17LITERATURE
Uroš Mozetič as a Poet
 
Not only a literary scholar, university teacher and translator, Uroš Mozetič was also an author in 
his own right. He published five cycles of poems in the Slovenian Nova Revija magazine between 
1997 and 2006: Gallery of Discarded Things (Galerija zavrženih stvari), Lošinj, The Cloud of 
Knowing (Oblak védenja), De-dications (Po-svetila), and The Way of the Cross for the Blind (Križev 
pot za slepe). Individual poems from Gallery, Lošinj and Cloud were presented at the international 
poetry festival held at Medana, Slovenia, in 2003: these poems were published bilingually – in 
the original and in the author’s own English translation – in the collection Days of Poetry and 
Wine, Medana 2003. (The details are cited in the bibliography section.)
Even at a cursory glance, these poems are marked by their author’s erudition. In the manner of 
poetry by Thomas Stearns Eliot, whom Uroš admired, they are interspersed with allusions to 
and quotations from a wide range of poetry and prose, both from Slovenian and (fortunately for 
international readers) from English literature. Even the short selection printed in this volume 
of ELOPE contains, for example, a quotation from Philip Larkin’s “Whatever Happened?” 
in the poem “Lošinj. veli and Mali” and a reference to Samuel Taylor coleridge’s “Rime of 
the Ancient Mariner” in The Way of the Cross for the Blind I. Yet this erudition is steeped in a 
sensibility, in nuanced emotional and philosophical responses to the world, to the enduring 
questions posed by the human condition, and especially to the people surrounding the poet. 
According to his close friends, Uroš appreciated the Romantic poet John Keats (in addition 
to such near-contemporary poets as Wystan Hugh Auden, Seamus Heaney, e.e. cummings, or, 
recently, Louise Glück), and it is easy to understand how Keats’ sensibility would have appealed 
to his own. It is telling that the poem “Pax de deux” is dedicated to a famous Slovenian duo of 
ballet dancers and choreographers, Pino and Pia Mlakar, who represented in his eyes an ideal 
union. (Parenthetically, it should be noted that the title is not a typo but a play on words, Pas de 
deux being not only a ballet term but also the name given by the Mlakar couple to their house 
by the Krka River in Slovenia.) 
The combination of literary allusions, references to localities from Uroš’ favourite places of 
sojourn (the windy hillscapes of western Slovenia, sometimes also the croatian island of Lošinj) 
and references to his everyday life and acquaintances or friends may result in a somewhat hermetic 
mode. In my selection of texts for this publication, I have therefore observed two criteria: the 
availability of a text in the author’s own English translation, and its communicability. I have 
included a sample from each cycle: the first three, Gallery of Discarded Things, Lošinj, and The 
Cloud of Knowing, are represented by extracts in Uroš’ own translation, taken from Days of Poetry 
and Wine, while the last two, De-dications and The Way of the Cross for the Blind (a meditative 
account of the hike undertaken by the author and two friends) have been attempted by me. In 
the process, my insights into Uroš’ poetry were deepened and refined by the helpful comments 
and reminiscences of Dr Aleš Grošelj and Anton Janko, Professor Emeritus, his close friends and 
fellow pilgrims in The Way of the Cross.
Nada Grošelj
Slovenia
2016, vol. 13 (2), 17(246)
revije.ff.uni-lj.si/elope
doi: 10.4312/elope.13.2.17