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I am a nation rooted in you,
I'm not a nomad tribe.
History has not uprooted me,
And death is but a toy.
~~Kazys Bradūnas,
from A SKETCH OF A NATION'S AUTOPORTRAIT |
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Featured poets from around the world - this month, Kazys Bradūnas
Kazys Bradūnas is a major poet of the Lithuanian diaspora who spent long years under foreign skies yearning for his homeland and then, after the restoration of independence, went back to live there. He now shapes unified visions of both home and abroad.
The son of a farmer, Kazys Bradūnas was born in the southern village of Kiršai, Lithuania on November 11, 1917. The place of his birth was a place of fertile soil, small rivers, and low hills near the Border of what is now Russia. Rooted in deep Catholic faith, the rural community was a place rich in tradition and folklore. The citizens of the community were hard-workers, a people of moral value.
Kazys Bradūnas first encountered poetry in grammar school, in a collection of patriotic and romantic poems by Jonas Maironis. In the poetry of Maironis, Kazys Bradūnas began to realize the vital link between the countryside and its past and the melody of the written word. Kazys attended high school in nearby Vilkaviskis, a school known for its emphasis on Lithuanian literature. Bradunas took part in literary groups and heard some of the best Lithuanian poets of the time as they came to visit the school and read their works. Much of Bradunas's poetry can best be understood in the framework of this rich heritage of peasant culture in which "the earth was felt to be the context of community activities, that is, the meaning of its culture."
http://www.bookrags.com/biography/kazys-bradunas-dlb/
Kazys began writing poetry in secondary school and upon entering the University of Kaunas in 1937, his published poems achieved a poetic language which distinguished him from the older Lithuanian poets, whom he so deeply admired. Around 1940, he transferred to the University of Vilnius where he graduated in 1943 with a degree in Lithuanian studies. Shortly afterwards, he fled his beloved country with thousands of refugees who fled the Soviet powers in Lithuania. During World War II, he worked in a factory in Austria, before moving to Munich, Germany to teach Lithuanian high school students in a refugee camp. While there, he not only continued to write, but also edited a Lithuanian literary cultural journal – Aidai (Echoes).
In 1949, Kazys Bradūnas immigrated to the Baltimore, Maryland (United States) where he continued to write and publish poetry while working as a physical laborer. He published his major work Devynios balades (Nine Ballads) while living in Baltimore. In 1961, he relocated to Chicago, Illinois, the seat of Lithuanian culture in North America. In Chicago, he joined the staff of the newspaperDraugas (Friend), while still publishing numerous volumes of poetry. In 1994, Kazys Bradūnas returned to Vilnius, Lithuania to take up permanent residence.
Bradunas had begun his literary career in Lithuania under a double dispossession. First, there was the loss of the country's independence: the Soviets annexed the land in 1940, and soon afterward it came under German occupation. The proofs of his first book, Vilniaus varpai (The Bells of Vilnius), were destroyed by the German censors, and only a few copies were saved to be published abroad in 1947. Second, there was the loss of the country itself as Bradunas, along with many other refugees, fled the returning Soviet armies in 1944.
Kazys Bradūnas is one of the most comprehensive voices of the post-World War II Lithuanian diaspora. His verse fills the emptiness of dispossession with landscapes, voices, gods, mortals, and emotions that articulate an exile's ceaseless yearning for a home of the spirit that can be both loved and understood. He begins with the shock of alienation, the trauma of the helpless refugee to whom the simplest things--a stone, a hearth, a piece of bread, a bend in the river--are strange in an alien land. He becomes blind and deaf to the large monuments of Western civilization, preferring the little village church and the fields of rye in the home of his youth. His mind then expands into contemplations of its history, and later particularly into the complexities of pagan-Christian encounters on the battlefields of the Middle Ages. Ultimately, the special pagan sensitivity to the earth and the joyous perception of the Christian message brings the poet to a deeply felt, unified perception of life as a ritual of sacrifice.
http://www.bookrags.com/biography/kazys-bradunas-dlb/
Still living today, in his nineties, Kazys Bradūnas continues to be the influence he held in postwar Lithuania under the Soviet power and later when the country regained independence.Several writers have sought to harmonize with his style, themes, and worldview even while building sometimes different poetics of their own. In the diaspora, he is one of the most popular writers, next to another poet, Bernardas Brazdzionis. Even as second- or third-generation Lithuanian-Americans begin to lose their grip on the Lithuanian language, Bradunas's lucid, simple style, combined with the strong emotional impact of his vision, makes him one of the most frequently read poets in his community of exiles.
