Vytautas Mačernis

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Vytautas Mačernis (June 5, 1921 — October 7, 1944) was a Lithuanian poet existentialist.

[edit] Biography

He was born in village Šarnelė, Plungė district municipality, Lithuania, where he had created most of his poems. His grandmother, who had died in 1934, was the most pleasant reminiscence for Mačernis, so she appears in most of his poems. In his childhood he was very withdrawn and thoughtful.

Poet had died on October 7, 1944 in Žemaičių Kalvarija, from the stray bullet.

[edit] Works

V. Mačernis dedicated his short life for searching the purport of human's life.

Since he was a sensitive person, he was affected by such disasters as the Soviet and Nazi occupations, World War II and that made his poems full of blackness, dark colours.

The first poem of Vytautas was published in 1936, the last one - on October, 1944. He had been writing sonnets, visions, triolets, songs and short aphoristic poems.

The only one cycle he had finished is "Vizijos" (Visions, 1939–1942). He had also created 81 sonnets of the cycle "Metai" (Years) out of 96 planned, 14 "Songs of myself", the prologue of the poem „Žmogaus apnuoginta širdis“ (Person's denuded heart).