Antanas Strazdas (9 March 1760 in Margėnai, Rokiškis district – 23 April 1833 in Kamajai; signed in

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

as ''Antoni Drozdowski'', often called ''Strazdelis'' by the locals) was a

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

n priest and poet. Because of his humble origins and lifestyle, he became somewhat of a folklore hero. Born to a poor

serf Serfdom was the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism, and similar systems. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude with similarities to and differences from slavery, which developed ...

family, he attended many schools established by monasteries, including ones in

Polatsk Polotsk (russian: По́лоцк; be, По́лацк, translit=Polatsk (BGN/PCGN), Polack (official transliteration); lt, Polockas; pl, Połock) is a historical city in Belarus, situated on the Dvina River. It is the center of the Polotsk Distr ...

and

Daugavpils Daugavpils (; russian: Двинск; ltg, Daugpiļs ; german: Dünaburg, ; pl, Dyneburg; see other names) is a state city in south-eastern Latvia, located on the banks of the Daugava River, from which the city gets its name. The parts of the c ...

. In 1789 he finally graduated from

Varniai Varniai (; Samogitian language, Samogitian: ''Varnē''; pl, Wornie) is a city in the Telšiai County, western Lithuania. In the Middle Ages the city was known as Medininkai (Samogitian language, Samogitian: ''Medėninkā''). It was established ...

theological seminary. Due to his restless nature, he traveled from one parish to another, often living on his own as a farmer. In 1820 he settled more permanently in Kamajai, where he bought land and kept up a farm, only sometimes performing his duties as a priest. In 1828 he was accused of improper behavior for a priest and confined in the

Pažaislis Monastery Pažaislis is a neighborhood ("territory") of Kaunas, Lithuania, within its Petrašiūnai eldership. It includes the Pažaislis Monastery. History The name Pažaislis is Lithuanization of Polish name , literally meaning "by Zajście", i.e. locat ...

. Next year he left the monastery and returned to Kamajai, where he died just four years later. During his lifetime only two thin poetry books were published. One of them, ''Secular and Holy Songs'' (Lithuanian: ''Giesmės svietiškos ir šventos'') published in 1814, contains nine secular verses and two hymns written in the

Lithuanian language Lithuanian ( ) is an Eastern Baltic language belonging to the Baltic branch of the Indo-European language family. It is the official language of Lithuania and one of the official languages of the European Union. There are about 2.8 millio ...

. The second, ''Ode to Riga'', was published in the

Polish language Polish (Polish: ''język polski'', , ''polszczyzna'' or simply ''polski'', ) is a West Slavic language of the Lechitic group written in the Latin script. It is spoken primarily in Poland and serves as the native language of the Poles. In a ...

in 1824. The third collection of Lithuanian poems was destroyed by the censors. As many as 50 songs are attributed to Strazdas and passed by word of mouth to this day. However, the authorship is hard to establish because of lack of written proof and because of the tendency of Strazdas' songs to become part of

folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...

. His best known work, the hymn ''Pulkim ant kelių'' (''Let us Fall on Our Knees'') is still sung to this day in churches. His most famous poems include ''Strazdas'' (''The Thrush''), where the poet,

personified Personification occurs when a thing or abstraction is represented as a person, in literature or art, as a type of anthropomorphic metaphor. The type of personification discussed here excludes passing literary effects such as "Shadows hold their ...

by the bird, sings about peasant's joys and worries; ''Aušra'' (''The Dawn'') tells about the joy a dawn brings and that breaks a lot of rules on rhythm and rhyme; ''Barnis'' (''The Quarrel'') is the only poem about Strazdas himself. Strazdas avoided the nobles and remained closely connected to the ordinary people. Strazdas borrowed melody, tone, and style from the folk songs, writing his poetry for the common peasants. His songs are simple and the content is usually dealing with a peasant's life and labor. His works were also affected by Polish poems, especially the sentimental poetry. However, his ''Ode to Riga'', written for the anniversary of founding of

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

, proved that he was able to handle more complicated and sophisticated poetic forms.

References

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External links

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Full text of "Giesmės svietiškos ir šventos"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Strazdas, Antanas 1760 births 1833 deaths 18th-century Lithuanian poets 19th-century Lithuanian poets 18th-century Lithuanian Roman Catholic priests 19th-century Lithuanian Roman Catholic priests Lithuanian Catholic poets People from Panevėžys County