UNESCO, the United
Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, proclaimed 21 March
each year as World Poetry Day. It was first adopted during UNESCO’s 30th
session held in Paris in 1999.
Poetry is the
mainstay of oral tradition and, over centuries, can communicate the values of
diverse cultures. In celebrating World Poetry Day, UNESCO recognizes the unique
ability of poetry to capture the creative spirit of the human mind.
One of the main
objectives of World Poetry Day is to support linguistic diversity through
poetic expression and to offer endangered languages the opportunity to be heard
within their communities.
The
observance of World Poetry Day is also encourages a return to the oral
tradition of poetry recitals, to promote the teaching of poetry, to restore a
dialogue between poetry and the other arts such as theatre, dance, music and
painting. It also aims to support small publishers and create a positive image
of poetry in the media, so that the art of poetry will no longer be considered
an outdated form of art, but one which enables society as a whole to regain and
assert its identity.
Irina
Bokova, UNESCO’s director-general, said ‘Poetry is not a luxury. It lies at the
heart of who we are as women and men, living together today, drawing on the
heritage of past generations, custodians of the world for our children and
grandchildren.’
One
of the poets that UNESCO is honouring in 2017 is Georgian poet Nikoloz Baratashvili.
Prince Nikoloz (Tato) Baratashvili (1817-1845) was
referred to as the ‘Georgian Byron’ for his early adoption of European
Romanticism. He was born in Tbilisi when it was a city of Transcaucasia, and is
now the capital of Georgia.
He couldn’t afford to continue his studies at a
Russian university, and his lameness prohibited him from joining the military.
He worked as a government clerk in the Law Courts, and was transferred to
Ganja, Azerbaijan, in 1845 as deputy-governor.
He died of malaria in Ganja, at the age of 27, unrecognized
and unpublished. His writings were discovered and published between 1861 and
1876. There were fewer than forty short lyrical poems and a few private
letters.
The 1839 poem, Fate of Georgia, was based on
historical facts – the 1795 invasion of Tbilisi by the Persian ruler Mohammad
Khan Qaja, which forced King Erekle II to hand over the country’s security to
the Russian Empire. It also mentions the 1832 failed revolt, and the loss of
Georgia’s national identity. He was a descendant, on his mother’s side, of King
Erekle II, the ‘Lion of Asia.’
Baratashvili's reinterment from Ganja to Tbilisi in 1893 was a
national celebration. Since 1938, his remains have lain in the Mtatsminda
Pantheon of Georgian Writers in Tbilisi.
His lyrical poem Pegasus (Merani), written in 1842, seemed
to be an apocalyptic vision of his future.
Merani – by Nikoloz Baratashvili
It runs; it flies; it bears me on; it heeds no trail nor spoor;
A raven black behind me croaks with ominous eyes of doom.
Speed thee on and onward fly with a gallop that knows no bound,
Fling to the winds my stormy thoughts in raging darkness found.
Go onward! Onward! Cleaving through roaring wind and rain
O’er many a mount and many a plain, short’ning my days of pain.
Seek not shelter, my flying steed, from scorching skies or
storm;
Pity not thy rider sad, by self-immolation worn.
I bid farewell to parents, kin, to friends and sweet-heart dear
Whose gentle voice did soothe my hopes to a hot and bitter tear.
Where the night falls, there let it dawn, there let my country
be;
Only the heavenly stars above my open heart will see.
The sighs that burn, that rend the heart to violent waves I hurl;
To thy inspired, wild maddened flight love’s waning passions
whirl.
Speed thee on and onward fly with a gallop that knows no bound,
Fling to the winds my stormy thoughts in raging darkness found.
In foreign lands though lay me low, not where my fathers sleep,
Nor shed thou tears, nor grieve, my love, nor o’er my body weep;
Ravens grim will dig my grave and whirlwinds wind a shroud
There, on desert plains where winds will howl in wailings loud.
No lover’s tears but only dew will moist my bed of gloom;
No dirge but vultures’ shrieks will sound above my lowly tomb.
Bear me far beyond the bounds of fate, my Merani,
Fate whose slave I never was, and henceforth – ne’er shall be!
By fate repulsed, oh bury me in a dark and lonely grave.
My bloody foe, I fear thee not – thy flashing sword I brave.
Speed thee on and onward fly with a gallop that knows no bound,
Fling to the winds my stormy thoughts in raging darkness found.
The yearnings of my restless soul will not in vain have glowed,
For, dashing on, my steed has paved a new untrodden road.
He who follows in our wake, a smoother path will find;
Daring all, his fateful steed shall leave dark fate behind.
It runs; it flies; it bears me on; it heeds no trail nor spoor;
A raven black behind me croaks with ominous eyes of doom.
Speed thee on and onward fly with a gallop that knows no bound,
Fling to the winds my stormy thoughts in raging darkness found.
An Earring – by Nikoloz Baratashvili
A butterfly gay
Like a wing-spread fay
Sways a flower in white array;
Thus fairy light
Two earrings
bright
With curtseying shadows play.
O happy the mind
That calm may find
And solace in that shade.
The earrings sway
Like winds in May
Makes cares and troubles fade.
O earring fair,
That passions
snare,
Whose lips thy shade will kiss?
Who’ll quaff
fore’er
God’s nectar rare?
Who’ll cling to thee in bliss?
[Poems from Georgian Poetry, Badri Sharvadze, 2008]
MARTINA NICOLLS is an international
aid and development consultant, and the author of:- The Shortness of
Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet
(2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).
Comments
Post a Comment