Table of Contents
In the “Do vidjenja Danitsé”, Berengarten wrote about a lifetime of a woman that was somehow related to him. He began with a description of the beautiful Balkans’ nature and continued with the young lady’s life that was a connotation of the picturesque sites at first. Gradually, he represented her dramatic life story till the moment of her traceless disappearance. By saying to her “goodbye”, he expressed his expectations for her future luck.
The poem began with the rejoicing nature, happy life of people inhabiting different towns and villages, and the young student-girl full of ingenuous hopes, trust in people and in her own good fate. The beauty of the Balkans was depicted as “abundant lilacs on hillsides”, “sweet voiced nightingales”, “all conceivable hues of fire on your hills” etc (Berengarten, 2008, 3). The entire splendor had an intoxicating effect of the domestic wine called “rakija”. The divine nature was protected from vile eyes, therefore all “distant Caesars, Pashas, Sultans, Czars, Fuhrers, none of whom gives a damn for you now, nor ever did” (Berengarten, 2008, 3).
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The peaceful pictures of the Balkans presumably imply a careless life of the local dwellers. The local people were rejoicing, dancing, gathering in parks like “all Kasparovs, all Karpovs, as if again they were braggart-boys in playgrounds” (Berengarten, 2008, 4). And the young student-girl who is full of hopes and jolly expectations “exudes gigantesque exuberance and vitality … pony-tailed, curly, beribboned, playing with imported Barbies” (Berengarten, 2008, 4). However, she was strong enough to defend herself while driving a little car and quarrelling with truck-drivers.
When she came back home to countryside, her life changed dramatically: she got married, bore a few children, was accused in crime and imprisoned nine years after her return. After her release she could never fully reinstate her losses: she was divorced and never had a family again; her sons became criminals and her grandchildren banished her from the house; she married a wrong man and divorced again etc. Despite all the misfortunes, she looked pretty for a long time and even courted students three times younger than herself (Berengarten, 2008, 12). The poem ended with the words revealing the author’s feelings of sorrow and regret:
seeing that I at least can’t trace
you at home or anywhere and currently no longer
have an inkling how to find you in the morning ? (Berengarten, 2008, 15).
Conclusion
In the “Do vidjenja Danitsé”, Berengarten described the beauty of the Balkans’ nature and Danitsé life there. Though her life started easily, it soon changed dramatically. She was imprisoned for someone else’s crime, lost her family and respect. She soon reinstated, but her life never became happy again. In the end of the poem, the author revealed his feelings toward her, his expectations that she would found her happiness. He told her a word of goodbye with the hope for luck in his heart.