
skull? Perhaps the skull, as the seat of thought, is that of the speaker?
Certainly the sadness born by the laughing, noisy throng is one that
is within them but of which they are unaware. They too are individual beings, even though for the moment a part of a crowd. The
individual also has the same crowd instinct. It is desire for connec-
Edward Goy
38
?ut
~ion,
li~-~ erosy is a false connection that solves nothing. The
tsolatwn, t1sma n]mom huku, is a tragic situation, not to be overcome on the square. The poem is the confrontation of the agora.
. After the themes of suffering and eros, this is, then, a waver, yet
m the second part of the poem this is stressed as being connected
with the earlier poems. Thus the repeated line: prostreli,o prostreli
refers back to silovito temerom me prostreli (Gospi) and the line
rastoci,o rastoCi roba (Molitva). This part rhythmically, with its rhyme
ostajanje/svitonja, concluded dramatically with the single stress na
trgu, Prostreli,o prostreli me raba (exactly balancing the line from
Molitva) becomes a prayer, not for inclusion in the thronging crowds,
the agora, but to be extinguished as sentient being, to become a stone
by whose shadows the time of day may be told.u The prayer is still
close to that in Molitva. To win is to lose everything, to be extinguished is to be saved. Yet existence is still a spectral lingering, a
mystery and a suffering. The way of the being leads out of the external world into a being that is concrete, a congealed being of the
stone. This new metaphor will later become the title theme of the
final cycle ReCi u kamenu. But there is no hint of a solution, only
a desire and a realization.
Prevetcrje
Zorom zatarnni u predvet~rje tv6r,
I oci:bludu li. pagubi no rub
II' skrusenju.
ispolin andjeo
Sil6vito nod kr6vovima zotrubi.
I ne vide go,zarki stub,
I ne tuju.
On trubi, trubi
U predvecerje strohobni rC1b.
I vidim,
S6mo sto pogubom ne bUkne
Kuzna oluja.
I t ujem,
S6mo sto strohobno u sk16du ne zoh6ri
The Onset of Evening.
With a g16w d6rkens creation at
evening.
And eyes:~rr they on the edge--of
disaster
Or repentence.
A giant 6ngcl
Mightily trumpets forth over the
r6of-tops.
And they see him not, the glowing
column
And hear him not.
He trumpets, trumpets
At evening. the dread brink.
And I see,
That 6/most with h6locaust
Edward Goy
Alilujo.
This elaborates the theme of Osama
force of aliteration, rhyme and assoJJ
balanced by the near rhymes olujCLc
by the vocal u-rub,zatrubi, trubi, sk
luja. Rhythmically there is a comt
longer and .quicker line: i ne vide
shorter line: I ne tuju, kuzna oltrjc'i. 1
the use of archaisms; paguba, ispoli:J
the glowing column supports there
As is basic to all these cycles, tJ
descends with a glow. The giant 8llj
seen nor heard. The "they" is still
that is easy for the speaker, miraculo
experience. The symbol is the precl
vidual. The trumpet links with that
peva truba. Thus it is clearly death 1
Dusk is the dread brink, the brink
nearly, but not quite, two opposite E
gue and the shout of Alleluja. Neith
of what is within the speaker, then
is unreal and neither hears nor s~
of fear but no more than this. It li
reality of being. Only individuals !
nations do not.
So this poem is a deepening, beca
would swarm with the throng, but .
calling and thundering of somethin
is within the poet and so does not I
Trag
Cudno li me slob6di ovo
Cudniie li veza.
38
Edward Goy
Aliluja.
39
glares up
The plague-bearing
t~mpest.
And I hear.
Almost that in dread harmony rings
out
Alleluja.
xtin-
ng, a
e exfthe
f the
only
at
of
the
'wing
This elaborates the theme of Osama no trgu. The poem is a tour de
force of aliteration, rhyme and assonance. The rhymes rub, stub, are
balanced by the near rhymes oluja/aliluja. The whole is dominated
by the vocal u-rub,zatrubi, trubi, skrusenju, stub, bukne, oluja, aliJujo. Rhythmically there is a combination and alternation of the
longer and .quicker line: f ne vide ga, z6rkr srob with the slower
shorter line: I ne cuju, kuzna 6luja. There is a foregrounding through
the use of archaisms; paguba, ispolin, bludu. The metaphoric angel,
the glowing column supports the religious nature of the imagery.
