{"id":1469,"date":"2021-06-08T11:52:17","date_gmt":"2021-06-08T11:52:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mappola.eu\/?p=1469"},"modified":"2021-06-08T11:52:18","modified_gmt":"2021-06-08T11:52:18","slug":"epigrams-of-the-month-the-poetics-of-the-merry-cemetery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mappola.eu\/index.php\/2021\/06\/08\/epigrams-of-the-month-the-poetics-of-the-merry-cemetery\/","title":{"rendered":"Epigram(s) of the month: The poetics of the Merry Cemetery"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

There are many incredible, beautiful, and curious places in the world to explore for anyone who, like us at the MAPPOLA project, wish to study the poetics of death and commemoration in their concrete, spatial manifestations. Perhaps you remember our post regarding Vienna’s Cemetery for the Nameless<\/a>, a few months back?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, this month’s post will take you to a truly extraordinary place: the Merry Cemetery!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Merry Cemetery<\/a> is a cemetery situated in S\u0103p\u00e2n\u021ba, a small village in the northern part of Romania’s Maramure\u0219 region, closer to Romania’s border with Ukraine. The cemetery, “Cimitirul Vesel” in Romanian, represents the lifetime work of folk sculpture, painter, and poet Stan Ioan P\u0103tra\u0219<\/a> (1908-1977), and his work is continued to the present day by one of his apprentices, Dumitru Pop (also known as Tincu). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1935, Stan Ioan P\u0103tra\u0219 starts carving the first poems on the crosses and gradually, he improved his technique by making the crosses narrower, adding, in addition to carved scenes from the deceased\u2019s life, colorful geometric and floral motifs which resemble those on traditional costumes and woven rugs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Blue was the main color, and which represents the sky, freedom and hope. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Green represents life, yellow \u2013 fecundity and fertility, red \u2013 passion, and black \u2013 death. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other symbols that appear on the crosses include doves, representing the soul, and a black bird, symbol of suspicious or tragic death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Merry Cemetery, S\u0103p\u00e2n\u021ba. Photo: D.M. (May 2021).<\/sup><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A Merry Cemetery? What is a Merry<\/em> Cemetery?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Death is a serious matter, and by no means do we wish to suggest that death does not cause great pain and suffering. On the contrary. Death causes immense grief and sadness. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, there can also be beauty in it: a truly poetic beauty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Funerary monuments could \u2013 and arguably should \u2013 provide some form of comfort for those left behind. And S\u0103p\u00e2n\u021ba’s Merry Cemetery is by no means a merry cemetery in the sense that has an especially cheerful characteristic feature, making light of death, loss, and mourning \u2013 quite the opposite, in fact: the epitaphs from S\u0103p\u00e2n\u021ba express deep and painful, sober and sad, tormenting or consoling feelings and thoughts, and they are a true testimony to the hardships of life and the horrible ways in which it might end. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is a merry cemetery mostly because even in this hardship and grief life prevails over death. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We get to remember things a person did or experienced in their life (or at the end of it), vivid and with great, undiluted immediacy. We are confronted, unmitigated, with the reality of human lives. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Honest, outrageous, liberating, wholesome, without filters. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And yet it all rhymes somehow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How, when, where did the artist get his inspiration from?<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

According to Romanian tradition, in the three days from death to burial, but especially during the night (in the wake), the family, together with close friends of the deceased, gathered to commemorate their life, rather than mourning them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is also common, especially in the Maramure\u0219 region, to have wailers at the wake. They may be professionals or members of the family. And when they start to tell the life of the deceased, the atmosphere is not so overwhelming(ly dark) anymore. And this is precively from where Stan Ioan P\u0103tra\u0219 drew his inspiration. He wanted to create a place in which the death, even though painful and sad, is not a tragedy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At S\u0103p\u00e2n\u021ba, the oak wood crosses, painted in a specific blue colour (S\u0103p\u00e2n\u021ba blue), feature a carved scene and verses, trying to capture the most important aspects of life of the deceased. The sculptures are often naive, childlike from a technical point of view perhaps, but together with the epigrams, written in the Maramure\u0219 dialect, they create truly unique monuments. Moreover, through the use of the first person singular in these texts, the dead still has a voice, is not silenced. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Merry Cemetery from S\u0103p\u00e2n\u021ba is the place where \u201ethe crosses do not only guard graves, but speak explicitly in words.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thus, I propose to let some of them speak…<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>
\n

