Can poetry bring to the point of making a man choose between a life dedicated to God and one dedicated te poetry? Can poetry get to the point where it becomes the drama of a man's own existence?
Yes, it can. Vincas Mykolaitis-Putinas devoted a long novel to this drama: Altorių šešėly (In the shadows of the altars). The novel was published in 1933.
Vincas Mykolaitis-Putinas (1893 - 1967) was a Lithuanian poet, writer and playwright. His most famous novel is "Altorių šešėly", a psychological novel.
The novel is about the life, feelings, and inner conflicts of Ludos Vasaris, a young priest. The work deals with many psychological problems: the priesthood, the search for a life path, and the freedom of the artist's personality. The crucial theme of the novel is: can the same person be both, a priest and a poet? No, it cannot because that will lead to schizophrenia.
The main character of the work is the intellectual Liudas Vasaris, who enters the priestly seminary and studies there for 6 years. And the novel is called psychological because the main character analyzes himself for many years, because he wants to know himself and perceive himself as a person, in order to understand who he really is (is he a priest or a poet?). In the end, many years later, Liudas gives up the priesthood because he realizes that he is actually a talented and renowned writer, playwright and poet.
Alongside this theme, another important theme runs parallel: how to become a person?
According to his novel, we become a person through
1) Family: strong authority of the father, mother, sister or brother. The dearest closest people help in every way, and encourage improvement.
2) Living environment (home environment: a rich library, many fine art paintings, music evenings, nature...
3) Friends
4) The authority of a famous person we are close to
Some quotes from Altorių šešėly:
“Juk kiekvienoje vietoje, kur mums tenka ilgiau pagyventi, mes paliekam savo širdies, savo sielos dalelę
"After all, in every place where we have to live longer, we leave a piece of our heart, our soul."
“Ar ne iš mėgstamųjų knygų pažįstame žmogų?”
"Don't we know a person from our favorite books?"
“Žmogus nešiojasi tik pusę savo sielos ir lieka tobulas tik suradęs ir pamilęs kitą, kuris turįs antrąją pusę. Dėl to mylėti galima tiktai vieną kartą, o tokia meilė esanti būtina ir amžina.”
"A person carries only half of his soul and remains perfect only after finding and loving someone who has the other half. That's why you can love only once, and this kind of love is necessary and eternal."
“Meilė tik vienokia tegali būti: sielų bendravimas.”
"There can only be one kind of love: the communication of souls."
“Tapai mediku, o pamatei, kad esi mėsininkas, tai mesk gydęs, nes imsi žmones pjauti. Taip pat ir su kunigyste.”
"You became a doctor, but you see that you are a butcher, so quit treating, because you will start cutting people. Likewise with the priesthood."
“Neišnyksta niekas, kas kartą yra buvęs.”
"Nothing disappears,, that has once been.”
“Gyvenime esti visokių situacijų ir visokių pareigų. Kartais tenka vienaip jausti, o kitaip kalbėti, veidu juoktis, o širdimi liūsti — ir atvirkščiai.”
"There are all kinds of situations and all kinds of responsibilities in life. Sometimes you have to feel one way and speak another way, laugh with your face and break your heart — and vice versa.”
“Yra žmonių, kurių vienintelis paskyrimas — puošti pasaulį ir daryti kitiems malonumą. [...] Jie bus gerai išauklėti, malonūs, turės geras manieras, bet absoliučiai niekam nenaudingi. Jie neturės jokių pareigų ir nedirbs jokio darbo. Nedarydami niekam naudos, jie nedarys niekam nei žalos. Ir į klausimą, koks tų žmonių buvimo pateisinimas, nerasi jokio atsakymo kaip vien tai, kad jie puošia pasaulį. Kai kas tokius žmones vadina visuomenės parazitais.”
"There are people whose only purpose is to decorate the world and give pleasure to others [...] They will be well-mannered, kind, have good manners, but absolutely useless. They will have no sense of responsibility and will not do any work. By not doing anything good to anyone, they will do no harm to anyone. And to the question, of what is the justification for the existence of those people, there is no answer other than the fact that they decorate the world. Some people call such people parasites."
