Kosovel, Srecko

Born Mar. 18, 1904, in Sežana; died May 27, 1926, in Tomaj. Slovene poet.

Kosovel was the son of a teacher. From 1922 he attended the University of Ljubljana, where he edited the magazine Mladina (1924), which had a progressive student readership. Kosovel’s creative period lasted only four years (1922-26), cut short by meningitis. In such poems as “The Red Atom,” “Revolution,” and “The Ecstasy of Death” (most published only after 1945) he exposed the evils of capitalism and appealed for a proletarian revolution. Bitterness pervaded his poems about his native land, seized by the Italians—for example, “Ballad of the People” (1925) and “The Nut” (1926). Kosovel’s work greatly expanded the horizons of Slovene literature. It is marked by rich and unusual rhymes, fresh metaphors, and melodic verse.