Because the Sea Is Black: Poems

by Blaga Dimitrova, Блага Димитрова

Dimitrova, Blaga

Genres: Poetry

78 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1989

About the author

BG: Блага Димитрова

Blaga Nikolova Dimitrova (2 January 1922 – 2 May 2003) was a Bulgarian poetess and Vice President of Bulgaria from 1992 until 1993.

Born to a mother teacher and a father lawyer, Blaga Dimitrova was raised in Veliko Tarnovo and then moved to Sofia. She finished High School in 1942, and Slavic Philology at the University of Sofia in 1945.

In the 1970s, her works became more critical of the communist government, and she received reprimands for not being politically correct. Four of the poetry books Dimitrova wrote in the 1970s- "Fireflies Fading", "Rubber Plant", "Questions", and "Hobbyada"- were all rejected by state publishing houses with no specific reason given.

Blaga Dimitrova was the inspiration behind John Updike's short story "The Bulgarian Poetess".

During the Vietnam War, Dimitrova visited the country several times as a journalist, and in 1967 adopted a Vietnamese girl. Dimitrova was married to literary critic Jordan Vasilev.

She died on May 2, 2003.

Reviews

[Nasrin M · Rating 4 out of 5]

بگذار کلام زنده بماند تا وطنِ من جاودانه بپاید!
صوفیه، اول ژانویه ۱۹۹۲

Let the Word survive so Bulgaria will last forever! Sofia, 1 January, 1992

•••••••••••••••

فریده حسن‌زاده، گردآوردنده و مترجم ، در مقدمه‌ای بر گزیده اشعار بلاگا دیمیتروا، یکی از شاعران برجسته‌ی بلغار می‌نویسد :
[ کلمات، به خصوص از این جهت برای بلاگا عزیزند که در دنیای ممنوعیت‌ها، تنها به واسطه‌ی آن‌هاست که او می تواند خودش باشد. در شعر دریای ممنوعه می‌گوید: "اگر از کلمات منعم کنند، چگونه عطشم را فرو بنشانم؟‌"
...
البته كلمات فى نفسه هیچ‌اند. آنچه به آنها ارزش می‌بخشد روحی‌ست که در آنها دمیده می‌شود و آنها را زنده می‌کند، برای بلاگا این چیزی‌ست که اهمیت و اعتبار فراوان دارد.

در عصر ایمان آوردن به نظامِ اشتراکی، او از نخستین روشنفکران بلغاری بود که متوجه‌ی پوشالی بودن شعارِ "همه برابرند" شد و آن را توطئه‌ی آشکار علیه آزادی‌های فردی دانست.
....
آزادی همواره از دغدغه‌های جدی این شاعر اصیل بوده است. در جوانی اشتیاق سوزان او برای آزادی معطوف به کسب امتیازهایی برای زنان و شعله‌ور کردن آتش مبارزات فمینستی بود اما به تدریج وجودِ آزادی را رها از جنسیت و طبقات اجتماعی، رکن اصلی جامعه دانست و تأکید کرد که فقدان آزادی، مادر همه‌ی مصایب است.]

"خفته بر ساحل
با نیزه‌های خورشید در تنم
پرومته‌ای را می‌مانم
که از خدایان شجاعانه ربود
آتش را که نه،
کلمه را."

بلاگا دیمیتروا از نیمه‌ی دوم قرن بیستم وجدان شعر بلغار بوده است ؛
او که در وطن خود شاعر غزل‌سرای ملی لقب گرفته است، یکی از پیشگامان شعر آزاد امروز جهان است.
........

"تو محکومی
به آغازی تازه
تا دمِ مرگ.

عشق برای تو
کشفِ نامنتظره‌ی حیاتی دیگر است."


و هم اوست که در یکی از زیباترین و عمیق‌ترین اشعارش با عنوان 'وصیت‌نامه' می‌نویسد:

"مرا در کلماتی بجوی
که نیافتم."

LAST WILL
Search for me in the words I didn't find.

[Steven Godin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Old woman, hunched
under bundles of pain, just wait
for me to come back home
and add one more.

Wait out those lonely
livelong nights till I
can be delivered from
pitch-darkest fear

and enter, like a thief,
alone, into your house
of desolation, silence
the knife in my teeth.

If you wait up
for me, Mother, I just
might turn out
innocent.

[Jenna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a morally profound collection of poetry, rich in ideas as well as imagery. I'll admit that I haven't read very many Eastern European poets in my life: just Czech poets Vladimir Holan and Miroslav Holub, Polish poet Wislawa Szymborska, Serbian poet Vasko Popa, and a smattering of Russians. Based on this limited sample, I get the sense that Eastern European poets are somewhat less afraid than American/Western poets to build their poems around a playful investigation of metaphysical ideas, such that their poems often evoke the sleek supple elegance of a first-rate mathematical proof. Dimitrova's poetic lines are elegantly spare; the movement of ideas within her poems is streamlined and often best described as acrobatic. There is a stripped-down quality to these poems: the people, places, and things that Dimitrova discusses are stripped down to their most essential attributes, making the universality and timelessness of the poet's thoughts and feelings all the more apparent. These poems smack of the aphoristic, the mythic, the anonymous and enduring. Co-translators Niko Boris and Heather McHugh (the latter, an American poet who is herself known for experiments in wordplay) are to be commended for their excellent midwifery.

