Zvonko

Dino

About a poet who found his inspiration in loneliness.

Zvonko Milković was very versatile. He was also a poet, a lawyer and a journalist. He published his first poems in 1908.

In 1914, he was one of the most significant and promising young Croatian poets of that time. With twelve magnificent ones, six of his poems were published in "Hrvatska young lyric".

After that time, Milković's creative crisis began. However, the ominous Second World War brought a new kind of inspiration.

Then he continued to write, in 1944 he published the collection "Pious Lessons". He wrote Kajkavian songs, and he also traveled a lot. He wrote the travelogue "Krenimo u rano jutro" (1968); he published "Legends of hidden happiness" (1976) and "Iz starog Varaždin" (1979).

His most important work was published posthumously. "Poems of a loner" were published in 2004 in more than 10,000 copies, and their popularity testifies to the timelessness of this great writer from Varaždin.

Songs of loners

How did the famous Domjanić encourage Zvonko to write poetry in Kajkavian?

It is important to point out that Milković is not a typical urban poet. Although he lived in various cities and traveled often. This is how his sonnet "travel writings" were created.

He was happy to write in Kajkavian. In 1912, he hinted that the Kajkavian dialect would permeate his work. In that year, 1912, he published a poem with the last line: "Give God part of the holy mix".

After reading that poem, the famous poet Dragutin Domjanić approaches Zvonko and encourages and encourages him to write in Kajkavian, telling him that he is very talented. And indeed, since then Zvonko wrote more and more in Kajkavian, all thanks to the encouragement of the great Domjanić.

"God give a part of the holy mixture"

The most beautiful religious poem by a young poet.

Milković was a member of the second generation of Croatian modernism. In 1913, he published the first collection of poems, "Songs". In that collection, there are numerous songs with religious motifs or themes. Some of the religious songs are: "Sunday", "Angelus", "Tielovo", "Poljudski monastery", "Early Mass" and many others. One of Zvonko's most beautiful religious songs is "Morning":

"This morning, while the children were still going to school,
The Holy Communion passed through the village.
The young pastor bent down like a saint,
A streak of sunlight fell on his forehead.
The bells rang out from the tower calmly...
Swallows fly above the rectory,
The old man touched his forehead with a cross by the well,
A dietie knelt in the middle of the road.
Closed eyes see Christ how
From the ciborium, he is now quietly sharing
Blessing, while the pastor's hands slowly
They raise the bright chalice. The day is getting white..."

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Songs of loners

"God give a part of the holy mixture"

Morning