ACI FIGUREZ \u0218I IEU
PE CRUCE NEPOTU MEU
FOAIE VERDE DE DURZ\u0102U
FI\u0218CU\u0218 GRIGORE AMFOSTEU
\u00ceN\u2019ANUL PATRU SPREZECE
SANCEPUT ONR\u0102ZBOI RECE
TRUPU MEU ESTE-N GROPAT
\u00ceN GALI\u021aIE SUBTON BRAD
C\u00ceND \u00ceNR\u0102ZBOI AM PLECAT
\u00ceN NAPOI NAM \u00ceNTURNAT
C\u0102 DU\u0218MANI MO \u00ceMPU\u0218CAT
\u0218I PE LOCAMREPSAT AT 1915 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here my name is inscribed
On this cross (made by) my grandson.  
A green dwarf-fir leaf,
Fi\u0219cu\u0219 Grigore I was. 
In the year 1914
A cold war began.
My body is buried
Under a fir-tree in Galicia.
When I left for war,
I did not return home
because the enemies shot me
and I died right on the spot. Died in 1915. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Epitaph of Grigore Fi\u0219cu\u0219. Photo: D.M. (May 2021)<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

One particular aspect that caught my attention is the association between the soldier and and the fir-tree leaf. This image was not chosen just randomly, solely to create a rhyme. Each plant carries meaning. In Romanian folklore, the fir-tree is a symbol of male youth. A fir-tree is a giant tree, always green, young, and immortal. It represents strength, vitality, vigour, and thus it is associated with the prime age of a young male. In this case, however, the soldier is associated specifically with a dwarf-fir <\/em>which emphasises even more the prime of his life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>
\n

AICI EU M\u0102 ODIHNESC
ANU\u021aA GHEMBESOAI M\u0102 NU-
MESC C\u00ceT AM TR\u0102IT PE P\u0102M\u00ceNT
CE O FOST M\u00ceNDRU AM IUBIT
FOST-AM \u0218I BUN\u0102 G\u0102ZDOAE
AM FR\u0102M\u00ceNTAT CA\u0218 DE OAIE
ORI LA CARE LE POT SPUNE
C\u0102 AM TR\u0102IT BINE-N LUME
DAR AM AVUT \u0218I N\u0102CAZ
C\u0102 V\u0102DUV\u0102 AM R\u0102MAS 
\u0218I DOI COPII AM AVUT 
DE CU MIC S-AU DUS \u00ceN LUT.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here I rest, quite cold,
Anu\u021ba Ghembesoai I was called.
As long as I lived on earth
Everything of beauty I loved.
I was a good hostess,
I kneaded sheep cheese.
To anyone I can tell that I lived in harmony,
But I had downs too,
For my husband passed away,
And the two children
Lie since childhood under the ground.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Epitaph of Anu\u021ba Gheme\u0219oai. Photo: D.M. (May 2021)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n
\n
\n

NE ODIHNIM PE VECIE
NOI TREI FRA\u021aI DIN CUCONIE
C\u0102 O GREA BOAL\u0102 NE-A LOVIT
\u0218I LUMEA O AM P\u0102R\u0102SIT 
VOI DRAGII NO\u0218TRI P\u0102RIN\u021aI 
DE NOI NU V\u0102 B\u0102NUI\u021aI 
C\u0102 A\u0218A NE-A FOST S\u0102 FIE 
S\u0102 MURIM DIN CUCONIE
POP GHEORGHE Tr. 7 ANI
Mr. 1974 ION Tr. 4 ANI Mr. 1965
DUMITRU Tr. 4 ANI Mr. 1968<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

Here we forever rest 
We, three brothers, since childhood
For a tough disease pounced on us,
And the world we left. 
You, our beloved parents,
Do not worry about us,
For that\u2019s how our destiny was:
To die in childhood.
Pop Gheorghe lived 7 years,
Died in 1974, Ion lived 4 years, died in 1965,
Dumitru lived 4 years, died in 1968. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Epitaph for three brothers. Photo: D.M. (May 2021)<\/sup><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>
\n

ACI IEUM\u0102 ODIHNESC
\u0218I STAN GHEORGHE M\u0102NUMESC
S\u0102RACA \u0218IAMEA VIA\u021a\u0102
CUM SA TOPIT CA O GHEA\u021a\u0102
CAM FOST LAC\u00ceMP LA S\u0102PAT
ILIE MAU FULGERAT
TATA OR\u0102MAS SUP\u0102RAT
\u0218I S\u0102RACA MAMA ME A
C\u0102IA \u00ceNVECI NUMA UITA
T\u00ceN\u0102R VIA\u021aA OL\u0102SAI
LA 19 AI MORT LA 1954 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I rest here quite cold,
And Stan Gheorghe I was called.
And my poor life 
Melted like ice:
While working in the field,
I was struck by Elias\u2019 lightening. 
My father was very sad,
And oh, my poor mother,
She will never forget me:
Too young I ended my life\u2019s span,
When I was nineteen years old, in 1954.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Epitaph of Gheorghe Stan. Photo: D.M. (May 2021)<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Epitaph of two brothers. Photo: D.M. (May 2021)<\/sup><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n

