Welcome to

Discovering

Eminescu

The Evening Star of the Romanian poetry

Agenda Slide

• Mihai Eminescu Introduction to the life and literary work of the last European romantic

• Discovering Eminescu

Eminescu‟s Life

Literary Work

The Poet

The Storyteller

• Eminescu within Romanian Culture

• Eminescu within Universal Literature

• Mihai Eminescu seen by others

• Mihai Eminescu today

Mihai Eminescu

Introduction to the life and literary work

of the last European romantic

1850-1889

"Days go past and days come still All is old and all is new, What is well and what is ill, You imagine and construe; Do not hope and do not fear, Waves that leap like waves must fall; Should they praise or should they jeer, Look but coldly on it all".

Mihai Eminescu

Parents

Mother

Raluca

Iurascu

Father

Gheorghe

Eminovici

on 15th of January

1850, in Botosani, a

North Eastern town of

Romania, the future

poet Mihai Eminescu is

born as the 7th of 11

children

his parents were small

land owners

Eminescu‟s Life

1850-1857

the future poet spends his

childhood in Ipotesti, a

village where his parents

had a small estate, 8 km

away from Botosani

today, here we can find

Mihai Eminescu Memorial House

Memorial Home

1858-1860

registered to National School in Cernauti

here he attends the courses of the 3rd and 4th form,

and finished 4th grade as the fifth of 82 students

1860-1863

he attends Gymnasium in Cernauti,

courses of the 1st and 2nd form, repeating the latter

Cernauti town center, at the middle of the XIX-century

1864

he works for a short time as a clerk to Law Court in BotosanI

1865

comes back to Cernauti gymnasium as a private pupil

he takes up lodgings with Aron Pumnul, his gymnasium teacher, a great linguist, philologist and owner of a large library

1866

in January, Aron Pumnul dies

1867

he joins as a prompter and copyist into a theatre group, with which he travels all over the country

1868

settled in Bucharest, he meets I. L. Caragiale, the greatest Romanian playwright

The make-up box used by

the time of theatrical tour

Ion Luca Caragiale

1852-1912

1869-1872

he registers at the Faculty of Philosophy, Vienna University

here he meets Veronica Micle, a poetess, whom he will have a

passionate and troubled relationship with

1872-1874

he attends Philosophy, History, Economy and Law courses of Berlin

University

Veronica Micle

1850-1889

1874

he is appointed director of the Central Library in Iasi

1875

takes good care of the Central Library in Iasi and he is appointed a school inspector

he meets Ion Creanga, whom he advises to write

the latter will become one of the greatest Romanian storyteller

and his best friend

Eminescu‟s best friend

Ion Creanga

1838-1889

1876

has public lectures at Junimea Society and Literary Talks periodical

1877

continues his journalistic activity with Iasi Messenger, writes theatre chronicles and attends the meetings of Junimea society

in the second half of October, he moves to Bucharest, where he works as an editor to The Time newspaper

1878

works at The Time newspaper

The court yard of the building where the newspaper The Time used to run

1879-1882

his relationship with Veronica Micle is going to be deteriorated and he gives up the idea of marrying her

continues his work at The Time and at Junimea meetings he reads most of his poems

1883

in August, he shows signs of mental disorder and he is put in a sanatorium

at the end of December, the volume “Poems” is published, the only volume published when still alive

he ceased writing

1884-1888 continues to work, occupying himself with small jobs

his disease recourses

1889

his health is put to serious damage and on 15th of June he dies

he is buried on 17th of June at Bellu Cemetery in Bucharest

The last photo of the poet,

made in 1887

Literary Work

His literary work was a vast work, including several domains, from lyrical poetry to political journalism.

