ROMANIAN ASTROHUMANISM (XVIII) -
ON UNIVERSAL DIVERSITY
or
THREE MEMORABLE POEMS

-by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe-

Apparently, the theme of this essay is not homogenous,
because presents poetic jewels about
a comet (its road involving planets and the Moon), the Sun,
and the constellation Orion,
written by three great Romanian poets of the XXth century.
However,
its homogeneity can be suggested by the unity in diversity of the Universe.
Thus,
as in a drop of water we can see the planetary ocean,
in the various heavenly bodies we can see the Cosmos.

Watching the Universe
Photo: Valentin Grigore

1. ”THE ANSWER OF THE COMET”

George Topirceanu (1886-1937) is considered “the poet of irony”
in Romanian literature.
Marked as many others by the passing of Comet Halley in 1910,
he abandoned the terrestrial themes this time
and wrote a parody (after the catastrophic comments of his contemporaries)
dedicated to this kind of (periodical) heavenly body,
which is personified with his unique humour.
Thus,
a comet appears as a feminine character and gives an interview to an earthling.
She begins by touching the disputed man-monkey aspect
from Charles Darwin’s opera:

Even a few millennia ago
I saluted your sphere,
when the astronomers were just orangutans.

Afterwards the comet describes her space peregrinations:

From then on, among black elements,
in the large and profound night,
I have roved with tens
of thousands of metres per second,
appearing diaphanous
from time to time
as a blonde angel
developing a spectral tail
in the night sky, at the zenith…
Planets with satellites
(their proud parasites)
published my portrait in newspapers,
and thousands of lunettes watched me…

The comet continues by confessing her fancy to our planet:

I was ready to find my tomb
in some system of constellations,
but I have come back
flying through spaces
because I like the Earth
(if you would be in the skies as me,
you would be surprised
how luminous your muddy globe seems to be,
more than the Moon seems to be for you).

However, the comet’s intentions were initially dangerous:

I would have wanted,
with my last tour,
as a symbol of millenary fondness,
to make an eternal unification
through a fantastic collision
between the Earth’s black clay
and my luminous addition,
and both of us to roll in the chaos
as a hot vortex of froth.

Fortunately, the comet explains why the apocalyptic wedding is impossible:

But I’ve seen
the trash you’ve made,
too much blood that has absurdly flowed
on your poor clay globe,
so I’ve directed my flight
to the perihelion,
sheltering my clear nimbus
and my long train like a scarf of light
from your dark drops of mud.

The final of the poem is both amusing and cautionary:

From then on,
sad and ashamed,
I feel I need to run
through inter-planetary spaces
and to disappear into the chaos.
So I’m living you. Good-bye!
You can send messages for me by post
towards Uranus.

Comet Ikeya-Zhang, 2002
Photo: Alex(andru) Conu

2. “THE ROMANCE OF THE SUN”

Ion Minulescu (1881-1944) is considered “the poet of romances”
in Romanian literature.
It is quite remarkable that one of his poetic romances is dedicated
not to the usual feelings of the people,
but to the imaginary feelings of the sovereign of the solar system
under the form of a sensible personification.
Thus,
the Sun begins by telling about his own daily activities:

I rise and climb,
I lower
and disappear,
but the sunset is the sunrise, however…
I am the vagabond of the day, always solitary -
an eternal and unique portrait, exhibited in the infinite.

My magic giant wand
(the master of eternal decisions)
rouses the sweepers of the white towns
and calls the late clients of the black taverns to sleep…

All the terrestrial elements catch life thanks to his light:
rivers, seas, mountains, pine trees, fruits, beings,
and even the statues of the kings.
The final of the poem is both astronomical and philosophical:

When I lower,
when the warm thrill
thrashes about in the cup of the cold repose,
I throw new seeds into the old patterns,
and listen to Perpetuity singing in the chaos.

Sunset
Photo: Cristina Tinta

3. “ORION”

Geo Bogza (1908-1993) is considered “the poet of the reportage”
in Romanian literature.
He wrote a special poem,
a “reportage” not about earthly places,
but about the most beautiful constellation,
which, surprisingly,
he saw as a fabulous ship,
abandoning the mythological personality of the famous hunter Orion.
Thus:

No ship came back over time
from the southern seas or from the capricorn
so pure and elegant
as each autumn Orion comes back.

The poet points to some particularities
from under the passing of this constellation:

Its white light never shone
over green forests and meadows.
Each spring oceans and mountains see it departing,
and the sky loses his master for a while.

Then he looks at the sky again:

Each October it climbs again over gardens
its high masts with tops of platinum,
and all the winter the ship of light
swings over the amazed world.

The conclusion is rather romantic:

The king of the constellations of septentrion
always sliding over frozen worlds,
this is great Orion that traverses the night,
a rocking ship in eternity.

ROMANIAN ASTROHUMANISM (XVIII) - ON UNIVERSAL DIVERSITY or THREE MEMORABLE POEMS

ROMANIAN ASTROHUMANISM (XVIII) -
ON UNIVERSAL DIVERSITY
or
THREE MEMORABLE POEMS