As is basic to all these cycles, the code is a paradox. Darkness
descends with a glow. The giant angel trumpets forth but is neither
seen nor heard. The "they" is still the throng of Osama. The way
that is easy for the speaker, miraculously so, becomes a more specific
experience. The symbol is the predicament of the being, the individual. The trumpet links with that in Truba (Vecernje)-negde zapevo trubo. Thus it is clearly death and, as such, is linked with fate,
Dusk is the dread brink, the brink of darkness and extinction. So
nearly, but not quite, two opposite events occur: the tempest of plague and the shout of Allcluja. Neither happen. They are metaphors
of what is within the speaker, the reality of being where the throng
is unreal and neither hears nor sees. Death for the agora is instinct
of fear but no more than this. It lives, seethes and is deaf to the
reality of being. Only individuals suffer and die. Crowds, society,
nations do not.
So this poem is a deepening, because a defining of isolation. I too
would swarm with the throng, but I cannot, for I hear the insistent
calling and thundering of something it does not know. The drama
is within the poet and so does not take place outside.
Trag
Cudno li me slob6di ovo
Cudnije li veza.
The Track
Strcingely lfberates me this,
More strangely binds.
Edward Goy
40
Buknem u tebe, vre6 se ullvam,
Jeza je ovo, oh jeza.
I flare up in you, h6t, I pour in,
'tis a shiver, oh 'tis a shiver.
I trAg putanjarna tv6j,
Pa me pali
And your ttack along the ways;
But it burns me.
A Mdno zastrepi sfce,
A studim.
And strangely, the heart takes fear,
And I grow c61d.
Ljubeci ilia li to ubfjam,
Sta li budim?
Loving, what is it I k£11,
What awAken?
Jer i pep eo ce vetri razneti'
I nema razresenja.
For the ashes will the winds
scatter,
And there's n6 release.
T6nu bez potonuca,
Bez dna u nalazenju,
Bez dna se izgube stvorenja.
They sink without sinking,
Unfathomable in their c6ming,
Unfathomably are they lost, the
creatures.
I tragom kuda sagoreli
Sve bolnije su obn8Zenja.
And by the track where they burned
Ever more painful the barings.
Vreo se ulivarn,
I cudno zastrepi srce,
A studim.
H6t I pour in,
And strangely the heart takes fear,
And I grew cold.
Ljubeci sta li to ubijarn,
Sta li budim?
Loving what is it I kill,
What awAken?
The cycle again turns in on itself. The meditation of Osama, the
drama of Prevecerje, now Trag with its constant rhyme structure is
almost a rondo. Again it is paradox and again there is the question
(ljubeci sta li to ubijam.
which frames all but the first two statements. In this we may go back to Frula! (Jutarnje) The verb buknuti
relates back to Predvecerje and the image trag back to Cesmi kraj
puta (Vecernje)- rumeni moj promine trag. - and forward to the
following poem Jedinoj (putem je ovim grenje). The adverb cudno
relates to the interrogative. It is still a mystery, a contradiction, as
in Frula, but how different!
The return to the erotic, now as an act of passion , is also a paradox.
What liberates, binds. I love and kill. Your track burns, yet the heart
grows cold. The poem is at once a contrast, in its form, and a connection and unification of themes. The theme of isolation and the
0
.)
Edward Goy
theme of eros are bound together i
binds as well as releases, then 1 ~
awaken? The track, the tracks, burn
of God (Bozjak). It is typical of the
themes which is typical of all the g
]edinoj.
jedinoj.
Pjat'l tobom,
SmMak je vreli.
Tamom na zenice
6tvorim tvoju tarfm,
Ja,o jedini ja.
,
Cednu mi pr6let,
Pakleni plarnen navestis,
Ti.o jedina ti.
Cedni to presahnuti u pl6du,
II' iza plarnena gar
Jadovno gol6tinjorn u nebo,
Jedno je,o jedina:
Do u bespuce, znaj,
Pt1tem je ovim grenje.
I dublje li nas nema,
DUblje se 6tvori spasenje.
This follows Trag and with its synta
it suggests a sort of answer to the q
As so often, the imagery relates
cycles. The first line seems to relat
l' napiti se vina/Ili od zracna nedira1
Za nove zlatne oblake? The use ol
(Dublje dno dusi no stradanju) and
with Trag: the question is gone an
znaj. The lines Cedni presalmuti
dovno golotinjom u nebo seems to r
razneti.
The structure is four stanzas of t:lu
Rhyme is restricted to the final grenj
Edward Goy
41
theme of eros are bound together into a new question. If passion
binds as well as releases, then I ask what is it I kill, what is it I
awaken? The track, the tracks, burning relate again to the footsteps
of God (Bozjak). It is typical of the waver back and forth between
themes which is typical of all the cycles. This will be developed in
Jedinoj.
Jedinoj.
To the one.
Pjan tobom,
Smi!Sak je vreli.
