Simonika Berezhiani’s failed „Date on Mtatsminda”

Abstract

One of the outstanding representatives of Georgian émigré writing is Simon (Simonika) Berezhiani, whose versatile creative work is almost unknown in Georgia. His poetry is truly an integral part of Georgian poetic vocabulary and a characteristic émigré voice of Georgian poetry. The main theme of S. Berezhiani’s work is the pain of his homeland. The poet, distant from his homeland, is a devoted watchman and watcher of the pain of his homeland in thought, deed, and everyday life. He grieves over the pain and suffering of Georgia. This is also the subject of his thoughts and restlessness. Accordingly, the present and future of his creations are about his homeland. „The self-forgotten beloved to homeland” unhesitatingly sacrifices the precious reward given to humans by God – life – for the country. A country that has lost its freedom, biting cold of February is a bitter reality for the poet. His writings leave us with no other words. His work is a reflection of the nation’s misfortune, which is further exacerbated by the poet’s daily pain, feelings caused by the departing his motherland, immense love for his homeland, boundless longing, and thirst to see his native yard and dwelling. This emotion is contagious to the reader as well. You read his artistic thought and you feel the pain of the nation, you feel the pain of the poet, his anguish brings tears to your eyes. You hear the beating of the poet’s heart as he ponders the fate of his homeland, and all this fills you with great emotion. Yes, pain resonates through his work, and the artistic clothing of what he says is still pain for the poet. This is precisely what is presented in Simon Berezhiani’s poem „A Date on Mtatsminda.” The aim of this work is to show the idea and purpose of this poem and to evaluate it from our point of view. At the same time, it is emphasized that S. Berezhiani’s work is an integral part of twentieth-century Georgian writing and, with its creative handwriting, deserves a proper place in the history of Georgian literature.