The first evidence of Eminescu as a writer is in 1866.

that year, when teacher, Aron Pumnul, dies, his students published a pamphlet, in which appears his 1st poem signed M. Eminoviciu

Eminescu‟s first poem

also the periodical The Family in Pest publishes his poem “Had I”

the director of the above mentioned periodical changed his name from Eminovici into Eminescu, a name that the poet adopted for the rest of his life

“At Aron Pumnul's Grave”

The Poet

Mihai Eminescu was

only 20 when Titu

Maiorescu,

the top literary critic in

Romania, dubbed him:

1. he would mould

himself towards the

individual and

personal emotions

2. he would explore

the folklore

examining

existential

perceptions

Eminescu poems span a large range of themes

Nature

History

Social commentary

Existential perceptions such as:

Time Love

Emotion Soul

Space Idealism

Beauty Realism

Myth Spirit

Eminescu‟s poetry focuses on

myths that appear and

disappear,

in order to reappear, in other

poems,

with modified connotations

1. The myth of the birth and the death of the universe related with the myth of the scholar (the wise man, the magus) who knows to read the signs from the books of the world and defends the old law, that

we can find in the works such as:

“Remember You Will Die”

“The Twins”

“The Prayer of a Dacian”

“The First Letter”

The device of the world is approached philosophically, starting with the moment of the genesis and ending with its disappearance

Facsímile

“Remember you will die”

2. The next one is the myth of history where he explains the evolution of the

world highlighting the incompatibility between the plenitude and the wisdom of the past times and the decay of the present times

in works as:

“The Imitators”

“Emperor and Proletarian”

“The Third Letter”

The device of the world is approached, now, in a historic

perspective and through ethical criteria

3. Eminescu‟s next myth is the erotic myth where nature and love are

complimentary in poems like:

“O, remain”

“Down Where The Lonely Poplars Grow”

“The lake”

“And if”

“Thinking of you”

“The evening star”

“Longing”

“Blue flower”

“What is love”

Suggesting the lust of falling in love, the melancholy,

the incompatibility between man and woman,

the nostalgia of the failure

Image from “The Evening

Star”

Facsímile “The Evening Star”

„The Evening Star‟s” main character

By Sabin Balasa

“The Evening Star”

book‟s cover

4. The myth of the return to the basic elements, based on the idea of making man live again according to the laws of the cosmos.

“The lake”

“Drowsy birds”

“Why do you wail, o forest tree”

“The tale of the forest”

The wood is a recurrent element in this possible security space. The landscape is not only a state of mind; it is also the place where the Romantic spirit rediscovers the rhythms of the big universe.

“Drowsy birds” book‟s cover

5. The following myth is the creator‟s myth, therefore, his existential

philosophy too.

“Ode in Ancient Meter”

“The Evening Star”

are typical poems for this category, although their lyrical forms are so different

This myth expresses the position of the creator and

his mission in connection with all the other

experiences of the spirit.

6. The myth of poetry that appears under two aspects:

the first one is direct, explicit:

poetry as a reflection subject in the poem the poet is the one who covers "the sad and naked corpse with images

clothes“

the second one which is indirect, essential:

poetry as an expression of a profound inner musicality, a generalized orphism, music impossible to be confounded that becomes the identity sign of

Eminescu‟s style

indirect

essential

direct

explicit The ideas, the states of mind, the visions, the myths, they all appear and disappear in an essentially musical discourse.

His poetry is music incorporated in the language.

The Storyteller

While his literary work encompassed every genre of poetry (love,

philosophical, cosmological, historical, socio-satiric, mythological),

Eminescu soaked his nib in the dramatic genre writing prose as well.

“Mira” - drama

“Prince charming, The Tear-Begotten”

“Caesara”

“Poor Dionis”

“Wasted genius” – novel excerpt

where we can find his self-portrait

“Icons, old and new” - chronicles

“Prince Charming, The Tear-Begotten” – book cover “Wasted Genius” – book cover

Eminescu‟s linden tree in park Copou, under which he could easily find his muse to write great poems.

Eminescu

within Romanian Culture The Genius

A poet , a prose-writer and a

playwright , Mihai Eminescu marked in Romanian literature the exceptional moment of the meeting between the genius individual and genius thinking and sensibility.

Time, space, life, death, love, hatred, landscapes , the real and the fantastic, myths, existential adventures, the search for one's own self, the joy of living, the possible and the impossible , the tragic and the comic, setting deeds on a cosmic orbit - are all integrated in his work within a system of obsessions and relations which confers a timbre with polyphonic nuances upon his literary approach, attitude and manner.

