WORLDVIEW OF ISTVÁN VAS’S POETRY

Abstract

His contemporaries took notice of the fact that István Vas’s fourth volume of poems “Kettős örvény” [A Double Whirl] published after a long silence (due to historical reasons) in 1947 was an achievement comparable only to the works of the greatest poets, and that it had introduced a qualitative change into the opus of the writer. He dared to be fractured, introduced a creative new touch to the metrical forms he had earlier often used rather scholastically, and first and foremost he had become aware of issues characteristic of the era in the events of his own life. The twilight of history, the memory of his dead wife and complications of new love affairs created a setting for poetic elaboration of faith and doubt, faithfulness and change, and several other eternal questions. The study provides an insight into the pathways of thoughts and poetic characteristics of this volume of poetry.