Drunk with you,
The smile is h6t.
Tamom na zenice
6tvorim tvoju tarim,
Ja,o jedini ja.
By .the darkness on the eyes
I open up your darkness.
i, oh i al6ne.
CMnu mi pr6let,
P~k leni plamen navestis,
Ti,o jedina ti.
A chaste spfing to me,
A Mllish flame you proclaim,
Y6u, oh y6u the only one.
Cedni to presahnuti u pl6du,
II' iza plamena gt\r
J~dovno gol6tinjom u nebo.
frUit,
The chaste to wither in the
Or after the flames the so6t
Mfserably skyward in its nakedness,
Jedno je,o jedina:
Do u bespuce, znaj,
Putem je ovim grenje.
It is 6ne, oh unique one,
I dublje li nas nema,
Dublje se 6tvori spasenje.
And the d~per we are n6t,
The deeper opens up salvation.
To its ending, kn6w you,
Is the wending upon this way.
This follows Trag and with its syntax stretching to almost obscurity,
it suggests a sort of answer to the question raised.
As so often, the imagery relates back to other poems and other
cycles. The first line seems to relate back to Grozd (Jutarnje)- do
1' napiti se vina!Ili ad zracna nedira/U zlatnu maglu da presahnemol
Za nove zlatne oblake? The use of dublje relates back to Molitva
(Dublje dno dusi no stradanju) and there is a relation of opposites
with Trag: the question is gone and replaced with the affirmative
znaj. The lines Cedni presahnufi u plodu!Il' iza plamena garl]adovno golotinjom u nebo seems to relate to Trag: fer i pepeo ce vetri
razneti.
The structure is four stanzas of three lines framed by two couplets.
Rhyme is restricted to the final grenje/spasenje thus ending the poem
Edward Goy
42
emphatically. The double stresses are also emphatic: pjan t6bom,
tamom na zenica. The cudan of Trag becomes cedan.
Perhaps the title Jedinoj carries the sense. The unique, the only
one suggests a new view of isolation in eros, an overcoming rather
than a rejection. Only the individual, the unique can engage in love
or in anything else. Thus it is two entities, alone and unique. Thus
the second and third stanzas end Ja,o jedini ja and Ti,o jed ina ti. So
to be the one involves inevitably not being the other. This, then, is
also not to be as one. The darkness on the eyes of the one discovers
the darkness of the other. Both beings are in question. To vanish as
soot, after the flame (of passion?) is to be lost as being. Thus there
is one (jedno): the wending on this path till it runs out. (One may
feel there is here a fore-runner of Vasko Papa's Vrati mi moje krpice}.
The solution is to reject being itself. The less we are, the profounder
is the salvation. Such is not, clearly, the withering of the fruit, nor
the withering for the sake of new golden clouds. This would merely
be the put do bespuca. The paradox is re-affirmed. (As also the
chaste spring and the hellish flame is a paradox). The need to connect is not to be satisfied in the process, for this cannot unite the
Unique. The union must be deeper. The question is half answered,
yet even this waver back to eros in a new way does not resolve the
struggle.
Mirovanje drveta.
The Stillness of the Trees.
Sve boli. MHi druzi,
Rad mene mifujete.
Trepetom ne ozledi me ni list.
All pains. Dear friends,
For my sake are you still.
Not a leaf hurts me with its tremour.
Tiho i ti~i
Omin iz rana
Ovaploti me u
S6ftiy and s6ftlier
The abatement of wounds
Incarnates me in the word.
r6~.
Celivam stabla,
Bracu m6ju redom,
Mflujem oziljke ncfno.
I kiss the trees,
My brothers. one by one,
Tenderly I carfess their scars.
Mfli druzi,
Dear friends.
Does it hurt you when
The aXe cuts into your b6dy?
Boli li kad vam
Sekira zasece telo?
r limine li,
Kad za vas neme
Ja mukotrpan kriknem?
And does the pain pAss,
When for y6u, tho dumb,
I, long-suf£ering, cry out?
Edward Goy
Ako je skrnavlenje,
Pr6stite. srce rni je dano.
III
Rad mene mirujete:
Tibo i tise,
'min iz rana.
To mukotrpan,
Dnl.zi, za va neme,
fo
a
Sapatom visfnama
~zujom blagu rec.
In
SJ
Fe
CJ
Here is a return to the simpler languagt
a waver back to the theme rai'sed in Jw
in two parts, of which the second is com
stanzas one, two four and five.