Dimitrova was a leading 20th-century Bulgarian poet whose poetry dealt with a wide range of concerns, including personal concerns, political concerns, and nonpartisan humanitarian concerns. Topics covered in this book include: Dimitrova's personal struggle to accept her cancer diagnosis and her mortality in general, her experiences caring for her dementia-afflicted mother, the plight of womankind worldwide (especially the silent multitude of women who, like Dimitrova's mother, are pressured by their societies into leading lives of uncomplaining domestic drudgery and dependence), the bloody unscrolling of Bulgarian history, the interplay between religious faith and doubt in modern minds, the exigent need for compassion and moral courage in confronting modern ethical dilemmas, and the essential loneliness and spiritual blindness of humankind. (Blindness is a frequently recurring motif in these poems.)

You can learn a lot about poetry-writing by reading this book. Perhaps the most surprising lesson I learned is that a poet doesn't have to answer every question she raises; sometimes it's OK to leave a little mystery intact. Dimitrova's poem "Soul Tied to a Stall" is all the more powerful because Dimitrova doesn't feel compelled to explicate to the reader what the "one question" mentioned in stanza #3 is. (Perhaps she doesn't know what it is herself.) The poem's central nebulousness mirrors the nebulousness of real life, and also the nebulousness of dreams.

Soul Tied to a Stall

Night erases edges,
absolving all things
from themselves.

Forms break loose
from their predestinations--
perfect freedom, of a quiet kind.

I melt, I almost disappear--but then
one question yanks the rein
that ties me to the stall.

And in the morning
tree and rock recover
their own images at once, while I

am left to grope
for my identity. What happened
to the rope?

[Maryann · Rating 4 out of 5]

I hadn't read this book of poems since a college interterm class on Women Poets in Translation. One of my reading goals for the year required me to read a book of poems in translation on a theme other than love. This book looks at blindness, illness, and a host of other topics.

[EIJANDOLUM]

“The sea-salt of tears is to remind us where we came from.”

[Slow Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

astonishing on every page

[Asa · Rating 5 out of 5]

An evocative and stirring exploration of life under authoritarianism, capturing the deep emotional and psychological toll of living in a state of oppression. As a poet from Bulgaria, Dimitrova’s work is heavily influenced by the totalitarian environment of her homeland during the era of Soviet-influenced communist rule, and her poems provide a sharp, poetic counterpoint to the suffocating control of such a regime. With intellectual clarity and poetic precision, Dimitrova weaves themes of resistance, power, and personal freedom into a tapestry of vivid imagery and haunting reflections.

Dimitrova’s anti-authoritarian stance is perhaps the most compelling feature of her poetry. Throughout the collection, she subtly critiques the political structures that seek to control and manipulate the individual, exposing the absurdities and horrors of living under a repressive regime. What makes her anti-authoritarianism particularly powerful is her focus on the internalized effects of authoritarianism—how it distorts the psyche, corrupts personal relationships, and warps the ability of individuals to express their true selves.

In Because the Sea Is Black, Dimitrova does not merely depict the physical hardships of living under a regime but rather delves into the psychological and emotional damage caused by constant surveillance, censorship, and repression. Her portrayal of life in a totalitarian state goes beyond mere political critique; it is an intimate portrayal of the soul's destruction in the face of relentless conformity. The sea, which serves as a symbol of freedom and vast possibility, contrasts with the blackness that it bears, signifying the stifling darkness imposed by authoritarian power. Through this imagery, Dimitrova beautifully captures the emotional entrapment felt by individuals who are subjected to systemic control and ideological oppression.

Dimitrova’s poetry exhibits remarkable literary quality. Her mastery of language allows her to translate the weight of oppressive systems into stark, evocative images that stay with the reader long after the poem ends. There is an ethereal quality to her work—her language dances between the stark realism of life under an authoritarian regime and the dreamlike, surreal landscapes of inner thought and resistance.

Her poems are deeply personal yet simultaneously universal, speaking to the experiences of those who have been silenced or marginalized by political structures. Dimitrova’s use of symbolism, metaphor, and imagery enhances the emotional depth of her work, while her sparse, controlled style mirrors the austerity of life in a state where every word and action is scrutinized. The simplicity of her language is deceptive, as beneath the surface of her deceptively straightforward poems lies a rich, complex exploration of the human condition.

At times, Dimitrova’s style can feel elusive, as if she purposefully leaves gaps and silences for the reader to fill. This sense of mystery contributes to the work’s emotional power, encouraging readers to engage with the poems on a more introspective level. However, for some, the ambiguity may detract from immediate comprehension, leaving a sense of distance that could reduce the accessibility of the work for certain readers.

Dimitrova’s poems encourage critical thinking by forcing the reader to engage with the complexities of oppression and the struggle for autonomy in a world that attempts to stifle both. Her work is not didactic, but rather it opens spaces for reflection, urging readers to consider how authoritarianism affects both the collective and the individual. Through her use of powerful imagery and emotional resonance, she critiques not only political systems but also the broader human condition within those systems.

The poems raise fundamental questions about the relationship between the individual and society, the nature of freedom, and the cost of survival under oppressive regimes. Dimitrova does not present simple answers but instead invites the reader to wrestle with the ambiguities of existence under authority. In doing so, her work fosters a deeper understanding of the ways in which power operates in the human psyche and society.

Blaga Dimitrova’s Because the Sea Is Black: Poems is a profoundly anti-authoritarian work, capturing the emotional, psychological, and social devastation wrought by authoritarian regimes. Her poetic craftsmanship, intellectual rigor, and profound insight into the human experience under oppression make this collection an essential read for anyone interested in understanding the lasting impact of totalitarianism on the individual and society. While its non-linear structure and symbolic complexity may be challenging for some, the collection’s emotional depth and intellectual power make it a striking achievement in contemporary poetry.