FIGURA E NËNËS NË POEZINË E FREDERIK RRESHPJES
THE FIGURE OF MOTHER IN THE POETRY OF FREDERIK RRESHPJA

Summary/Abstract: Poetry as a form of writing has always captivated the critical eye, being examined both semantically and stylistically. Within the extensive corpus of Albanian literature, the poetry of Frederik Rreshpja holds a place, recognized as one of the most sentimental. Rreshpja, as a poet, conveys profound emotions in each of his verses, expressing feelings tinged with spiritual suffering, loneliness, and ultimately a dwindling hope for life. Rreshpja's hope for life -existence is intricately connected to a central figure, the figure that embodies sublime—the figure of the mother, which will be the focus of this study. To conduct this study, various methods have been employed, which collectively contribute to a comprehensive understanding of the interpretation. These methods include biographical, theoreticalanalytical, interpretative, and comparative approaches. The paper is divided into four main sections, each centered around the figure of the mother and exploring her representation from one poem to another. This paper examines the poetry of Rreshpja through a biographical lens, aiming to explore the close relationship between his art and the challenges of his time, which deeply affect the poet's spirit. In this context, Rreshpja is portrayed amidst the issues arising from his art, whether stemming from internal (spiritual) struggles or external (system) pressures. Amid this turmoil, the figure of the mother emerges as a symbol of hope for life, reaching the realm of the sublime. She is depicted as a mother endowed with strong character traits and physical beauty, which together are complementary to her persona. To further idealize this image, alongside the real mother of Rreshpja, appear legendary mothers from legends and the epic songs, notably Rozafa and Ajkuna, who stand as two of the most emblematic figures in Albanian culture. These three mothers are compared to one another, revealing that they all endure the fate of their sons and lament the inability to alter a predetermined destiny. Consequently, despite their resistance to being confined by these determinations, they ultimately become tragic figures that evoke profound pain and sorrow: Rozafa, who sacrifices her very essence as a condition for her son's existence; Ajkuna, the archetypal mountain woman mourning her deceased son and yearning for reunion with him, even through death; and the mother of Rreshpja, who forewarns that art will bring misfortune to the poet's life. The paper also focuses on the idealization of the mother figure, which is positioned at the boundaries of sanctity by equating her with the figure of Saint Mary, thereby establishing intertextual relationships. The mother emerges as a sublime and sacred figure, yet also as a tangible reality that profoundly alters the author's life when confronted with loss. A central theme, inter alia, is the life of Rreshpja, both with and without his mother, depicting a world that is drastically different in her presence and her absence. This transition moves from a world filled with abundance (and consequently a soul that is fulfilled) to an empty existence, where the spirit feels empty and unsure of where to find support. The paper fundamentally analyzes the stylistics and semantics of poetry, presenting the overall structural idea and meaning of the collection titled “Duke kërkuar Itakën [Searching for Ithaca].” It explores themes of creative individuality, personal expression, sentimentality, the sublime, the sacred, and ultimately, the real. Rreshpja constructs poetry with diverse dimensions, featuring intriguing themes and motifs that in their essence always evoke emotion through the pure relationship between mother and child and vice-versa. This paper offers a thorough examination of the quintessential figure in poetry, that of the mother, addressing both its structural form and its functional significance.

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