Paul-Eerik Rummo (b. 1942) might be called the most paradoxical “living legend” of the 60’ies. His early debut in 1962 was quickly followed by two powerful books; Always come to my joys (Tule ikka mu rõõmude juurde, 1964) and The Blinding Light of Snow (Lumevalgus... lumepimedus, 1966), making him one of the prominent figures of his innovative generation. In 1968 Rummo published a book that is nothing less than the culmination of the symbolist trend in post-war Estonian literature: Poetry 1960-1967 (Luulet 1960-1967), bringing together some 90 poems of remarkable vigour and brilliance.

As might have been expected, this culmination was also a consummation: having completed his youthful work, the poet changed direction. If Rummo’s early work clearly represented the symbolist trend, his later poetry became more experimental. The details are usually realistic, drawn from everyday life and conversations, while the structure of the poem is often based on a single joke, or indeterminate. In 1972 he made an attempt to publish another collection, called The Sender’s Address (Saatja aadress) and bring together the production of the last five years. This attempt was not successful. The officials rejected the idea of publishing an unabridged version; the poet could not insist and withdrew from battle. The book spreaded via samizdat. One might say that this was still a victory, that the officials were in fact defeated. But Rummo gave up writing poetry. His production in the following three decades has been remarkably scarce.

Paul-Eerik Rummo has also written dramatic texts, song lyrics, film scripts, books for children and literary criticism. He has translated the poetry of Dylan Thomas, John Donne, Eugenio Montale, Alexander Pushkin and T. S. Eliot (The Waste Land and Other Poems, 1999). After the fall of the Soviet regime he has been engaged in politics. During 1992-94 he occupied the position of the Minister of Culture and Education.

Text by Hasso Krull