After the rejection of eros as connecti
Jasike with its three questions. Now tl
murmer, why do the trees mingle their c1
assertion: the trees arc still for the spe
only whether the axe hurts, asked agai
pain. The speaker kisses the scars on t
be blasphemy, he may be forgiven becau
The connection not to be found in th
there. It is with the outside world, the r
connection is innate, the heart. Thus thE
the speaker's cries help to make the pail
the assertion of the sense of connection
sake - and a question as to the value <
reactions. Can these have any effect or a
of something within him? The heart i
poem.
The second part affirms a relationshi
speaker and for them, because they are d
a gentle word. The external world, its b
predicament is there and the self cann<
poetry the poet utters must be a word :
nature, thus returning and balancing th
poet's sake. The speech is more certain
no zvezdi spas, Sto bolni pevac promuc
Edward Goy
43
Ako je skrnavlenje.
Pr6stite, srce mi je dano.
II this be blasphemy,
Forgive me, I have been gfven a heart.
Rad m6ne mirujete:
Tiho i liSe,
Umin iz nina.
To mukotrpan,
Oruzi, za va neme,
For my sake are you still:
Soft and more softly.
The abatement of wounds.
'tis I, long-sUffering.
Comrades, for you, the dumb,
Sapatom visfnama
K{lzujem bhigu ret.
In a whisper to the heights
Speak a gentle w6rd.
Here is a return to the simpler language. Rhyme is absent. Yet it is
a waver back to the theme raised in Josike (Jutarnje). The poem is
in two parts, of which the second is composed of lines adapted from
stanzas one, two four and five.
After the rejection of eros as connection, the theme turns back to
Josike with its three questions. Now there is no asking what they
murmer, why do the trees mingle their crowns? Now it is an opposite
assertion: the trees are still for the speaker's sake. The question is
only whether the axe hurts, asked against the statement that all is
pain. The speaker kisses the scars on the trees and asks that, if this
be blasphemy, he may be forgiven because he has been given a heart.
The connection not to be found in the throng, nor in eros, is still
there. It is with the outside world, the non-human life. The urge for
connection is innate, the heart. Thus the second question is whether
the speaker's cries help to make the pain pass. The question follows
the assertion of the sense of connection- the trees are still for my
sake - and a question as to the value or lack of value in the poet's
reactions. Can these have any effect or arc they merely an expression
of something within him? The heart is the excuse for the whole
poem.
The second part affirms a relationship. The trees are still for the
speaker and for them, because they arc dumb, he speaks to the cyeights
a gentle word. The external world, its beauty, will not go away. The
predicament is there and the self cannot be denied either. Thus the
poetry the poet utters must be a word spoken for the sake of dumb
nature, thus returning and balancing the feeling that it too is for the
poet's sake. The speech is more certain. In Gospi it is Miloglason je
no zvezdi spas, Sto bolni pevac promucah ovde, now it is the calmer
Edward Goy
44
and more factual kazujem. I speak instead of stammer. The question
is not why do the trees act, but rather what is the possibility of a
relation with them. Can the word, the cry help them? Is the relation
two-sided and not merely the poet's feeling which he cannot help,
even if it be blasphemy, perhaps the blasphemy of anthropocentricity.
The stylistic difference between Mirovenje drveca and Jasike shows
the development that runs through the five cycles. There is no longer
the conventional " poetic" language of ]asike, not the evocation of a
moment in nature. Rather Mirovanje is naive, almost sentimental.
This makes it almost a calm in the more tense poems which precede
it.
Sivi trenutak.
A Grey Moment.
I najednom zasfvi,
Kao preg6relo je sve,
A sve zivi.
And sudden it is grey,
As though all were burned up,
Yet all lives.
Dtu:te u tajni,
Cuj, mukotrpno se ovo stce
Mimo sve jeze otfsne.
Comtade in mystery.
Hear; this long-suffering heart
Sets sail bey6nd all h6rrors.
I k6ji za mnom,
I u neznanju,
Gfes ovaj tudni put.
And y6u who after me,
Even in ignorance,
Wend this strange way.
Sfvo je tamo,
Sivfnom prostfeli bit,
Sfve su 6ti tajni.
'tis gtey there,
With greyness it pferces, Ming,
Grey are the eyes of mystery.
I kad umfru drveta,
And when the trees dfe,
Nor sadness nor rec6very, the dfy leaf
Strangely with silence carresses
Ni tuga ni opomena, te suhi list
Cudno ti~inom omfluje pat·
niku Celo.
The sufferer's f6rehead.
The two preceding poems are picked up in a repeat of paradox: all
is as if burned up, yet all lives. The reference to the last lines of
]edinoj (the deeper we are not, the deeper opens salvation) suggest
the greyness, the non-being that is still being, but on another level.
