But these are the best known of the poet's works. Liiv was a man who loved his country and nature, but struggled for most of his life with psychological issues. He did not lead a long and happy life, dying in poverty at the young age of 47. The line between genius and insanity is often difficult to draw; Liiv seems to be one case, where it is difficult to delineate or categorize with conviction. Yet, without a doubt, no reader of his poetry will remain unmoved and his work has withstood the vagaries of the passage of time.
The slender one heard of a project called Juhan last year, a recording of a number of Liiv's poems set to music. Thanks to a good-hearted friend the slimster finally has a copy of the CD recorded by luminaries Riho Sibul, Jaak Sooäär, Henno Kelp and Andrus Lillepea. It was worth the wait to hear this recording, knowing little about which poems were chosen.
Jaak Sooäär was the composer, finding melodies for 11 of Liiv's poems. It must be emphasized, that almost without exception these are not well known poems of Liiv's, the majority not even found in my collections of his poetry. This adds an extra...
Become a subscriber to continue reading!
Every week we bring you news from the community and exclusive columns. We're relying on your support to keep going and invite you to subscribe.
Starting from $2.30 per week.
