What do you think?
Rate this book
Selected Works: Poetry and Prose
A book containing selected poems and prose written by the Armenian poet and writer, Avetik Issahakian , describing the innocence of childhood and beauty of Armenia.
133 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 1976
10 people want to read
About the author
Avetik Isahakyan
25 books20 followersAvetik Sahak Isahakyan (alternate spelling: Avedik Issahakian) – famous Armenian poet, writer, academician, member of the Armenian Academy of Sciences and a prominent public figure. Born October 19 (31), 1875, in Kazarapat, near Alexandropol (present day Giumri), Armenia.
Isahakyan began his formal education at St. Etchmiadzin Gevorgyan seminary (1889-92). In 1893 he attended classes at Leipzig University as a non-matriculated student. He started his literary as well as political careers in his early youth. Upon his return from Leipzig in 1895 he entered the ranks of the newly established Alexandropol committee of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation; through his activities supported armed groups and financial aid sent to the Western Armenia from Alexandropol. He was arrested in 1896 and spent a year in Yerevan’s prison.
Upon his release from the prison, 1897, he published first compilation of his poems “Songs and Wounds”, however soon was arrested again for his activities “against Russia’s Tsar” and sent to Odessa. The lyricism, emotional charge and melody of his poems earned him immediate popularity. His best works are filled with sorrow and lament meditations about the fate of the humanity, injustice of life. His compositions are penetrated with love to one’s motherland and people. Later Isahakyan went abroad, where in Zurich University attended Literature and History of Philosophy classes. He returned to his homeland in 1902 and then moved to Tiflis.
Between 1899-1906 he wrote “The Songs of Haiduks”, a compilation of poems that became the first creation within the classical Armenian poetry dedicated to the Armenian freedom struggle. In 1908 Avetik Isahakyan, with 158 other Armenian intellectuals, was arrested and after spending half a year in Tiflis’s Metekha prison (just like H. Toumanyan) he was freed on bail. Staying in Caucasus was not possible any longer and by 1911 Isahakyan had emigrated.
Not for a moment did he ever believe in the deceiving promises made by the government of the Young Turks regarding self-government and autonomy of the Western Armenia. Isahakyan, assured that the danger of Panturkism, which was aimed at total extinction of Armenians, could be prevented by Turkey’s supporter, the Kaiser’s Germany, went to Berlin where with a number of German intellectuals participated in German-Armenian movement and edited the group’s journal “Mesrob.” The start of the First World War and the horrifying massacres had confirmed his gruesome predictions about the annihilating nature of the Young Turks government’s policies. After the war and the genocide, Isahakyan described through his compositions the sorrow destiny and Armenians’ heroic struggle for freedom. The poet put forward the accusations of the Armenian Genocide, of which the worst part had taken place between 1915-1922, in “The White Book.” At that period of time Isahakyan expressed his ideas mainly through his social and political articles in which he discussed the topics of the Armenian cause, reunification of Armenia and the restoration of the Armenian government. The images of the massacres are persistent in his poems like “Snow has Covered Everything…”, “To Armenia…”, and “Here Comes Spring Again.”
A symbolical story portraying the Armenian politics and Armenian cause of the 19th early 20th centuries must have been “Usta Karo,” an unfinished novel, the work on which had accompanied the writer through all his life. “Usta Karo will be done on the day when the Armenian cause is resolved, “- used to say the master himself. Ishakyan could not get used the idea of a dismembered Armenia. With a deep emotional pain and bitterness in his heart he continued to believe that a time would come when Armenian people would return their native shores.
Ishakyan returned to the Soviet Armenia in 1926 where he published a new collection of his poems and stories (e.g. “A Pipe of Patience
Isahakyan began his formal education at St. Etchmiadzin Gevorgyan seminary (1889-92). In 1893 he attended classes at Leipzig University as a non-matriculated student. He started his literary as well as political careers in his early youth. Upon his return from Leipzig in 1895 he entered the ranks of the newly established Alexandropol committee of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation; through his activities supported armed groups and financial aid sent to the Western Armenia from Alexandropol. He was arrested in 1896 and spent a year in Yerevan’s prison.