Mirovanje drveca is achoed verbally in the use of mukotrpan and
the vocative druze retaining the intimacy of mili druzi. The jeza
(horror, shudder, even thrill) of Trag is now left behind: the heart
sets off past all horrors. The trees again dominate the final stanza.
Edward Goy
The moment of greyness, the loss
seems to arise out of tho stillness
and the dry leaf carresses the suffe
The form of the poem is still sim
triplets. The imagery is again that
romantic poetry as an image for life
of it throughout the cycles:put, p~
Sivi trenutak is the apex of the (
a series of wavers and rejections.•
It also bears a form of connection, 1
as they die. The druze u tajni rna:
trees, developed into the sense th1
in ignorance, is called on to realiSI
is pierced through by it, recalling t
trgu. The comrade in mystery is cal
has gone beyond all shudders. The
The eyes of mystery are grey. In t
solution. The death of the trees is c
death. It involves no sadness and tl
tuga ni opomena refers directly to
title. After this comes almost a pa
poems which refer to a new aspect
Grobnoj.
Oh. t6 je,
Otetava n6ga.
Gr6bom pjan.
I 06C je OVO,·
Trflom pretfnem gl6ga,
I dan.
I st6pa gde pri6ne mi,
Jara je ozdo,
Z8pahne vrelo ph1ce.
O,gr6bno li mi smrkava
K6stima tvojim svanuce.
Oh, t6 je,
U subote ovaj bat
all
of
~st
el.
nd
za
art
z.a.
Edward Goy
45
The moment of greyness, the loss of outline and colour, the world,
seems to arise out of the stillness of the trees. Only now they die
and the dry leaf carresses the sufferer's forehead.
The form of the poem is still simple as in Mirovanje. It is just five
triplets. The imagery is again that of the way, the path, common to
romantic poetry as an image for life. Nastasijevic makes constant use
of it throughout the cycles:put, putanja.
Sivi trenutak is the apex of the cycle, the state arrived at through
a series of wavers and rejections. Now it is a secret, a strange secret.
It also bears a form of connection, other than the silence of the trees
as they die. The druze u tajni may have a wider address than the
trees, developed into the sense that who foliows the speaker, be it
in ignorance, is called on to realise that the way is greyness. Being
is pierced through by it, recalling the use of prostreliti in Osamo no
trgu. The comrade in mystery is called on to hear (cuj) that the heart
has gone beyond all shudders. The state is no longer that of Molitva.
The eyes of mystery are grey. In the greyness there lies a hope of
solution. The death of the trees is different from former concepts of
death. It involves no sadness and therefore no recovery. The line Ni
tuga ni opomena refers directly to Branko Radicevic's poem of that
title. After this comes almost a pause, embodied in the final three
poems which refer to a new aspect conditioned by Sivi tranutak,
Grobnoj.
To Her in the Grove.
Oh, t6 je,
OteMva n6ga.
Cr6bom pjan.
Oh, that's it,
The foot grows heavy,
Drunk with the grave.
I n6c jc ovo,Trnom pretinem gl6ga,
I dlin.
And night is this,With hawthorn's th6rn I tingle,
and day.
I st6pa gde pri6ne mi,
Jara je ozdo.
Zlipahne vrelo pluce.
And my st6p, where it cl!ngs,
Is h~at from bel6w,
H6tly stfikes the lllilg.
O,gr6bno li mi smrkava
K6stima tvojim svanuce.
Oh, for me with your b6nes dusks
The grave's dllwn.
Oh, t6 je,
u subote ovaj bat
Oh, that's it,
On Saturdays this f6ot-beat
Edward Goy
46
Ned6trulu te razgAra.
CremAtes you before corruption.
l k6sti,
To do kostiju me 6peku.
G6mila su zara.
And your b6nes,
They that sear me to the bones,
Are a h~ap of hot c6als.
Oh, t6 je,
P6koja ne,
VAn iza r6djaja negde i mrenja.
Oh, t.l'lat's it,
N6 peAce,
S6mewhere out tMre beyond birth and
dying
Living by y6u I swoon to death,
Dead, you butn up through me
To salvAtion.
Oh. that's it. that.
Ziv premrem t6bom,
Mitva preg6ri~ mn6me
Do spasenja.
Oh, t6 je, to.
The tight rhyme structure needs hardly to be emphasised. The emphatic stress, especially on the monosyllables don,bat,to balances
the rhyme. In rhyming terms, the three sections of the poem represent a contrapuntal relation to the stress scheme. Thus the first
section is 4 rhymed lines which are 11 lines in its tonic structure.
The second section would thus be 2 lines and the third 2 lines with
a final line with its heavy stress.
