1 I must stress the fact that I shall speak here only about that poetry which has been developing in the Federal Republic of Croatia. Another Croatian literature exists, namely, that of the Croatian émigré writers. Some of these writers are very productive. Recently, the poet Vinko Nikolić edited an anthology of emigre poetry, under the somewhat symptomatic title Pod tudim nebom (Under Foreign Skies) (Buenos Aires, 1957). Aside from certain second- and even third-class poets, who are included for one or another reason, one finds there some really good poems by well-known writers (Antun Bonifačić, Srećko Karaman, Vinko Nikolic, Antun Nizeteo and Viktor Vida). All of them started to write before World War II. They continue to write, especially about their enslaved motherland. It is amazing that their sufferings in different camps in Europe and their often unpleasant experiences in foreign lands do not find a deep echo in their poetic preoccupations. It could be that they feel completely “déracinés” or perhaps, even more so, because the majority of them was and still remains involved in Croatian politics. In the work of some of the youngest writers, who only started to write abroad (Duško Ševerdija and Veljko Čurin), content is more up-to-date and there are certain innovations in thematic material and treatment.

2 In a note on the author, printed at the end of Tomicic's collection Vode pod ledinom. (Zagreb, 1955), p. 74.

3 Both poems were reprinted from the Zagreb literary journal Krugovi.

4 I shall not discuss here his travelogue, Nestrpljivi život, published by Seljačka Sloga, (Zagreb, 1956). It contains his articles, published between 1950 and 1956 in different Yugoslav magazines, about his wanderings through various Croatian provinces. Often he is not concerned with the country as such, but rather speaks about the authors who were born in that particular spot. At the end of this book are added some thirty-five pages of comments, compiled by Dr. Ivan Esih: they are very valuable for biographic and bibliographic data.

5 Published by Matica Hrvatska, in May, 1955.

6 Republika, 1955, No. 8, p. 628.

7 Vode pod planinom, pp. 74-75.

8 Published by the Society of Writers of Croatia, January, 1955.

9 Proverbs XXX, v. 18-19. This text is taken from Vuk Karadzic's translation of the Bible. Karadzic translated from a German translation of the Bible. I have checked the original text and many translations and failed to find this opposition (“There be three things which are too wonderful for me, yea, four, which I know not … “)

10 Četvrtoga ne razumijem, pp. 9, 24.

11 Ibid., p. 25.

12 Republika, 1955, No. 4-5, p. 322.

13 Now published (for the greatest part) in the second section of his most recent poetic selection Dosegnuti ja (Zagreb, 1956).

14 Republika, 1955, No. 9, p. 727.

15 Republika, 1947, No. 7-8, pp. 437-51.

16 Pisci i problemi. (Zagreb, 1948), pp. 267-84, 387.

17 Ibid., pp. 271-72.

18 Cf. Božo Milačić: Suze i zvijezde (Zagreb, 1956), pp. 231-38. Milačić writes: “The assertion that her collection ‘Dawns and Gales’ came about as the result of the influence of Tin Ujevic cannot be maintained, although there is an echo of Ujević's language and mood in some of her poems. Vesna Parun is not in the shadow of Ujević. That is the fact. Some of the best poems in her first collection have absolutely nothing in common with Ujević … “ (p. 236).

19 Pisci iproblemi, pp. 267, 276.

20 During a meeting of Soviet writers in Moscow, held December 16-27, 1954, speaking as a delegate of the Union of Yugoslav writers, Franičević delivered these interesting remarks: “It seems to me that the greatest danger, the greatest obstacle to obtaining a better and closer acquaintance with the literatures of other nations, lies in the narrowing of the idea of progressive literature. Some people, usually in the West, consider it impossible to reflect contemporary man through the medium called ‘socialist realism'; on the other hand, the writers of your country (i. e., Soviet Union) usually consider that anything outside of this frame is not progressive. It seems to me that neither point of view is correct … In my humble opinion, at such a time as this, one must seek broader, more general human criteria, not forgetting that writers existed and still exist, who are, as persons, honest and progressive, but whose works, for some reason or other, do not have any progressive meaning and the reverse. The case of Balzac is not unique. The work of some contemporary Balzac would enter into the treasury of mankind just as would the work of some contemporary Gogol” (Franičević's speech was published in Literaturnaya Gazyeta, January 4, 1955; cf. also Republika, 1955, January, pp. 74-75).

21 Cf. Mišić, Zoran: Reči vreme (Beograd, 1953), pp. 71–95 Google Scholar.

22 The motto of this collection, published in June, 1957, is folk riddle: “A mill grinds on the top of a fir-tree. The otter climbed up so she could grind also” (Mlin melje navrh jele. Popela se vidra da i ona samelje). Another small collection of her poems, entitled Ropstvo (Slavery), was published in October, 1957, in Belgrade, by the publishing house “Nolit.” It contains twenty-nine poems and only fifty-nine pages.

