Poetry
Geomeetriline inimene
Not translated into English
Johannes Vares-Barbarus · 1924
Synopsis
Poems in which man describes himself in geometric figures: a space drawn from Space, a body made of surfaces laid on surfaces, a heart that sings like a bird. Lines, planes and coordinates speak of the great city, its din, its machines and its rhythm, and the text is arranged on several levels distinguished by typeface and layout. Faced with the predatory ape with no sun in its soul, the poet would like to rise like a human sun, bearing an entire cosmos.
Context
The author's fifth collection, it appeared in Tallinn in 1924 from Propeller, with engravings and a cover by J. Vahtra. It follows the paths of French modernism and cubism, and its very title recalls Marinetti's reflection on the multiplied man and the reign of the machine. Barbarus had excluded his first three books from his canon; this one, on the contrary, opens his avant-garde period, which Multiplitseerit inimene continued in 1927.
Who it is for
About a hundred pages in Estonian, never translated into French or English. It is worth knowing that the typographical layout is part of the poem.
Prizes and reception
Regarded as one of the most striking publications of the Estonian avant-garde of the twenties.