Milan Rúfus was a Slovak poet, essayist, children's writer and academic.
He was born in Závažná Poruba, in the Zilina region. As a student at the Faculty of Arts at Comenius University in Bratislava he studied Slovak language and literature, and history. From 1952-1989 he lectured at the university on the history of Slovak and Czech literature. From 1971-1972 he taught at a university in Naples. He retired in 1990 and lived with his family in Bratislava. At age 80 he died at University Hospital in that city.
Rúfus published his first poems in the 1940s and his first collection, Až dozrieme ("When We Grow Mature") in 1956. Another 20 poetry books followed. A children's book, Modlitbičky ("Little Prayers") has been called his most successful work. Toward the end of his life he also published Báseň a čas ("Poem and Time") and Vernosť ("Fidelity").
In a book of essays, Človek, čas a tvorba ("Human, Time and Creation"), he examined questions of poetry and its relation to truth, homeland and time.
citala som Kolisku, dnf, nehnevajte sa, ved to sa neda, taketo “…sedliacke pismo traslave…”
Zatial co som Zvony 100% nepochopila, dokazem ocenit napaditost a nejednoznacnu symboliku… Koliska je cela na jedno kopyto (kopyta ma Rufus velmi rad, su pevno-pevne zakotvene v jeho motivickom repertoari, pane bozeee, dost!) Rufus je, ako sa pise v basnicke Vnat, “Strateny v pritmi zemiakovej vnate”. Viac mi netreba
Rúfusové verše pôsobia na myseľ upokojivo a očistne. Ako vôňa lesnej zelene alebo nebo po daždi alebo zaslúžený odpočinok po dni plnom fyzickej námahy. čistá krása!