ACI NOI NE ODIHNIM
STAN ION \u0218IGRIGORE NE
NUMIM DIN AME COPIL\u0102RIE
TR\u0102ITAM 11 LUNI DE ZILE 
VRUTA\u0218 FI S\u0102 MAI TR\u0102IESC
P\u0102RIN\u021aI S\u0102NUI GRUNBESC
DAR DUP\u0102 DOI AI DE ZILE 
VINE \u0218I FRATELE LA MINE
MAI GRIGO FRATELE MEU
CE AI N\u0102C\u0102JIT P\u0102RIN\u021aI A\u0218A
R\u0102U IAI L\u0102SAT A\u0218A CU DOR
SI NEOR PL\u00ceNGE P\u00ceN\u0102 MOR
\u0218I BUNICI NEOR J\u0102LI
C\u00ceTE ZILE VOR TR\u0102I
MR 1976-78<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

Here we rest quite cold,
Stan Ion and Grigore we\u2019re called.
My childhood was indeed brief,
11 moths full of grief.
I wish I had lived longer
So my parents wouldn\u2019t suffer.
But two years later
My brother followed me:
Oh, Grigo, my dearest brother
Why did you upset our parents so much?
As long as they\u2019ll live
Our parents and grandparents
In sorrow and mourning will be!
Died 1976-1978. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n

EU AICI M\u0102 ODIHNESC
MIHAICA ION M\u0102 NUMESC
C\u00ceT AM TR\u0102IT PE P\u0102M\u00ceNT AM
FOST MUNCITOR LA R\u00ceND AM
MUNCIT MULT LA P\u0102DURE CU  \u021aAPIN \u0218I CU S\u0102CURE \u0218IDAC\u0102
AM \u00ceMB\u0102TR\u00ceNIT NU MAM HR\u0102
NIT DE MUNICT AM AVUT 
TREI COPILA\u0218I \u0218I MI-A FOST 
PE LUME DRAGI PE TOADER 
\u0218I PE MUERE II LAS EU CU
MARE JELE C\u0102CI VIA\u021aA O 
L\u0102SAT LA 81 ANI
A MURIT \u00ceN 1982<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Epitaph of Ion Mihalca. Photo: D.M. (May 2021)<\/sup><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

I rest here quite cold,
Mihaica Ion I was called. 
I worked my whole life 
In the forrest, with cant hook<\/a> and axe, and even when I
was getting older, I did not 
shy away from work. I had
three little children 
which were very dear to me. 
Toader and my wife,
I leave them in great grief, 
for I ended my life\u2019s span 
when I was eighty-one. 
Died in 1982. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>
\n

AICI EU M\u0102 ODIHNESC
TURDA ILEAN\u0102 M\u0102 NUMESC
FATA DIOCHI LUI ILIE
\u0218I A LUI ILIE\u0218 SO\u021aIE
S\u0102RAC\u0102 A-MIA VIA\u021a\u0102
CUM S-A RUPT LA TINEREA\u021a\u0102
CU GREA BOAL\u0102 MA LOVIT
DE-AM PL\u00ceNS \u0218I-AM SUFERIT
GREA BOAL\u0102 \u0218I GREA DURERE
DE NI-A M\u00ceNCAT \u0218I-O AVERE
M\u0102I IOANE A-MEU SO\u021a
MULT\u0102 GRIJ\u0102 MAI \u00ce-MI POR\u021aI
C\u0102 \u0218I C\u00ceT\u0102 MI-AI PURTAT
DE NU POATE DUCEO-N SAT
C\u0102 LA C\u00ce\u021aI DOCTORI M-AI DUS
LEACURI PENTRU MINE NUS
A\u0218 FI DAT \u0218I-O AVERE
NUMAI S\u0102 SCAP DE DURERE
IO V\u0102 LAS BINELE VOU\u0102
\u0218I LA MELE FETE DOU\u0102
DECEDAT\u0102 LA 47 DE ANI
10-VI-2006<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Funerary inscription of Ileana Turda. Photo: D.M. (May 2021).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I rest here quite cold
And Turda Ileana I was called,
Daughter of Ilie aka<\/em> Diochi
And wife of Ilie\u0219. 
Oh, my life was very brief
And it ended in great grief.
A great disease, 
In tears and misery, I fought.
Great disease and great suffering 
That has consumed our entire fortune!
You, Ioane, my dear husband,
You took care of me
More than ever found in this village!
You\u2019ve taken me to many doctors,
But for me there\u2019s no cure:
I would have given my whole fortune
Only to get rid of the pain,
But that was also not possible,
So I wish you and my two daughters all health!
Died at 47, on the 10th<\/sup> of June 2006. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>
\n

