Jüri Talvet was born in 1945 in Pärnu (Estonia). A graduate of the University of Tartu (1972) and a PhD by Leningrad (St. Petersburg) University (1981), he chaired from 1992 to 2020 World / Comparative Literature program at Tartu University, where he also founded Spanish Studies. Today he is Professor Emeritus. In 2016 he became elected member of Academia Europaea. He has published in Estonian more than twenty books of poetry and essay. His books have appeared beyond Estonian in English, Spanish, French, Italian, Russian, Romanian, Serbian, Japanese, Catalan, Greek and Macedonian translation. In Estonian, he has published a monograph on Juhan Liiv’s philosophic-lyrical poetry Juhan Liivi luule (Tallinn, 2012), while his Critical Essays on World Literature, Comparative Literature and the “Other” (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2019) importantly concerns aspects of ethical literary criticism. Since 1996 he has acted as the main editor of Interlitteraria, international journal for comparative literature. He has been awarded Estonian Annual Prize of Literature for essay (1986), Juhan Liiv Prize of Poetry (1997), Ivar Ivask Memorial Prize (essay, poetry, 2002) Naji Naaman International Literature Honor Prize (for complete works, 2020), Estonian National Science Prize for Lifework (2021), Jaan Kross Literary Prize (for world poetry translations, 2022), “Golden Ivy” International Poetry Prize (Fushun, China, 2022), International Aco Karamanov Poetry Prize (North-Macedonia, 2023), Overall Poetry and Essay Prize of Orpheus Festival, Plovdiv, Bulgaria (2025), etc. For further data, including his full lists of publications, see http://talvet.edicypages.com/en ; https://sisu.ut.ee/ewod/t/talvet
(In bold: translations from the Estonian by J. Talvet and H. L. Hix, published in Yet, love, Illumine Us and Other Poems, Somerville, MA: Červená Barva Press, 2018).
ULATAN SULLE VÕILEIVA, EMA, NAGU
sina mulle, kui olid pistnud mu
läbikülmunud jalad veega kaussi –
kuidas nad valutasid! – ja andnud
mulle suure kruusitäie piima
ja musta leiba ehtsa maavõiga.
Mõned hallid juuksed lendasid
leivale, siis lendas leiva poole
terveid halle salke Ajasin neid
tagasi üle unenäoserva, kukkusin
ühte teise unne, ühte teise lumme.
I GIVE YOU A SANDWICH, MOTHER, AS
you gave one to me after you had placed
my frostbitten feet into a basin with water –
how they ached! – and gave me
a big mug of milk and a slice
of black rye bread with real country butter.
Some grey hair flew to the bread,
then a whole tuft of hair flew
toward the bread Driving them back
across the brink of the dream, I fell
into another dream, into another snow.
OI SUURI KOLLASEID LIBLIKAID
Pärnu isakodu aias, kus suvi
kestab aastas kaksteist kuud!
Üks laskus mu peole, nõnda julge.
Uudistasime koos, mina, mu
ema ja mu väike tütar – kõik
kolm kergejalgsed, ühevanused,
tunnistasime ühest südamest:
Näe liblikal on lõvi nägu!
OH THOSE YELLOW BUTTERFLIES IN THE GARDEN
in Pärnu at the home of childhood, where summer
lasts twelve months a year!
One lighted on my palm, how bold.
We looked at it with curiosity, I, my
mother, and my little daughter – all of us
light-footed, all of the same age,
seeing with a single heart:
Look, the butterfly has a lion’s face!
KEVADEL SAAD ENDALE INGLITIIVAD.
Tahad sedamaid päiksega koos
rännata ümber maa.
Palju-palju tiire.
Kiiresti-kiiresti.
Valgustada koos temaga maad.
Ise aga ütlesid eile: Ma ei taha
eluilmaski suureks kasvada!
IN SPRING YOU RECEIVE ANGEL’S WINGS.
Immediately you want to fly
with the sun around the earth.
Many-many times.
Quickly-quickly.
With it to illuminate the earth.
Though only yesterday you said:
I never want to grow up!
IKKA UNUSTAD MIDAGI
viimasel hetkel maha.
Ikka on hilja!
Justkui ruttaksid
igavese elu lennukisse.
Justkui oleksid
unustanud maha
suudluse, mis ei lõpe –
suult suule!
ALWAYS YOU LEAVE
something behind.
It’s always late!
As if you hurried
to a flight bound for eternal life.
As if you had
left behind
a kiss that never ends –
lips to lips!
