Poetry
Giesmės svietiškos ir šventos
Not translated into English
Antanas Strazdas · 1814
Synopsis
Chants profanes et sacrés: a slim volume of eleven pieces, nine secular poems and two hymns, written in Lithuanian by a priest born into serfdom. The secular poems, close to peasant songs, speak of nature, birds, dawn, work and the life of the peasants, and make nature a model of conduct. Among the sacred pieces is a hymn to be said before Mass, whose first line, Pulkim ant kelių, “Let us fall to our knees”, has remained in use.
Context
The volume came out in 1814 from the presses of the missionary priests. The Encyclopedia of Romantic Nationalism in Europe reports that the author wished to preserve in it the memory of a very ancient nation and of its language. The hymn sung before the mass is still sung in the country's churches. A second, fuller collection did not pass the censor and its manuscript has been lost; many of his poems passed into oral tradition, so that some fifty songs are attributed to him without certainty.
Who it is for
Eleven short pieces, never translated into French; the interest of the volume lies in the blending of secular song and hymn.
Prizes and reception
Regarded as the first original book of verse printed in the language of the country; several of its poems have become popular songs.
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