Orest, Mylkhailo (pseudonym of Mykhailo Kostiovych Zerov)

Dusha i Dolia [Soul and Destiny: Ukrainian Poems]

Augsburg: Brama Sofii, 1946. Publisher’s wrappers. Item #833

Book measures: 13 x 9.5 cm. 111 pages. Text in Ukrainian. A copy with a soiled and chipped front wrapper, bearing the former library stamp of the “Ukrainian Secondary School at Traunstein” on both the front wrapper and title page.

The author's second poetry collection, published in displaced persons camps, delves into themes of solitude, emptiness, pain, and the tragic injustices of life. Scholars of Mykhailo Orest's work note the presence of "non-absolute" symbolism, where beneath the surface imagery lies a multifaceted spiritual dimension. While interpretations of the subtext vary, there is a discernible range of esoteric meanings influenced by Buddhist and Hindu philosophy, Christian mysticism, and the author's personal struggles.

Mykhailo Orest (pseudonym of Mykhailo Kostiovych Zerov, 1901-1963) was a remarkable Ukrainian poet, translator, educator, and philosopher. He was the brother of the prominent literary critic, poet, and translator Mykola Zerov, as well as the renowned botanist and academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Dmytro Zerov. Under the Soviet regime, he faced imprisonment twice and endured repression, spending four years in prison camps. During World War II in 1941, he was captured and later found himself in Vinnytsia, then Lviv, where he remained until 1944. Subsequently, he resided in a displaced persons (DP) camp in Augsburg. From 1944 until his passing, he lived and worked in Germany, where he established the Institute of Literature in Munich. In exile, Mykhailo Orest finally published five poetry collections, including "Luny Lit" (1944), "Dusha i Dolia" (1946), "Derzhava Slova," "Gіst’ i Hospoda" (1952), and "Pizni Vruna" (1965, posthumously prepared by Ihor Kachurovsky).

Price: $150.00