Sivi trenutak acting as an apex of change now is followed by a
variation on past themes; a new version in a new experience. Firstly
Grobnoj is explicitly a variation on the poem Sestri u pokoju from
the cycle Veternje. Hence the reference to Saturdays (Su bota,mori
me tuga) but now it is an abstract rather than the concrete situation
of Sestri u pokoju. The question is no longer. The poem is an assertion. That's it! Something has been achieved. The lack of connection
with the Other suddenly becomes a link through the death of the
other, the only death we shall ever experience. The question has
always been present. In Sestri u pokoju we have:Ni tamo,seni ,zar
pokoja/No pokoj tratiS medj' nama. Now this has become a burning
that scorches the feet. The relation has become immediate. The fire
as erotic pasion has been transfigured. This also relates to the final
poem of ]utarnje (Dafina) where the "unloved" must be held in the
grave by a heavy stone.
The new experience is related to an ecstatic experience. Pjan toborn relates back also to the poem Grozd (Veternje). The ecstatic
experience of love and nature is now an experience of a different
Edward Goy
kind, yet still it is ecstasy:with h
jevic's use of inversion is at i ts bl
paradox:I noc je ovo/trnom pretm
the metaphor are encompassed ailj
and rhythm.
The paradox still dominates. Th1
ing of the grave, or in the grave. 't
heap of living coals changes the 81
coals. The final stanza is a paradox
together. The use of pregoreti,(mrt
clue. The secondary meaning of pr
or, as D.H. Lawrence put it, to corr
ing refuses to be rejected entire!]
change has taken place. Somethin1
pokoja of Sestri u pokoju to the nf
runs through the five cycles. In as.
spas of Molitva, otisne mimo sve ·
Van iza rodjaja i mrenja but the t
presumed space into which one mi
inner space of the grave. This makJ
Dafina, yet its nature is very dillE
deve lopments which separate the!i
are almost a looking back to the t
new light and a more defined rejE
fate is not that of son and father. m
eros. but rather the only other un
inherent in death that presents a fi
Brotu
6sluSni, zapojem,
Preni tajnom.
nsko mi sfce,
Prcvire tisina u vfno,
Do dna iskapi.
}er nije ovo setva,
Kukolj ni kl as.
PjAni cuv samo pr6dje
I 7.aSumelo.
6slu~ni, d6zi vam,
Edward Goy
47
kind, yet still it is ecstasy:with hawthorn's thorn I tingle. Nastasijevic's use of inversion is at its best when he frames this with the
paradox:I noc je ovoltrnom pretrnem gloga!I dan. The paradox and
the metaphor are encompassed and unified by the scheme of rhyme
and rhythm.
The paradox still dominates. The dead bones make dark the dawning of the grave, or in the grave. The metaphor of the bones being a
heap of living coals changes the greyness. It is not ashes, but living
coals. The final stanza is a paradox of life and death. They are brought
together. The use of pregoreti,(mrtva pregorg mnome,) is perhaps a
clue. The secondary meaning of pregoreti is to overcome, to survive
or, as D.H. Lawrence put it, to come through. Yet the sense of burning refuses to be rejected entirely. There is no peace still, but a
change has taken place. Something has been reached. From the zar
pokojo of Sestri u pokoju to the nespokoj in Gluhote 11 , the theme
runs through the five cycles. In a similar sense, the negde no zvezdi
spas of Molitva, otisne mimo sve jeze of Sivi trenutak are united in
Van iza rodjaja i mrenja but the term is no longer the stars or the
presumed space into which one might set forth but its opposite, the
inner space of the grave. This makes the poem almost as striking as
Dafina, yet its nature is very different and only possible after the
developments which separate them in the cycles. The final poems
are almost a looking back to the theme of blood relationship in a
new light and a more defined rejection of them. The individual 's
fate is not that of son and father/mother, nor is it the connection of
eros, but rather the only other unique one, the dead and what is
inherent in death that presents a field of solution.
Brotu
To my Brother.
6slusni, zapojem.
Preni tajnom.
Hark. I sing,
Awake with th e mystery.
Te~ko
mi stce,
Prcvire tisina u vlno,
Do dna iskapi.
Hea vy my heart,
Silence ferments into wine,
Drink it to its dregs.
Jer nije ovo setva,
Kukolj ni kJas.
For this is no sowing,
Nor tAre nor ear.
Pjani cuv samo pr6dje
I zas(Jmolo.
Only a drunken zephyr
And rustled.
6slusni, d6zivam,
HArken. I call you.
pa~sed
Edward Goy
48
S(!i r6djeni poj.
Slumbers the native song.
lza sna snu dublje
Bude probudj6nje.
