A Metrical Analysis of the Language of Vladimir Nazor

Sažetak Nazorovo se stvaralaštvo odlikuje žanrovskom, tematskom i stilskom raznolikošću. U ovome se radu pozornost pridaje stilskim osobitostima Nazorova pjesništva, točnije analiziraju se metričke posebnosti u jeziku njegovih pjesama. Pozornost se posvećuje pojedinim jezičnim elementima kojima Nazor stvara svoj pjesnički izraz. Iako se o njemu govori kao o jednom od najvećih hrvatskih čakavskih pjesnika, pisao je uglavnom na štokavštini. No, zavičajna je čakavica pratila cjelokupni njegov pjesnički rad. Ušavši u svijet književne štokavice, uza sva nastojanja, nikada do kraja nije ovladao štokavskom stilskom i naglasnom normom. Nesigurnost u ophođenju s naglaskom stajala je na putu njegovim naporima oko harmonične i blagoglasne versifikacije. Taj se problem pojavljuje posebice u ranijim njegovim zbirkama: Lirika (1910), Nove pjesme (1913), Intima (1915) i Niza od koralja (1922). Iz velikoga i raznolikoga pjesničkoga opusa za analizu je izabrano 20-ak pjesama koje pripadaju njegovoj ranijoj štokavskoj lirici.The work of Vladimir Nazor is characterized by diversity in genre, theme and style. In this article the authors focus on the characteristics of style in Nazor’s poetry, or, more precisely, they analyse the metric qualities in the language of his poetry. Special emphasis is given to specific linguistic elements comprising Nazor’s poetics. Even though Nazor is considered one of Croatia’s greatest Chakavian poets, he primarily wrote in Shtokavian. However, his entire poetic oeuvre was imbued with his native Chakavian dialect. In spite of his great endeavors, Nazor never truly managed to master the use of Shtokavian stylistic and accent norms. Insecurity in the usage of accents hindered his efforts in achieving harmonious versification. This problem is especially evident in the early poetry collections Lirika (1910), Nove pjesme (1913), Intima (1915) and Niza od koralja (1922). For the purpose of analysis in this paper, approximately twenty poems were selected from Nazor’s great and varied poetic oeuvre, poems that were composed in his early Shtokavian period and which feature the obvious influence of the Chakavian dialect. This paper analyzes metrics because this is where Nazor’s struggle with mastering Shtokavian is mainly reflected. The goal of this article is thus to provide a metrical analysis of Nazor’s language. This analysis also includes the usage of disyllabic pronunciation of diphthongs, the apocope of infinitive affixes, abbreviated past and present verbal adverbs, the singular masculine active participle form, plural forms, dialectal lexis, etc. The question of the disyllabic pronunciation of diphthongs is important when discussing Nazor’s poetry, his metrics and his orthoepic irregularities. Standard Croatian has never featured the disyllabic pronunciation of diphthongs. However, Nazor used it in an attempt to achieve certain types of metre in his verses. Nazor frequently used the apostrophe to mark the elision of a vowel, as well as abbreviations. These include: the omission of certain vowels at the beginning, middle or the end of words; the omission of the last vowel in infinitives; the contraction of the vowel group ao into the active participle; and abbreviated plurals. Nazor also used obscure and unusual forms of well-known words. The Shtokavian accent presented an exceptional problem to Nazor, who was not well versed in it. Many Shtokavian words were not a part of his native idiom; he lacked the feeling for shifting the accent to the proclitic. If he sometimes shifted the accent in his verses, he then marked it as well, having learned that it was the proper, formal form. However, his poetry contained a greater number of examples where this shifting should have occurred and yet it did not. Nazor was well aware of his continuous erring with metre. However, he did not have a role model or a textbook to turn to. His hendecasyllables contained a kind of accent deviation which could only be found in a Chakavian-speaking Dalmatian islander. It is precisely due to his awareness of accent deviation that he reworked his previously published poems in newer publications. However, it is difficult to truly define Nazor’s metrics because his verses can frequently be well pronounced in various ways. In his fifty-year-long period of literary creation, which was characterized by various literary forms, Nazor left us with one of the largest and most significant oeuvres in Croatian literature of the first half of the twentieth century. He was a writer who loved, appreciated and enriched his language. His poetic work is the best testimony of the depth of his devotion and involvement in language