Pelkė lietuvių poezijoje

Abstract

Swamp (lith. pelkė) is not a semantically active word in Lithuanian poetry. It was not often used in the first literary trends, such as romanticism, symbolism, impressionism and others. In Lithuanian lyrics it was mentioned for the first time by Juozas Tysliava in his collection of poems "Fen-fire" (Klaipėda, 1922). This image became more significant in the 1930s, especially in the second part of it, after spreading of the cult of the Earth. Swamp is associated, but not identified, with the Earth. It has its own specific field of meanings. Later the word swamp appeared in the works of the poets glorifying the Earth (Vytautas Mačernis, Alfonsas Nyka-Niliūnas). Among the poets of the Soviet period, it was also mentioned by Kazys Inčiūra, Teofilis Tilvytis, Stasys Santvaras, Albinas Žukauskas, and among emigrant poets by Antanas Jasmantas. At the end of the article the conclusion is drawn that swamp is not used in pejorative sense in Lithuanian lyrics, contrary to what could be expected from the folklore suggestions. In lyrics, it has some more vivid meanings: most often a place full of vitality is meant by this word, the other meaning being esoteric, mystical space connected with the dead people. In the Catholics-oriented poetry swamp is the place of decline and chaos. Sometimes swamp is used in a rather daily connotation. There are also poems written by saga poets. Their semantics is determined basically by the folklore.