Upon his release from the prison, 1897, he published first compilation of his poems “Songs and Wounds”, however soon was arrested again for his activities “against Russia’s Tsar” and sent to Odessa. The lyricism, emotional charge and melody of his poems earned him immediate popularity. His best works are filled with sorrow and lament meditations about the fate of the humanity, injustice of life. His compositions are penetrated with love to one’s motherland and people. Later Isahakyan went abroad, where in Zurich University attended Literature and History of Philosophy classes. He returned to his homeland in 1902 and then moved to Tiflis.
Between 1899-1906 he wrote “The Songs of Haiduks”, a compilation of poems that became the first creation within the classical Armenian poetry dedicated to the Armenian freedom struggle. In 1908 Avetik Isahakyan, with 158 other Armenian intellectuals, was arrested and after spending half a year in Tiflis’s Metekha prison (just like H. Toumanyan) he was freed on bail. Staying in Caucasus was not possible any longer and by 1911 Isahakyan had emigrated.
Not for a moment did he ever believe in the deceiving promises made by the government of the Young Turks regarding self-government and autonomy of the Western Armenia. Isahakyan, assured that the danger of Panturkism, which was aimed at total extinction of Armenians, could be prevented by Turkey’s supporter, the Kaiser’s Germany, went to Berlin where with a number of German intellectuals participated in German-Armenian movement and edited the group’s journal “Mesrob.” The start of the First World War and the horrifying massacres had confirmed his gruesome predictions about the annihilating nature of the Young Turks government’s policies. After the war and the genocide, Isahakyan described through his compositions the sorrow destiny and Armenians’ heroic struggle for freedom. The poet put forward the accusations of the Armenian Genocide, of which the worst part had taken place between 1915-1922, in “The White Book.” At that period of time Isahakyan expressed his ideas mainly through his social and political articles in which he discussed the topics of the Armenian cause, reunification of Armenia and the restoration of the Armenian government. The images of the massacres are persistent in his poems like “Snow has Covered Everything…”, “To Armenia…”, and “Here Comes Spring Again.”
A symbolical story portraying the Armenian politics and Armenian cause of the 19th early 20th centuries must have been “Usta Karo,” an unfinished novel, the work on which had accompanied the writer through all his life. “Usta Karo will be done on the day when the Armenian cause is resolved, “- used to say the master himself. Ishakyan could not get used the idea of a dismembered Armenia. With a deep emotional pain and bitterness in his heart he continued to believe that a time would come when Armenian people would return their native shores.
Ishakyan returned to the Soviet Armenia in 1926 where he published a new collection of his poems and stories (e.g. “A Pipe of Patience
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
February 26, 2012
A little bit of History :I would have never discovered this book had we not probed into the dark, murky corners of our college library. Perhaps the saddest thing about this book is, not only has the world forgotten aboutAvetik Issahakian and books published by Progress Publishers, Moscow , our college library too had forgotten about this book and so it lay there since 1977, unloved, unread and never issued. So, when I picked up this book, it wasn't like I chose it but it chose me the same way that a wand chooses a wizard. And am I glad that it did!
Avetik Issahakian, the forgotten Armenian poet is someone who should rank among Romantics like Percy Bysshe Shelley,John Keats and certainly above William Wordsworth. His poetry is incomparable, his prose is magical and his short stories are nothing short of fairy-tales and fables but for adults. You can read Avetik Issahakian when you're sad and he'll lift your spirits in a matter of a few seconds, you can read him when you're angry and his words will calm you down. A perfect author for every occasion and a perfect read for all times, Selected Works: Poetry and Prose is something you can read over and over again!
Avetik Issahakian, the forgotten Armenian poet is someone who should rank among Romantics like Percy Bysshe Shelley,John Keats and certainly above William Wordsworth. His poetry is incomparable, his prose is magical and his short stories are nothing short of fairy-tales and fables but for adults. You can read Avetik Issahakian when you're sad and he'll lift your spirits in a matter of a few seconds, you can read him when you're angry and his words will calm you down. A perfect author for every occasion and a perfect read for all times, Selected Works: Poetry and Prose is something you can read over and over again!
Displaying 1 of 1 review