A gallery of poetic images and voices—Review article
1986; Routledge; Volume: 17; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1080/01629778500000371
ISSN1751-7877
Autores Tópico(s)European Cultural and National Identity
ResumoThe East European countries are accustomed to think small about themselves. Each nation imagines it is a brave and lonely little island weathering the huge swirling storms of history. Only when brought together in some single text or context, such as this very large anthology of verse, may they come to understand that they have enough in common to represent a truly large entity, the greater part of a continent and a civilization called Europe. Such an understanding, if it is ever reached, could well have very important consequences upon the course of their own history and that of the entire world. A book this large, comprising fair-sized selections from 130 poets representing ten countries, should not be read in a day or two it should be a constant companion to one's Summer or Winter or any season of content, to be savored little by little until the total outline emerges in all its communicative power. This cannot be done in a book review. Here we have to make do with a quick walk through this gallery of poetic images and voices catching now and then a particularly felicitous line, color, emotion or idea. We may also hope to come upon a number of shared themes and perceptions that would help describe, in terms of its poetics, the nature of such an entity as Eastern Europe. To begin as the book does, from furthest North, let us first meet some Estonians. One trait they seem to share is the inclination to assert and thus to create themselves out of their own poetry. Thus Marie Under (1883-1980) in a fine poem called Morning Joy describes the fruition of herself as morning (The morning aches to become day in me), weaving into this joyful overtones from the Gospel and the Bible. Betti Alver (b. 1906) seems
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