(His) poems are brief, meticulously crafted, and highly inventive in transforming the dead clay of life into vibrant poetic images. There are quite a few Lithuanian poets rooted in the native village soil, but Bradunas has created his own virtual Lithuania, a land of the poetic Word.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb5270/is_/ai_n28935254
Poems by Kazys Bradūnas, translated to English from his native Lithuanian language
THE SCREAM
Silence loves the mute rock.
Cosmos is carved out of silence.
Why do you feed the carnivorous beast?
To stop his howl? With the holy sun
Peace descends upon the orchards.
Now you kneel at the evening's source,
As all star-studded infinity
Shudders in your heart's scream.
Translated by Jurgis Bradūnas
A SKETCH OF A NATION'S AUTOPORTRAIT
I am a nation rooted in you,
I'm not a nomad tribe.
History has not uprooted me,
And death is but a toy.
I'm not a flaming grass blade of the steppe.
I am a flower of ice in the north.
Blown by God's breath,
I shatter into millions.
But again I am welded by kindred spirit –
It is me you receive at birth.
Translated by Jurgis Bradūnas
THE SUN OF LITHUANIAN FOLK SONGS
Only the sun of folk songs
Visits your grave
Day after day
Descending on frozen hands.
And those hands are – our entire nation – –
Opening towards the burning sky,
Lifting, from beneath the grass,
Like a precious stone, the heart.
Fire can't split it,
Crumbling it into white dust,
But as in ancient rounds,
Lifts it with the rising sun.
Translated by Jurgis Bradūnas
EXILED POETS
Exiled poets are – desert cactuses.
They receive no moisture;
Sand surrounds them,
Yet they grow and bloom
Spiny red blossoms.
The dust of fading years
fills their tracks;
Just the exiled poets
Remain,
Grow
And bloom
Tortured violet flowers.
When our hearts – yours and mine
Are pricked by a poem's thorn
Don't cry – –
Exiled poets are desert cactuses – –
They feed on our blood.
Translated by Jurgis Bradūnas
http://www.efn.org/~valdas/bradunas.html
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Kazys Bradūnas spent many years away from his beloved home, due to the turmoil that existed politically and socially there. Here are a few poems from Writing.com poets about the concept of home.
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The editing team and our talented guest editors appreciate your feedback and your allowing the Poetry Newsletter into your home. Thanks for your support.
larryp
Rivolta Silenziosa 
Thank you for this newsletter! I subscribed during the week, and I really love having my eyes opened up to something new. Those poems are beautiful, especially the first. It's very simple and sad and I won't forget it. Thanks again!
Rivolta, I am glad that you enjoyed the first in a series of newsletters of poets around the world. I think it is good for us to expand our boundaries and to have new things opened up to us. I am enjoying finding the poets, who are well-known in many parts of the world, yet obscure in others.
Larry
alittletoolate
An amazing newsletter this week.
Thank you scruffy duck - honored that you enjoyed it.
Larry
drjim
I found, Unole, your newsletter to be the exquisitely interesting and fulfilling collection of poetry featuring writers I had yet to 'meet' - and the read was intriguing and fulfilling to the max! I thank you kindly for all the effort you put into this work and just wanted to convey my gratitude for all that you do each and every week here on WDC! Gratis - Dr J
Jim, Thank you for your very encouraging response and for the support that you have continually given.
Larry
~Windsong~
I enjoyed your feature item "The Icelandic Poet"
It's always interesting to read poems by authors from countries other than the U.S. I really got involved in his poetry. Maybe even learned something. Thanks for your research on this poet.
Sincerely, Windsong
WIndsong, that you, I am honored you found the newsletter a learning experience. I know that I truly enjoy what I am learning as I do the research for the series of poets from around the world.
Larry
COUNTRYMOM-JUST REMEMBER ME 
Thanks for hosting another great Newsletter! I will look forward to reading some of the poems you've listed, and yes, I listen to the wind -
Wishing you a HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Countrymom
Julie, keep listening to the wind and thanks for all you do for Writing.com. In so many ways, you have been a mentor to me here at Writing.com. I always appreciate hearing from you.
Larry
spidey 
How wonderful! I love learning of new poets! I'm looking forward to your future newsletters!
Thank you Spidey - greatly appreciated.
Larry
runningwolf04
Thank you so much for yet another beautifully written Newsletter, Larry. I really enjoyed reading about Hallgrimsson and I'm looking forward to learning about your next featured poet!
Sensual Roses - your feedback means so much to me. Your words are always seasoned with grace.
Larry
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Poetry: January 28, 2009 Issue [#2854]
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