Canonising Romania’s national poet

The 300 News Daily — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 00:01:11 +0000

A Romanian author has called on the country’s Orthodox Church to canonise the national poet Mihai Eminescu. He is seen as the most important 19th-century Romanian poet.

As an icon, he would not only be celebrated but would perhaps even be read again, says the daily G?ndul: “Since thousands of literary critics and teachers of the Romanian language have referred to Eminescu as the ‘evening star of Romanian poetry’, a ‘national and universal poet’, an ‘incomparable poet’, a ‘unique genius’, … it would not be so odd to canonise him.

… Of course, Eminescu’s image in Romania is in any case unrealistic. But if we canonise him, we would at least know for sure that someone in the country would read him. On a specific day, the priests would open the books and thousands of believers could hear verses from the ‘Evening Star’, the most celebrated and least read poem.

Right now no one reads him anyway; they’re all busy praising him. Or making fun of him, as do some young intellectuals who are sick and tired of hearing what a genius the genius of the Carpathian-Danubian-Pontic region was.”Popular Posts:

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Canonising Romania’s national poet