\u00ceN LUME C\u00c2T AM TR\u0102IT
CUPCA IOAN MAM NUMIT 
C\u00ceT AM FOST P\u0102LUME VIU
FELCER AM IUBIT S\u0102 FIU
\u0218I PE MUL\u021aI IO IAM TRATAT
SI DE BOAL\u0102 OSC\u0102PAT
NUMAI IO NAM AVUT LIAC
O GRE BOAL\u0102 AMC\u0102P\u0102TAT
AIA\u00ceN P\u0102M\u00ceNT MO B\u0102GAT
DOU\u0102 FETE AM AVUTEU
S\u0102LE TR\u0102IA DUMNEZEU
TU IRINAAME SO\u021aIE
\u021aIAM L\u0102SAT \u00ceN V\u0102DUVIE
TU DE FETE \u00ceNGRIJA
BINE LE C\u0102S\u0102TOREA
\u0218I P\u0102MINE MAJALE
TR\u0102IT 47 ANI MORT 1986<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Funerary inscription of Ioan Cupca. Photo: D.M. (May 2021)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cupca Ioan I was called,
And for as long I lived I could not image
Being anything other than a doctor:*
I treated many patients,
And I got rid of their disease
But I myself, I could not escape,
For a serious illness
Put me quickly into the grave.
I had two daughters.
May God give them a long life.
And you, my dear wife, Irina,
I have left you a widow:
You be careful whom 
you marry the girls to,
and remember to mourn me.
Lived 47 years. Died in 1986. 
(*worked mainly in the village)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Finally, on a slightly, ahem, shall we say: merrier note:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n

\u021aUICA E CURAT VENIN
E ADUCE PL\u00ceNS \u0218I CHIN 
C\u0102 \u0218I MIE MI-O ADUS 
MOARTEA SUB PICIOR M-O PUS

CUI \u00ceI PLACE \u021aUICA BINE
VA P\u0102\u021aII LA FEL CA MINE
C\u0102 EU \u021aUICA AM IUBIT
CU EA-N M\u00c2N\u0102 AM MURIT

AICI ODIHNE\u0218TE 
DUMITRU HOLDI\u0218
A TR\u0102IT 45 DE ANI
MORT DE MOARTE 
FOR\u021aAT\u0102 LA 1958<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

Plum brandy is real poison,
It takes you onto a path of sorrow:
It brought the same for me,
And Death placed me under its feet.

To those who love plum brandy:
You will have the same destiny as me,
For I died as I held tight to my bottle.

Here lies
Dumitru Holdi\u0219
Who died at the age of forty five years,
Driven to death by bottle, in 1958. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Merry Cemetery, S\u0103p\u00e2n\u021ba. Photo: D.M. (May 2021)<\/sup><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

None of the stories that we chose to present here were especially cheerful. Ultimately, they all were testimony to hardship, suffering, loss, and pain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But they all are stories written by life itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And as we conclude this month’s post, you might want to ask yourself: how do you now leave this place, this colourful, bold poetic landscape that lets vitality vividly outshine the pain and sorrow of our human existences? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sad? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shocked? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or, following this encounter with very real humans, with a deep sense of catharsis and relief, and, in fact, feeling a bit merry?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There are many incredible, beautiful, and curious places in the world to explore for anyone who, like us at the MAPPOLA project, wish to study the poetics of death and… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":1523,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[39,47],"tags":[112,107,106,111,40,105,20,109,104,103,108,110,102],"class_list":["post-1469","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-epigram-of-the-month","category-poetic-landscapes","tag-catharsis","tag-cimitirul-vesel","tag-communal-art","tag-dumitru-pop","tag-epigram-of-the-month","tag-folk-art","tag-funerary-epigrams","tag-maramures","tag-merry-cemetery","tag-romania","tag-sapanta","tag-stan-ioan-patras","tag-verse-inscriptions"],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pbaMDT-nH","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/mappola.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/IMG_0919-1-scaled.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mappola.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1469","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mappola.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mappola.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mappola.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mappola.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1469"}],"version-history":[{"count":48,"href":"https:\/\/mappola.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1469\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1547,"href":"https:\/\/mappola.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1469\/revisions\/1547"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mappola.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1523"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mappola.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1469"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mappola.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1469"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mappola.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1469"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}