*tuule makett - Infopoint Estonian Culture

7 5 / Uku Masing
■ UKU MASING (1909–1985) oli erudiit, kelle haarde
selgitamine alles käib. Luules pyydleb ta Jumala poole
dogmasid tunnistamata, aega, ruumi ja surma eirates.
Ainulaadne loodusetaju, isepärane, kohati väga arhailine
keel ja hulk senitundmatuid mõtteid, vaatenurki,
intuitsioone. Kujunditihe tekst jääb vahel taipamatuks
eestlaselegi; autor pyyab olla avali, lõpuni elus, varjamata
Jumala eest pisimatki mõtteuidu. Nägemuslikkus
eeldab mõttekerguse seisundit lugejaltki ja võib yhes
hypnootilise rytmiga seda ka põhjustada. Kujutatus
kohtab nii ekstaasi kirkust kui maailmade hukku jälginu
lootusetust. Seda ei tunta siin ammendavalt — sadu
Masingu luuletusi seisab veel käsikirjas. Ebasoovitava
sisepagulasena kommunistidele, ketserina usumeeste
enamikule, protsessist äralõigatuna teadlasena ja ellu
syyvinuna luuletajana möödus ta elu. Rääkida selgelt
Teisest, reaalsemast maailmast, seda ta pyydis. Masing
tõi eesti luulesse “seestunud kõne”. Ta kujutluslend
hõlmas vägesid yhendavalt yrgeesti, heebrea, polyneesia,
põlisameerika ja muidki pildistikke.
UKU MASING (1909–1985) was an erudite theologian,
the full extent of whose intellectual breadth is still being
discovered. In his poetry he strives towards God,
brushing aside dogma, ignoring time and death,
multiplying the dimensions of the world. Masing has
a singular sense of nature, uses unconventional,
sometimes archaic, language and many original
thoughts, opinions and intuitive hunches. His densely
imagistic texts often remain unintelligible even to his
compatriots. He always tries to be open, fully alive, not
concealing even the smallest errant thought from God.
Masing’s visionary poetry presupposes a reader in an
exalted state of mind and can, in turn, induce this kind
of rapture with its hypnotic rhythms (often, alas, lost in
translation). The texts include both the ecstatic radiance
and the hopelessness of a witness to the ruin of worlds.
Not all of this is fully represented here — hundreds of
Masing’s poems still remain in manuscript form. Masing
lived his life as blacklisted internal exile under the
Communist regime, a heretic for most of the religious
community, and a poet engrossed in life. To speak
clearly of the Other, the more real world was what he
strove to do, bringing “possessed speech” to Estonian
poetry. The scope of his imagination encompassed
ancient Estonian, Hebrew, Polynesian, inidigenous
American and other worlds, fusing their powers.