Hello Everyone, my dear friends ... and friends of Romania :-)
I wanted to do this since a very long time ...
Eminescu's writings are so wonderful that they should be read all over the world! I admit, reading his poems in English, I realized he's not too easy to be translated ... as translating his poems loose in their value ... everything is important in his poetry, aside the way he mastered the words, they also have rhythm, melody and such an unique rhyme! ... and some of these are difficult to be translated into another language ... keeping the message in the same time ...
But first let me introduce you EMINESCU:
Mihail Eminescu
~ A very short biography ~
1850Mihai Eminescu is born in Ipotesti on the 15th of January as the 7th child of the Eminescu family.
Between 1860 and 1861 he attends Ober Gymnasyum in Cernãuti
1869 On 2 Octoberhe enters The University of Philosophy in Vienna.
1872-1874 Mihai Eminescu is a student in Berlin, where he comes into contact with the great literature of the world.
1889During the night on the15th of June, at 3 am, Mihai Eminescu dies in dr. Sutu's sanatorium.
1889 On the 17th of June, Mihai Eminescu, the greatest Romanian poet, is buried in the Bellu cemetery
~~ a few more words ~~
Born in 1850 in Botosani (he spent part of his childhood in Ipotesti, where his museum is), Eminescu has been regarded as one of the great European poets, comparable to Byron or Lermontov, despite only living to the age of 39. His early life saw him gain a job as an actor and prompter with Iorgu Caragiale's theatre group, which enabled him to travel the length and breadth of Romania. With his father's assistance he was also able to attend lectures in Vienna on philosophy, history, law, politics economy and Romance philology. His initial employment at the theatre encouraged the creativity and romanticism in his own character and shortly afterwards he made his literary debut in Familia (The Family), a review based in Oradea (here I live by the way?! :-) )
His career developed quickly after his enrolment at the University of Berlin in 1872. He first became director of the Central Library in Iasi and was then invited to Bucharest to works for a leading newspaper of that time, Timpul (The Times - but of Bucharest :-) ). During this period his works were published in several highly acclaimed journals such as Convorbiri Literare (kind of Literary Chats), where many of his love poems saw the light. However, in 1883 he published Luceafãrul (The Evening Star) which was to provide a model for Romanian poets of the 20th century and also established the direction of Eminescu's own poetry.
Eminescu had a two-pronged approach to his writing.
On one level he moulded himself towards individuals like Shakespeare, concentrating on personal emotions.
On the second level he would explore Romanian folklore examining existential perceptions such as time, emotions, space, beauty, idealism and realism, myths and sentiments, the spirit and the soul, love and hatred. Eminescu would consider these, often unexplainable phenomena in the wider context of the Universe in which he found a complex system of obsessions and relations. Luceafãrul combined the complexities of the Universe with those of immediate surroundings, combining myths with realities.
It is through this latter approach that Eminescu has come to epitomise one expression of the Romanian identity. Today, Romanians consider Eminescu as the 'National Poet' of Romania and an integral component of Romanian culture, just as Shakespeare or Byron offer an association with national identity for their cultures. Therefore, although Eminescu concentrated on the essence of being Romanian his system of existential perceptions can be transferred into a universal context.
Although the philosophies of Eminescu are, to some degree, transferable they also demonstrate the ambiguity of culture. It is difficult to reach an exact definition of culture as a set of traditions, history, art, literature, myths, and s.o. There is no solid precedent for defining culture. Instead there is a social need of belonging and to distinguish one group from another. This results in a search for definition through arts, for example. Consequently, Eminescu as the 'National Poet' of Romanians is considered quintessential for the self-definition of Romanian national identity in a society where regional identity often superposes national identity.
For many people outside Romania knowledge of Romanian poets and culture is limited. Mihai Eminescu is considered one of the most renowned poets of his time and his influence extended after his death. His existential approach gave eloquence to his verse and provided a framework for future poets. His exploration of Romanian folklore underlined the essence of Romanian nationality and has been transformed over the decades to enhance the development of Romanian culture.
I very much hope, I managed to lighten up your interests upon his works and some other country's literature.
I'll do my best to introduce you some of his poems translated as well as possible :-)
However Luceafarul (The Evening Star) is his masterpiece, I won't start with that one as its a rather long one ... and this post is already much longer than I planned it to be ... but with another one which I so very much love:
To My Critics
which will come with my next post :-)
hope you will love our POETRY!
You can also read another wonderful poem of his Glossa, here!
Thank you for your time and hope to see you soon!
I'm not sure yet how much my time will allow me to be here, but I'm an incurable optimist so I always hope in the best :-)
With lots of friendship,
Anamaria
missing you
PS: I don't know for what reason I couldn't choose blue as I don't have it in any shades?! :-(