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Among the many books of verse by the prominent contemporary Serbian poet Matija Beckot,ic, the long poem Bogojavljenje (Epiphany) takes a special place. Originally published in 1985, it has now been reissued in a handsome bilingual edition in Canada. This reissue is also an indication of the poet's ever-increasing reach beyond the borders of his own country, and deservedly so.
Epiphany/Bogojavljenje is vintage Beckovic. Although confined to a single theme-the search for God by his native Montenegrins-it is by no means limited; what the poem lacks in reach, it gains in depth. The work presents fictitious conversations between Montenegrins, usually peasants and simple people with a vision of God, who, in a clever refrain throughout the book, "just listens in silence." After the terrible ordeals of World War II, the peasants reveal not only their disillusionment, distrust, anger, and despair but also their desperate need for a deity in whom they can believe and who...