O Vrba

O Vrba is a sonnet written in 1832 by the Slovene Romantic poet France Prešeren, who is considered the national poet of Slovenia. It is the introductory exposition of a cycle of six sonnets named the Sonnets of Unhappiness (Slovene: Sonetje nesreče). The sonnet is dedicated to the Prešeren's home village Vrba, expressing a sense of general melancholy over the lost idyll of the rural environment. According to contemporary Slovene literary critics, especially Marija Pirjevec, Boris Paternu and Janko Kos, the meaning of the sonnet is centered on the problem of insecurity and unhappiness of a free subject detached from the theocentric world view. The sonnet form follows the rules abstracted by August Wilhelm Schlegel from the sonnets of Petrarch.

O Vrba became extremely popular during the late 19th century.^{[citation needed]} In the 20th century, several musical interpretations of the poem were created, the most known of them probably being a version by the Slovene folk rock musician Vlado Kreslin.

References

• Maria Pirjevec (1997). "Prešernov sonet po italijansko" (in Slovene). Slavica tergestina 5. http://www.openstarts.units.it/dspace/bitstream/10077/2269/1/14.pdf. Retrieved 2008-04-21. 

External links

• France Prešeren: Poems: O, Vrba, happy village. Preseren.net. English translation by Alasdair Mackinnon. Accessed on April 21, 2008.