Poetry
Free Verse
Vargjet e lira
Migjeni · 1936
Opening lines
Na të birtë e shekullit të ri,
që plakun e lamë në “shêjtnin” e tij
e çuem grushtin për me luftue
ndër lufta të reja
dhe me fitue…
We, the sons of the new century,
who left the old man in his “holiness”
and raised our fist to fight
in new struggles
and to win…
Translation by Erostrate
Text quoted from fletoret.com
Synopsis
Thirty-five poems written between 1933 and 1935. The longest cycle, that of the songs of misery, speaks of hunger, smoke, steel and silence, and of men's struggle for their dignity against the futility of hope. The poet mocks the mountains and their arrogant stature, which tradition used to sing, replaces the fairy of the legends with the ghost that prowls at night, and dares to speak of the clergy and of desire.
Context
Printed in Tirana in 1936 by the Gutenberg presses, the collection was immediately struck by censorship and did not circulate. The poet's sister, Ollga, brought out a second edition in 1944, without two poems judged offensive, the preface of prefaces and the blasphemy, but with eight new pieces. The author wrote in a letter that he had to “manoeuvre under a disguise” because of the political situation. Robert Elsie translated it into English in 1991, Renaud Dorlhiac into French in 2013.
Who it is for
Short, direct poems, in Gheg, without ornament; translated into French and English.
Prizes and reception
Regarded as the birth certificate of the modern style in Albanian poetry, which it makes break with the praise of mountains and heroes.
Sources for this page 4
The pages consulted to check this page.