Jaan Kaplinski (1941-2021)

[alik-vit]

Great Estonian poet (and (maybe) one of contenders for Nobel), who wrote some late collections in Russian, passed away. Obituary: https://news.err.ee/1608302010/poet-translator-and-philosopher-jaan-kaplinski-dies
As I can see, his poetry was not very involved in particularities of native language and more open for translations.

 

[Liam]

Sad news for me personally, as he was one of my favorite living poets, ?

Kaplinski experimented a lot with theme, and had many influences, including some eastern religions and philosophies. He was one of those Estonians who wasn't "bound" by his being Estonian (as I think we are all bound, to some degree, by the accident of our nationality).

 

[Leseratte]

The most beautiful requiem comes from himself:

"I could have said: I stepped from the bus.
I stood on the dusty roadside where
a young maple and dog-roses grew.
But really, I leaped into the silence,
and there was no land, no surface to step on.
The silence closed over my head:
I saw how the bus had just departed,
and sinking deeper and deeper
I heard only my own heart beating,
and in the rhythm of it, I saw my own street
passing with all its well-known signs:
lilies-of-the-valley and Equiseti Silvestres
Oxalis nearly in flower,
and anthill covered by a brownish ripple —
the ants themselves. The Big Pine. The Big Spruce.
Stackpoles. The Sandhole. The fireplace.
The white trunks of birch trees. The Big Stone.
And many memories. Silence, the inland sea, —
what else could I name for you?
Jaan Kaplinski (1985)

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[Martino]

I agree Liam. I also think that, as we get older as readers and human beings, themes are all that really matter. I mean: themes developed with originality. Formal experimentation impresses more younger folks or graduate students in literature. After our degree, we read for life.