Yes, it can. Vincas Mykolaitis-Putinas devoted a long novel to this drama: Altorių šešėly (In the shadows of the altars). The novel was published in 1933.
Vincas Mykolaitis-Putinas (1893 - 1967) was a Lithuanian poet, writer and playwright. His most famous novel is "Altorių šešėly", a psychological novel.
The novel is about the life, feelings, and inner conflicts of Ludos Vasaris, a young priest. The work deals with many psychological problems: the priesthood, the search for a life path, and the freedom of the artist's personality. The crucial theme of the novel is: can the same person be both, a priest and a poet? No, it cannot because that will lead to schizophrenia.
The main character of the work is the intellectual Liudas Vasaris, who enters the priestly seminary and studies there for 6 years. And the novel is called psychological because the main character analyzes himself for many years, because he wants to know himself and perceive himself as a person, in order to understand who he really is (is he a priest or a poet?). In the end, many years later, Liudas gives up the priesthood because he realizes that he is actually a talented and renowned writer, playwright and poet.
Alongside this theme, another important theme runs parallel: how to become a person?
According to his novel, we become a person through
1) Family: strong authority of the father, mother, sister or brother. The dearest closest people help in every way, and encourage improvement.
2) Living environment (home environment: a rich library, many fine art paintings, music evenings, nature...
3) Friends
4) The authority of a famous person we are close to
Some quotes from Altorių šešėly:
“Juk kiekvienoje vietoje, kur mums tenka ilgiau pagyventi, mes paliekam savo širdies, savo sielos dalelę
"After all, in every place where we have to live longer, we leave a piece of our heart, our soul."
“Ar ne iš mėgstamųjų knygų pažįstame žmogų?”
"Don't we know a person from our favorite books?"
“Žmogus nešiojasi tik pusę savo sielos ir lieka tobulas tik suradęs ir pamilęs kitą, kuris turįs antrąją pusę. Dėl to mylėti galima tiktai vieną kartą, o tokia meilė esanti būtina ir amžina.”
"A person carries only half of his soul and remains perfect only after finding and loving someone who has the other half. That's why you can love only once, and this kind of love is necessary and eternal."
“Meilė tik vienokia tegali būti: sielų bendravimas.”
"There can only be one kind of love: the communication of souls."
“Tapai mediku, o pamatei, kad esi mėsininkas, tai mesk gydęs, nes imsi žmones pjauti. Taip pat ir su kunigyste.”
"You became a doctor, but you see that you are a butcher, so quit treating, because you will start cutting people. Likewise with the priesthood."
“Neišnyksta niekas, kas kartą yra buvęs.”
"Nothing disappears,, that has once been.”
“Gyvenime esti visokių situacijų ir visokių pareigų. Kartais tenka vienaip jausti, o kitaip kalbėti, veidu juoktis, o širdimi liūsti — ir atvirkščiai.”
"There are all kinds of situations and all kinds of responsibilities in life. Sometimes you have to feel one way and speak another way, laugh with your face and break your heart — and vice versa.”
“Yra žmonių, kurių vienintelis paskyrimas — puošti pasaulį ir daryti kitiems malonumą. [...] Jie bus gerai išauklėti, malonūs, turės geras manieras, bet absoliučiai niekam nenaudingi. Jie neturės jokių pareigų ir nedirbs jokio darbo. Nedarydami niekam naudos, jie nedarys niekam nei žalos. Ir į klausimą, koks tų žmonių buvimo pateisinimas, nerasi jokio atsakymo kaip vien tai, kad jie puošia pasaulį. Kai kas tokius žmones vadina visuomenės parazitais.”
"There are people whose only purpose is to decorate the world and give pleasure to others [...] They will be well-mannered, kind, have good manners, but absolutely useless. They will have no sense of responsibility and will not do any work. By not doing anything good to anyone, they will do no harm to anyone. And to the question, of what is the justification for the existence of those people, there is no answer other than the fact that they decorate the world. Some people call such people parasites."
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