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| By Jefimija (c 1350. - c 1405) - http://www.spc.rs/Muzej/Tekstil/pohvala-v.jpg, Javno vlasništvo, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12872453 |
What poetry was for
Embroidery
requires good eyes and a steady hand. It is best done by an open window on a
snowy day. The thread should be made of gold. Everybody knows that. This is how
poetry was written back then. With gold letters on a red shroud. Or, at least,
this is how women wrote poetry back then. Maybe it’s just how this woman wrote
this poem. On a red shroud with a gold thread. A needle was required too. Maybe
she pricked her finger, maybe not, we don’t know. The poem was embroidered on a
funeral shroud. This is what poetry was for. Or, at least, it’s what this woman
wrote this poem for. The woman was a nun at the time, though she hadn’t always
been a nun. The woman's name was Jefimija. The funeral shroud was for a man who had died in a battle. The
woman had her own battles too, and she fought them in silence, sitting by an
open window on a snowy day.
GloPoWriMo Day 24 - an elegy
This poem was inspired by Jefimija, the first Serbian female poet.
I really like the prose elegy for a life not lived. A beautiful poem.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, Britt. Sorry for my late reply.
DeleteI'd like to hear that woman speak. Thanks for introducing us.
ReplyDeleteShe was amazing! I am sorry I haven't thought of her before. She deserves much more recognition that she has received in Serbian culture. The picture I used at the beginning of my post is actually her embroidered poem. There is a translation here (if you ignore the Serbian text and scroll down to Page 6), though it is done as a block of text and hasn't retained the original shape: http://knjizevnaistorija.rs/editions/148Djoric.pdf . It is an old poem, a little hard to read.
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