23 RePublika, 1955, No . 9, pp- 726-33. Cf. also Srećko Diana, in Mogućnosti (Split), 1955, No. 9, pp. 7 03 -06.

24 Republika, 1955, No. 9, pp. 726, 733.

25 Crna Maslina, p. 76.

26 Ibid., pp. 68, 70.

27 Pisci i problemi, p. 278.

28 In Hrvatska Revija (Buenos Aires, 1957), No. 2, p. 204, a certain poetaster (Grgo Boric) says that this poem is a simple imitation of Baudelaire's famous “Bénédiction.” If one compares these two poems, one will find that they have absolutely nothing in common except for the fact that the mother of the poet (Baudelaire's) exclaims: “Ah! que n'ai-je mis bas tout un noeud de viperes, plutot que de nourrir cette dérision! Maudite soit la nuit aux plaisirs éphémères où mon ventre a congu mon expiation!” Merely because a serpent is mentioned in both poems, that critic immediately claims that not only was “Mati čovjeka” influenced by “ Bénédiction “ but is a pure and simple imitation of it.

29 Republika, 1955, No. 9, p. 730.

30 Crna maslina, p. 67.

31 Republika, 1955, No. 9, p. 731.

32 Božo Milačić: Suze i zvijezde, p. 244. (“One cannot imagine a single anthology of our lyric poetry without this poem.“)

33 Just at present when the poverty of postwar drama is publicly acknowlewged on all sides (“a negligible number of dramatic works of significant quality“—Milan Bogdanović, Kritike, Zagreb 1948, p. 323), Vesna Parun has resolved to take up that literary genre also. In the magazine Mogućnosti she published two acts of a farce about a sailor and his wife. The sailor left his home three days after his wedding, and after fifteen years of absence and silence returns and enquires of his wife if she still loves him. She had remained faithful to him all those years, had lived for the sake of their son, but tells him she will treat him as a husband but not as a lover … Everything is far-fetched, unreal (especially the scientific works which this lady is supposed to be reading): poetry and platitudes are mixed together. Cf. also her radio-play: četiri morska vjetra, in Delo, 1956, No. 3, pp. 169-91.

34 Poljica (n. pi.—“small fields,” 12,000 inhabitants) is a region near Split, on the slopes of Mosor. Since the thirteenth century it has been an autonomous peasant republic. Its code of laws was written down in the famous “Poljički Statut,” in the year 1440. Its Jean d'Arc was Mile Gojsalica who, like Judith of the Old Testament, enchanted the commander of the enemy army, Topal Pacha, by her beauty and set his powder magazine on fire (1649). (The composer Jakov Gotovac wrote an opera in her honor and Ivan Meštrović sent a remarkable statue of her to Poljica from the USA.) Unfortunately, Poljica like Dubrovnik was destroyed by the army of Napoleon in 1807. In Poljica the Mass was always celebrated in Church Slavic only and the Croatian language has preserved the purity of the old ca-dialect.

35 Jedro na pucini (Buenos Aires, 1951).

36 Hrvatska Revija, 1952, No. 1, p. 78.

37 He has already published two collections of poems: Kise pjevaju na jablanima (1955) and Mladići (1955).

38 Božo Milačić entitles his study of Kaštelan's poetry: Mrtvi žive u nama (The dead live in us), in his book: Suze i zvijezde. (Zagreb, 1956), pp. 7-27.

39 Printed by Zora (Mala biblioteka, 52).

40 Hrvatsko Kolo, 1951, pp. 184-87.

41 Ibid., pp. 184-85.

42 Ibid., p. 186.

43 Ibid., p. 187.

44 Književnost, 1951, No. 9-10, pp. 371-75.

45 Ibid., p. 375.

46 Knjivevnost, 1951, No. 11-12, pp. 528-32.

47 Ibid., p. 531.

48 A prominent Serbian poet (b. 1909).

49 Vjesnik u srijedu, December 7, 1955, p. 6. The same text was reprinted in Milačić's book Suze i zvijezde, p. 7.

50 Published by Mladost.

51 Republika, 1955, No. 10, pp. 814-15.

52 Ibid., p. 815.

53 Krugovi, 1955, No. 8, p. 371.

54 Walt Whitman, Vlati trave (Zagreb, 1951) (Mala biblioteka, 80).

55 Republika, 1955, No. 10, p. 815.

56 His two recent collections (Osvijetljeni put, Matica Hrvatska, Zagreb, 1953; Goli casovi, Matica srpska, Beograd, 1956) are identical and are a selection from his prewar poetry.

57 Pjesme. Zora (Zagreb, 1951); Blagdan žetve (sabrane pjesme). Zora and Seljačka Sloga (Zagreb, 1956).

58 Republika, 1953, No. 9, pp. 739-40.

59 Rod, Vol. 301 (Zagreb, 1954), pp. 391-404.

60 Cf. Novak Simic, Savremeni hrvatski roman, in Politika, March 16, 1958, p. 18.

61 Cf. Antologija hrvatske proze (ed. Petar Šegedin), II (Beograd, 1956).