And after sleep than sleep deeper
Shall be the awakening.
Bfatu se iz dubfna ogU.si,
Prene na 6vaj g!As.
From the depths my br6ther heArs,
Starts awake at this voice.
Edward Goy
Stfmoglav oplodjenju
Slepo na pir.
No voljom, ta ne sazdala me,
Put otvaram, evo,
Sebi za unistenje.
Nerodjenima za mfr.
Pl6d ja bez pl6da tvoj,
The poem is hinged on two stressed monosyllabic rhymes, klas/glas.
The metaphoric link with earlier poems is strong. The ti~ina, the
silence of Mirovanje drveca and that of the dying trees in Sivi trenutak has now fermented into wine. It must be drunk to the dregs.
The reference to Grozd seems clear. Again the image of drunkenness
carries on from Grobnoj-grobom pjan making a pun on the line pjan
tobom in Jedinoj. Yet the whole is explicitly met~phoric. The poet's
heavy heart is because this is no sowing, neither tare nor ear. Is it,
then, only poetry? Certainly it is beyond or outside any loss or gain
in the ordinary sense. The following metaphor suggests a belittlement of the poem; a drunken zephyr passed and rustled. The dismissive tone of za~umelo is clear. It relates back to San u podne
Uutornje),topol sam cuv. The singing that is innate, born, slumbers.
Almost a rejection of the native poetry so emphasised in the style
of jutarnje. The imperative preni tojnom, fulfilled in the last line,
again stresses the mystery, ever present in the cycle. The brother is,
then, also the comrade in mystery, or the little brother of Dve rane.
Everywhere the themes are picked up and the metaphor developed
in reference to earlier usage. The paradox is still present. The awakening of sleep after sleep will be deeper. Deeper in Serbian relates
more naturally to sleep than wakening, just as in English. Yet the
brother wakens, as he has been called upon to do. The song, that is
not the song born in the poet, but something else; the mystery (the
belu tojnu no uranku-of Josike?) that is sung loudly and not the
poem that is stammered, as in Gospi.
RoditeJju.
To the Parent.
K6 si?
K6 i kuda ja,
Pl6d bez pl6da tvoj,
I suclnja 6va u m6ni fet"?
Sin, evo, progledAvam.
Mrenjem za tiv6ta
Skidam sa sebe sl6pi r6djaja znak.
Wh6 are you?
Wllo and whfther f.
Of you, frUit fruitless,
And this doomsday word within me?
A s6n, beh6ld, I begin to see.
Through dying in lffe
I cast off the blind mark of birth.
I ne kao fi
Not as you
I sudnja ova u meni re~.
The theme turns back to Gospi, Be
biljo ovde. The question is domJ
proached for rushing headlong I
rejected earlier in the cycle. The
road other than that of the cycle
is self destruction, it is for the ~
The idea indeed opens an abyss
ised. The children that were not~
feast of eros is unthinking, instin
ing of the act or its consequences
relates to the father, who is the PI!
not my father. Yet I am here and ~
do bespuco putem ovim grenje ~
need to end the game, to requi
those who will never be born?
The final reference, however, is
is framed by the line I sudnja o\·a
end of the process (no matter hO\
process, partaking in it, resolves ,
word and its fate will be a domi
hate and Reci u kamenu with the·
treatment, the excursion into the
only a partial resolution.
Already there is a foretaste of
reliance on stress. K6 si?IK6 i ktidJ
6va u meni rec? - these lines witl
with its biblical echoes and the hea1
is not so far from the first poem ol
one,
.Sapata nespokoju ovom,
Edward Goy
it,
a in
tiedisdne
r is,
ne.
~ ped
vakates
~t the
hat is
(the
?t the
~
r
e?
49
Stfmoglav oplodjenju
Slepo na pfr.
Headlong to fructification,
Blindly to the feast.
No v6ljom, ta ne sazdala me.
PUt otvaram, evo,
Sebi za unist6nje,
Nerodjenima 1.a mir.
But by a wUI that made me not,
Beh6ld I 6pen a way
For my own destruction
For the peace of the unbotn.
Pl6d ja bez pl6da tvoj,
I sudnja 6va u meoi re~.
I, of you frUit frUitless,
And this d6omsday w6rd withfn me.
The theme turns back to Gospi, Bozjak and Dve rane. Nema za mene
bilja ovde. The question is dominant. Who is the father. He is reproached for rushing headlong to the feast: the birth/death game
rejected earlier in the cycle. The son has begun to see and opens a
road other than that of the cycle of repetitive reproauction. If this
is self destruction, it is for the sake of the unborn, for their peace.
