By svp.org.mk
By Angelina Tala
Struga Poetry Evenings 51st annual event will begin on Thursday and continue through Sunday, according to the organizations website.
The topic for this year’s poetry contest is ‘Poetry and Mass Media.’
History of Struga Poetry Evenings
Macedonian poets, in honor of two brothers, Konstantin and Dimitar Miladinov, started the poetry event in 1962.
The Miladinov brothers, born in Struga in the beginning of the 19th century, were admired as intellectuals, teachers, and writers.
In 1962 the Struga Poetry Evenings began with a series of readings by Macedonian poets.
Soon after, poets from all Yugoslav republics joined the annual event, which later turned into an international poetry contest that continues today.
The Struga Poetry Evening opens each year with Konstantin’s notable poem “Longing for the South,” (“T’ga za jug”).
The poem, expressing his desires to go back to his hometown, was written during his studies in Moscow.
Read the below poem “Longing for the South” by Konstantin Miladinov.
Longing for the South (T’ga za jug)
If I had an eagle’s wings
I would rise and fly on them
To our shores, to our own parts,
To See Stambol, to See Kukuš;
And to watch the sunrise: is it
Dim there too, as it is here?
If the sun still rises dimly,
If it meets me there as here,
I’ll prepare for further travels,
I shall flee to other shores
Where the sunrise, greets me brightly,
And the sky is sewn with the stars.
It is dark here, dark surrounds me,
Dark for covers all the earth,
Here are frost and snow and ashes,
Blizzards and harsh winds abound,
Fogs all around, the earth is ice,
And in the breast are cold, dark thoughts.
No, I cannot stay here, no;
I cannot upon this frosts.
Give me wings and I will don them;
I will fly to our own shores,
Go once more to our own places,
Go to Ohrid and to Struga.
There the sunrise warms the soul,
The sun gets bright in mountain woods:
Younder gifts in great profusion
Richly spread by nature’s power.
See the clear lake stretching white-
Or bluely darkened by the wind,
Look you at the plains or mountains:
Beauty’ everywhere divine.
To pipe there to my heart’s content!
Ah! let the sun set, let me die.
For more information on Struga Poetry Evenings visit their website at Struga Poetry Evenings
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