Paulius Širvys (6 September 1920 – 27 March 1979) was a Lithuanian poet.
Biography
Paulius Širvys was born in
Padustėlis village (now in
Zarasai District Municipality), but soon moved to Degučiai village. After his parents and brother died, Širvys lived with his relatives but later was submitted to children's home. He worked as a cowherd, graduated Salos Agriculture School in 1940. He attended infantry courses in Vilnius in 1940–41. After the
Second World War began, Širvys moved to Belarus where he came under arrest as a Nazi prisoner. He managed to escape to Lithuania but again was captured and transferred to
East Prussia
East Prussia ; german: Ostpreißen, label=Low Prussian; pl, Prusy Wschodnie; lt, Rytų Prūsija was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 187 ...
. He joined the
Red Army (the
16th Rifle Division) in 1944 and later was seriously injured.
After the war, Paulius Širvys worked as an editor in several regional newspapers, in 1954–55 worked in ''
Literatūra ir menas''. He graduated literature studies in the
Maxim Gorky Literature Institute
The Maxim Gorky Literature Institute (russian: Литературный институт им. А. М. Горького) is an institution of higher education in Moscow. It is located at 25 Tverskoy Boulevard in central Moscow.
History
The insti ...
in 1957. After that, he worked as a reporter in magazines ''
Moksleivis'' and ''
Genys''. Širvys left editorial and journalist work in 1967 and became a sailor of the Klaipėda Fishery Fleet.
Most of his life Širvys was resigned to
alcoholism.
Work
Early lyrics of Paulius Širvys were dedicated to war experiences and the homeland defense from enemies. This period is marked by
social realism aesthetics. Since the selection ''Beržų lopšinė'' ('Birch Lullaby', 1961) Širvys moved to the themes of unrequited love, yearning. The poetry of Širvys is romantic, emotional, dramatic, melancholic, close to a
ballad, a
romance. Širvys uses vivid metaphors, motives of Lithuanian folk songs, many
parallelisms,
alliterations. He also wrote several books of
children's poetry
Children's poetry is poetry written for, appropriate for, or enjoyed by children.
Children's poetry is one of the oldest art forms, rooted in early oral tradition, folk poetry, and nursery rhymes. Children have always enjoyed both works of p ...
.
His main selections are ''Beržų lopšinė'' ('Birch Lullaby', 1961), ''Ir nusinešė saulę miškai'' ('...And Forests Took the Sun', 1969), ''Ilgesys – ta giesmė'' ('Yearning Is This Song', 1972), also ''post-mortem'' anthologies ''Ir nusinešė saulę miškai'' ('...And Forests Took the Sun', 1987), ''Tiesiu toliams rankas'' ('I Stretch My Hands to the Distance', 1997).
Many of his poems became songs and romances.
A poetry award of Paulius Širvys was established in 1995.
Awards
*
Lithuanian SSR State Prize
Lithuanian may refer to:
* Lithuanians
* Lithuanian language
* The country of Lithuania
Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. I ...
in 1973, for selection ''Ilgesys – ta giesmė'' ('Yearning Is This Song')
*
Poetry Spring
Poetry (derived from the Greek '' poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meani ...
in 1973
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sirvys, Paulius
1920 births
1979 deaths
Lithuanian male poets
Soviet poets
Soviet military personnel of World War II