The idea indeed opens an abyss; the endless potentialities unrealised. The children that were not made. The act of reproduction, the
feast of eros is unthinking, instinctive, without thought for the meaning of the act or its consequences. Thus the question, which equally
relates to the father, who is the poet and where does he travel? I am
not my father. Yet I am here and the way stretches to an ending-the
do bespuca putem ovim grenje of Jedinoj. The clairvoyance is the
need to end the game, to requite the unborn, those to come and
those who will never be born?
The final reference, however, is to the word, the poem. The poem
is framed by the line I sudnja ova u meni rec. The individual is the
end of the process (no matter how many individuals are born). The
process, partaking in it, resolves nothing. It is mere repetition. The
word and its fate will be a dominant theme of the final cycles Gluhote and Reci u kamenu with their intensification of style. The new
treatment, the excursion into the abstract, the metaphor, has achieved
only a partial resolution.
Already there is a foretaste of the style of Gluhote in the heavy
reliance on stress. K6 si?IK6 i kudo j6?/Pl6d bez pl6da tvoj/I sudnja
6va u men i rec? - these lines with the foregrounding word sudnja
with its biblical echoes and the heavy, slow stress falling ova,meni,rec,
is not so far from the first poem of Gluhote:
0 ne,
Sapata nespokoju avom,
Edward Goy
50
Vapaja tie.
Bdenja is a gradual moving away from the immediate experience
of ]utarnje and Vecernje. It is the thought of the essence itself in the
terms of metaphor. While the style and structure remain linked with
the earlier cycles, they present a gradual tightening and a development of metaphoric gravity. The waver, back and forth, between
themes, the constant back reference, always with a variation and
development, is never at peace. The cycles are a struggle, both on
the level of the word and the theme. This is the musicality of the
five cycles which are not a number of individual poems, but a single
long poem, a symphony in words. Bdenja, as its title would suggest,
is a new step towards a new resolution. This will be the cycles
Gluhote and Reci u kamenu.
Cambridge University, England
'Vide Patar Mirosavljevit, Poetika M.Nastasijevita, Matica srpska, Novi Sad 1978.
Mirosavljevit sees Bdenjo as new turning point in the poetry. It is no longer maternjo
melodijo, but a turn towards thought. This is partly true, yet the actual form of the
language remains much the same. In any case it is not thought as much as the experience of thought and the change is really in the later cycles. Perhaps Mirosavljevit
allows himself to be misled by approaching Nastasijevit too much through his essays
on poetry and language and their development. Poetika is one thing, poetry another.
2
The version Veternja published in Srpski knjitevni glasnik is as follows:
Smagnem li ovo dubinom u vel:ernju,
Ili je poj,il' dubina se otvori gde bolelo?
Tiho po muci brodim, smerni rab.
Pakao meni,oce,boljezan,dracu na put,
Rastol:i.o rastol:i raba.
Dublje dno dusi no trpljenju.
Bez dna ret ova smerna u vecernju.
Rastoci,o rastol:i raba,
Korenu ovom daj crva da nagri:r.c.
fer i pakao je tvoj i propoje.
lz ove oporine zalapim toplo u njoj
I koren po karen manje momc stradanju.
Rastol:i,o rastoci raba.
Edward Goy
3
M.Nastasijevic, Celokupna deJa
lojeta, pp. 80,91.
•
• Ljubiti could mean kiss-kiss lhP
5
The syntax of this line is obscure.~
seems less certain. I have taken the •
to argument!
6
Kaie mise doli no. I have used ,
an~ imm~dia~y ?f the experience. A
The RJecmk )ug.ak. gives this e
Zar ti nisi,sine,mu§ka glava
Zar ~~ n~mas na srda~tu bilja.'
Its ad)echval form is used by B
I biljan
• This, of course, refers to a sun dial
f
Edward Goy
51
3
M.Nastasijevit. Celokupno deJa, Izdanje prijatelja, Belgrade, 1938. Iz la1Tl1log vilajeta, pp. 80,91 .
• Ljubiti could mean kiss-kiss the blade of the sword, but love seems more likely.
' The syntax of this line is obscure. Preboli could be imperative, but then the sense
seems less certain. I have taken the risk that this is an aorisl-prebolih, but this is open
to argument!
~ Koze mi se dolino. I have used speaks merely because it gives a sense of the force
and immediacy of the experience. Appears is more literal.
7
The Rjecnik jug.ak. gives this example of this usage:
Zar ti nisi,sine,ml!Ska glava,
Zar ti nema~ na srda~cu bilja.
Its adjectival form is used by Branko Miljkovic:
I biljan petao na krovu sveta.
s This, of course, refers to a sun dial.