*tuule makett - Infopoint Estonian Culture

2 3 /These Songs and Stories
resented, in the words of critic Karl Muru, “a classically clear,
essentially realistic poetry which unites the contemporary
with the universal”. Another Siuru poet was the Prince of Love
Henrik Visnapuu (1890-1951) whose poetry was enriched by
dialect usage and meditated on a wide range of emotions. Visnapuu’s
poetry also played an important rôle within the Estonian
exile community towards the end of his life.
The economic and political crises following the establishment
of the Estonian Republic in 1918 brought with it a brand
of poetry which dealt with themes from contemporary life,
usually expressionist in tone. Problems were dealt with without
mincing words, and with almost the same bravura as that
of the Russian poets of the time. This approach, critical of society
as it was, brought predictably short-lived results. The same
can be said of the Vitalist movement Literary Orbit (Kirjanduslik
Orbiit) which flourished briefly between 1929 and
1930.
But the small nation, torn as it was between differing
political attitudes, did see positive changes occur at a national
level. Now, a first generation of educated Estonians was being
formed, something which the poets of Young Estonia had
dreamed about. This layer of educated people had, by now,
acquired a good education which was thoroughly Estonian
with regard to language and were conversant with European
affairs and those of further afield. They were not swept along
by the exigencies of everyday politics, but nor did they remain
in their ivory towers. Their increasing range of interests and
international contacts were curbed by the outbreak of World
War Two, but this in no way diminishes their achievements.
Glimmers of their spirituality reappeared in the liberating
poetic confusion of the Estonian 1960s, and now once again
their followers have taken up the baton.
A number such poets appeared during the 1930s, a decade
which was to prove one of the most varied of the century. Their
works exhibited a formal sureness and were in stark contrast
to the marching songs of the proletariat. In 1938, the influential
literary critic and scholar Ants Oras (1900–1982) compiled
a representative anthology of new poets, calling it Soothsayers
(Arbujad), and adding a foreword. The greatest of these Soothsayers
— Uku Masing and Betti Alver — are included in this
anthology an will be discussed below in further detail. Heiti
Talvik (1904–1947) was Alver’s husband and died young in the
Russian labour camps. His programmatic pessimism achieves