Golden Boat

Srečko Kosovel (1904-1926) was born in Sezana, spent his childhood in the neighbouring village of Tomaj, and was educated in Ljubljana. Often called the Slovenian Rimbaud, he is thought to have written over one thousand poems before his early death, although during his lifetime he published less than forty. Renowned initially for his impressionist lyrics of the Karst region above Trieste, the remarkable modernist component of his work began to be realised only forty years after his death.Bert Pribac is a Slovenian poet and essayist. He studied comparative literature at the University of Ljubljana but in 1959 he left Slovenia and after a short period as a refugee in Germany, settled in 1960 in Australia where he eventually became librarian for the Commonwealth Department of Health. He returned to Slovenia in 2003. He is the author of six collections of poetry, and has edited and translated into Slovenian two anthologies of Australian contemporary verse. His most recent publication is a Slovenian translation from the French of the Rubayat of the Persian poet Omar Khayam.David Brooks is an acclaimed Australian poet, short-fiction-writer, novelist and essayist whose work has been translated into several languages. He is married to the Slovenian photographer and translator Teja Pribac and, when not in Slovenia, lives in New South Wales where he teaches Australian Literature at the University of Sydney and co-edits the journal Southerly.

• Srecko Kosovel: Life and PoetryPart I The Golden BoatBalladOctoberA PremonitionKarst VillageAutumnDinnerLast NightKarst AutumnA TripAugustPinesEvening by the Red Sand DuneAt a Provincial StationAll These WordsNightI Saw the Pines GrowCyclamensOn the Park BenchI RememberMy Mother WaitsIn the Coffee BarNew Year SonnetVillage Behind the PinesThe Sun, NadaJust One DreadDeath SonnetNocturneMy PoemThe Ninth CountryThis Horrible TimeOn a Grey MorningMelancholy of HungerThe Golden BoatEcstasy of DeathA Sketch at the ConcertAs If they were LandscapesAstral EroticsThe GatheringPeople with a WoundI AmThere is No DeathThe White HouseI Am Not AloneThe SailPart II IntegralsRhymesAutumn QuietKons: The CatEvacuation of SpiritKons: ABCProstituted CultureThe Mystic Light of Theory1My Black InkpotKons. 5IntegralsAbove the MadhouseObjects Without SoulThe Laugh of King DadaA Heart in AlcoholPoem No. XThe Spherical MirrorKonsKons: XYKludsky Circus, Seat 461Poem No. 1Conversation at TwilightKons: 4GreyLord RadicHey, HeyNear MidnightKons. Kons. Kons.DeliriumCopsAt the StationThe Longhaired RomanticA Sign Above the TownKONSLjubljana is SleepingHerringsBlack WallsOur EyesEurope is DyingA Reflection from the Attic ImpressionA Bottle in a CornerPoemKonsThe Devil, You'd SayThe Red RocketThe Singing Arc LampA Face at the WindowA StreetlampAutumnIn Green IndiaKaleidoscopeA Suicide in Front of a MirrorSketchBlue HorsesAutumn LandscapePart IIIWhen Spring ArrivesA Cold ThoughtBiancaGreen ParrotAutumn DayIn My RoomMoon over the CityA Ship DepartingNegative TotalItalian Culture3The Syphilitic CaptainA Soft EveningKons: XThe Arch of TriumphKons: MSociety is CollapsingThe BudgetRequiemNotes

Although most editions of Kosovel, even in Slovenian, privilege his later, more experimental poems, The Golden Boat gives nearly as much space to these earlier poems. I think this is an excellent editorial decision, because it compels the reader to assess the earlier work alongside the later work rather than view the earlier poems as quaint rural pieces by a budding poet, stepping stones toward real greatness. Many of these early poems are brilliant.