Cycle of poems by Alfonsas Maldonis "On the Bright and Tender Night in August" and its contexts

Alfonso Maldonio ciklas „Rugpjūčio šviesią švelnią naktį“ – vientisas penkių eilėraščių ciklas. Idilės, kurią žada ciklo pavadinimas, eilėraščiuose nėra. Maldonio eilėraščiai gretinami su Vinco Mykolaičio-Putino eilėraščių ciklu „Krintanti žvaigždė“. Abu ciklus jungia meditacinė nuotaika, poetiniai vaizdai, alter ego figūra. Atsižvelgiama ir į Maldonio kartos poetų kūrybos kontekstą. Daroma išvada, kad Maldoniui rūpėjo konkrečiam istoriniam laikui nepavaldūs dalykai.The article analyses a cycle of poems by Alfonsas Maldonis "Rugpjūčio šviesią švelnią naktį" ("On the Bright and Tender Night in August"). The cycle, written in 1981, contemplates the impermanence of life, the bond with other people and the nature, and an overall struggle of breaking out of self-imposed isolation. Despite the title, poems have a distinct lack of elation, creating a complicated world haunted by figures such as "a sickly angel of madness", and "a bleak angel of death". The cycle in the article is compared to a cycle "Krintanti žvaigždė" ("Falling Star") by Lithuanian classic Vincas Mykolaitis-Putinas. Both cycles share a reflective mood, poetic symbolism and a pronounced alter ego. The text analysis acknowledges a possible effect of the political environment under which both Maldonis and Putinas worked. The analysis concludes that both authors focused on timeless questions beyond the scope of the Soviet system. It seems that both works choose to not rebel against the world, or attempt to impose definitive ideas about human existence, but rather choose to stoically face the existence. The article also takes into account the perspective of contemporary Lithuanian writers