Comparative Analysis of Mihai Eminescu’s Poems – Lacul (The Lake) and Floare albastră (Blue Flower)
Mihai Eminescu (1850-1889) Romanian national poet is most noted as a leading exponent of the ability to synthesize Romantic sensibilities and deep philosophical thought. His poems Lacul (The Lake) and Floare albastră (Blue Flower) are probably the most popular and considered examples of his poetry underlining the idea of love, nature, and tensions between idealism and reality. Both poems were composed at the peak of his creative power, and still they are the landmarks of the Romanian literature. Being a poet and analyst, in this study analysis, the thematic strength, symbolism and stylistic strength of these poems will be analyzed with references to their role within the wider emerging European Romanticism.
The Lake (Lacul)
In Lacul, the picture of nature proves to be the perfect place in which an illusionary and heart touching view of love is captured. The lake can be regarded as the symbolic encountering point of the feelings of the poet and the absence of the beloved one. Eminescu creates a romantic scene filled with images of water, reed noises and light and dark shadows serve to show a counterpoise of unmet desire.
The form of the poem supports its subject matter: formless, lyrical verses show direction of water, and the recurrence of some lines can suggest circle of desire. The lake is literal and at the same time metaphorical space–a border of reality and the dream world of the poet. This beloved does not appear and the foreseen love scene becomes a contemplation on being alone and dreaming.
Floare albastră (Blue Flower)
One of the most enigmatic and philosophically successful poems of Eminescu is Floare albastr, which appeared in the year 1884. The image of the blue flower can be traced to a very established European Romanticism, as Novalis (German Poet) had done when the theme is followed in the works of Novalis. The blue flower image symbolizes the answer to the infinite, and the unachievable ideal. The reference to the blue flower in the adaptation in Eminescu transforms into the emblem of love together with being the memory of its impermanence.
The poem takes the form of a conversation between the two opposites: the private nature of a love scene, and the gravitation to a thinker. The lover of the speaker beckons him back to the world of earthly love but he is inclined into abstraction which philosophizes and draws a contrast between the world of flesh and the world of philosophical desire. The kind sensual imagery and the abrupt intellectual asides that filled the pages Eminescu wrote, encapsulated Romantic duality.
Comparative Analysis
Both poems “Lacul and Floare albastră”, are involved in Romantic concepts of love, nature and conflict between reality and imagination. The lack of the beloved in ‘Lacul’, transforms nature by turning it into a mirror of the inner world of the poet. Love plays itself out in terms of its opposition by the intrusion of philosophical detachment in the case of ‘Floare albastră’. The two poems combined demonstrate the skills of Eminescu to reconcile the physical world with the metaphysical exploration.
In both poems, nature is a leading character, not a mere scenic background to the poems. The use of water in the imagery of Lacul, is a depiction of fluidity, the depths of waters and the longing, whereas the floral symbol in Floare albastră in its interplay entitled the earthly and transcendental aspirations.
Conclusion
So in the end I would like to summarize that, the poems Lacul and Floare albastră emphasize Mihai Eminescu skills of Romantic aesthetic and philosophical detail. Combining stimulating imagery, symbolism and a reflective kind of internal dialogue, he achieves works that appeal more to human nature rather than when and where they were created. These poems remain a source of inspiration to readers, even just by carefully electing a balance between both poignant and contemplative to form the foundations of the legacy that Eminescu might expect as one of the most important Romantic poets in Europe.
