Juhan Liiv (1864-1913) has the same significance for Estonian culture that Federico Garcia Lorca and T S Eliot have for modern culture created, respectively, in Spanish and English. Liiv's existential-patriotic and intimate-holistic lyrics have had an impact across Estonian society. Rebellion against all models and fashions existing in poetry unites Liiv with Walt Whitman: noble and proud, always in search of original expression, ever aspiring to resemble God in the inimitability of creation.

Translated by: Juri Talvet, H L Hix