MIHAI EMINESCU'S TRANSITION FROM ROMANTICISM TO MODERNISM (ILLUSTRATED BY THE POEM MELANCOLIE)

The present article is centred around Mihai Eminescu, the best-known Romanian 19th-century writer, often called Romania’s greatest Romantic poet. However true this statement might be in the case of his early works, his later poems realize a transition to another kind of literature – the literature of Modernism. In this paper, our aim is to demonstrate the way this transition takes place as exemplified by one of Mihai Eminescu’s most emblematic poems, and namely Melancolie. This lyrical elegy, at first glance, may be perceived as a purely romantic work; however, as shown in the present paper, in reality it attests to Mihai Eminescu’s departure from the typical Romantisist inventory. A later work by the poet, Melancolie marks a transition to a different type of literature, with a profound symbolism, full of significant metaphors and new themes for the Romanian literary space