Vladislav Petković Dis | |
|---|---|
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| Born | (1880-03-10)10 March 1880 |
| Died | 30 May 1917(1917-05-30) (aged 37) |
| Alma mater | Čačak Gymnasium |
| Occupation(s) | Poet, soldier |
| Notable work | Utopljene duše Mi čekamo cara Naši dani Cvetovi slave |
Vladislav Petković Dis (Serbian Cyrillic:Владислав Петковић Дис; 10 March 1880 – 30 May 1917) was aSerbianimpressionist poet. He died in 1917 on a boat on theIonian Sea after being hit by a torpedo making him also remembered as awar poet.
Vladislav Petković was born in Zablaće, a village nearČačak, in the Principality of Serbia. He made his way to Čačak, graduating from the Gymnasium and Teacher's College in 1902. He was appointed temporary teacher atPrlita, a village near the town ofZaječar. He did not like teaching, and his small output of poetry brought him little income. In 1903, he moved toBelgrade, and became prominent in the literary life there, when his poems appeared inIdila, a literary magazine. Petković chose his appellation "Dis" as a repetition of the middle syllable of his first name (Vla-DIS-lav), but also as the name of the Roman god of the underworld. He was a frequent evening visitor to the Belgrade'skafanas inSkadarlija and elsewhere where he would drink and compose new verses at the same time.
He obtained an appointment as a customs official with the municipal government, giving him a good income and leisure time to write. He was named co-editor, withSima Pandurović, ofLiterary Week (Književna nedelja). Both Petković-Dis and Pandurović were considered theenfants terribles of their literary world (both being under the influence ofCharles Baudelaire and other French Symbolists, like Šantić, Dučić, Rakić, Ćorović, and even Skerlić before he abandoned the movement). After the demise of the magazine, he married Hristina-Tinka, with whom he had two children, Gordana and Mutimir.
He wroteSpomenik (Monument) in anticipation ofWorld War I:
And it still seems that,
as my soul dreams on,
the monument lives on,
ready for eternity,
reborn into new traditions,
tempering young ambitions
to erect the next monument.
During the outbreak of theFirst Balkan War he was conscripted by the military as a journalist. He was the war correspondent covering battles of theSerbian Army in theFirst Balkan War (1912),Second Balkan War (1913), andWorld War I that followed. In 1915 he joined the Serbian army in theirretreat toCorfu. From Corfu, Petković was sent toFrance to recuperate and write about the entire tragedy.
He stayed inMarseille,Nice andLes Petites Dalles, eager to return to theBalkans. In May 1917, viaRome andNaples, he arrived inGallipoli, Italy. At 9 pm on May 29, after two days of waiting, he boarded theFrench passenger steamshipItalia destined to Corfu, from where he was supposed to join the Serbian army fighting on theSalonica front. At 5:51 am on May 30,Italia was sunk by torpedo by theAustro-Hungarian NavyU-boatU-4, 46 miles southeast ofSanta Maria di Leuca, Italy.[1]
He introduced irrational and subconscious images into Serbianlyric poetry. Some of his most famous poems areMožda spava (She May Be Sleeping) andSpomenik (Monument).
InSpomenik, Dis dreamed of a monument:
It has a long life,
Today it descends into new legends,
To prepare our descendants for the next monument.
Petković Dis was writing in 1913, just after Serbia wrestedKosovo from theOttoman Empire and installed an obelisk on the site of the famousmedieval battle when Kosovo was severed from Serbia by the Ottomans. Dis's poetry was not well received at the beginning byJovan Skerlić, one of the most distinguished Serbian literary critics of that time, who did not care for the poems' morbid and sinister tone.[citation needed]
His poemCvetovi slave (Flowers of Glory) was translated into English by Djuradj Vujcic.[2]
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