The Father of Modern Romanian Language

Eminescu gave Romanian poetry the dimensions it had not had before him. The world where Eminescu takes us is tremendously vast related to space and time. There, the thinker‟s eye reaches the most hidden recesses of the human soul and rises to the highest concepts of reason. Of course, these features are brought to light by his most typical epithets.

Eminescu - established the future direction of Romanian poetry of the 20th century. His work provided a framework, a real model for future essential Romanian poets such as: Lucian Blaga, George Bacovia, Tudor Arghezi, Ion Pillat, Alexandru Philippide, Emil Botta, Nichita Stanescu so forth.

The National Poet

Mihai Eminescu‟s poetry has been passed down through generations to epitomize the

essence of Romanian consciousness.

Consequently, he is quintessential for the self-definition of Romanian national identity.

Who is Mihai Eminescu?

At this question all Romanians will answer: Our national poet!

He represents the Romanian nation in mankind's concert.

One of the greatest lyrical poets of world literature, comparable with

Byron, Shelley or Lermontov, a revolutionary poet in terms of attitude,

and to posterity an inestimable treasure of verse.

Eminescu

within Universal Literature • Eminescu is considered the greatest of the Romantics and the

Last one.

• Even though he joined the romantics, he belonged to the next generation as well. Not only by poeticizing the noble past, fairy tales, legends and folklore, but because he also had a soft spot for ancient traces surrounding him.

• His poems aimed to touch the very core of human soul. And although, he concentrated on the essence of being Romanian, his system of existential perceptions transferred him into a universal context.

His poems were

translated in many

different languages,

incorporating his genius

into universal literature.

Mihai Eminescu - Poetry

These pictures illustrate

Eminescu‟s evolution

from youth to old ages

Mihai Eminescu

Seen by others

I. L. Caragiale

<<He was handsome, indeed. He had a classical-featured face, framed by long black locks, a broad serene forehead and big eyes (watching these windows of him, you could certainly see that someone was in there). His smile was mild and deeply melancholic. He had the air of a young saint just descended from an icon; he resembled to a child predestined to suffering, whose face bore the mark of some future pains.

“-Allow me to introduce myself: Mihai Eminescu.”

This is how I met him. >>

I L Caragiale

GARABET IBRAILEANU:

"Eminescu is not only the greatest Romanian writer. He is an almost inexplicable occurrence in our literature. In 1870 he simply fell in the middle of our poor national literature like a meteor from some other world. One of the greatest lyrical poets of the 19th century - so rich in poets, maybe the richest - is born by chance right here, in our country...”

GEORGE CALINESCU:

“… the greatest poet ever born or likely to be born on Romanian land… Below a lonely star fading in the far-off skies, rivers might run dry and a forest or a fortress might sprout over his tomb, before this land could gather up every drop of sap to make it rise again in the slender stalk of another lily, whose perfume strength could match the poet's own."

Marin Sorescu, dedicated this hymn to the man who equaled the anonymity:

"There was only a fine country On the shore of a sea, Where the waves tie white knots In the uncombed beard of a king- Like waters, like flowing trees In which the moon had its round nest. And more particularly there were some simple people ......................................................... There were moreover deep forests And a youth who would talk with them, Asking them why they swayed without a breath of wind? ........................................................... Also there were some linden-trees, And the young couple who knew How to make their blossoms snow Into a kiss. And some birds or some clouds Which kept floating over them, Like long, soft-moving plains.

And since all of these Had to have a name, One name alone, They were named Eminescu.”

his signature

His statues are everywhere.

Mihai Eminescu today

Eminescu is a writer who created for eternity, in perfect synchrony with the

great literature of his time, a writer for all ages, times and places.

“Ode in ancient meter”

“Hardly had I thought I should learn to perish;

Ever young, enwrapped in my robe I wandered,

Raising dreamy eyes to the star styled often

Solitude's symbol.

………………………………

May all tempting eyes vanish from my pathway

Come back to my breast, you indifferent sorrow!

So that I may quietly die, restore me

To my own being!”