The suppressed Pag Poet Ivan Mršić

The poet from the island of Pag, Ivan Mršić (cca 1575­1652) is the author of one of the most extensive lyrical opuses of ancient Croatian literature. However, due to the inaccessibility to his printed works (Sloge ljubvene, Venice, 1647, and Mantinjade, Venice, 1647) they were quite unknown. The lyrics of this author from Pag, which was almost completely devoted to love, are a peculiar and interesting literary phenomenon. It can be located among high (the author’s) and popular literature, and it testifies of Mršić’s explicit care for poetic form, as well as the elementary knowledge of some forms of literary modernity. This paper critically studies two basic features which determine or describe Mršić’s opus – Petrarchism and Baroque. As Sloge ljubvene has recently become accessible, the paper encloses 10 unpublished poems from the mentioned book