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| Aleksa Santic (Алекса Шантић) |
Aleksa Santic [ Serbian: Алекса Шантић ] (Mostar, 27 May 1868 - Sarajevo, February 2, 1924) was a Serbian poet from Herzegovina [ associated with the liberation movement ]
Emina
Last night, returning from the warm hamam,
I passed by the garden of the old imam,
And lo, in the garden, in the shade of a jasmine,
There with a pitcher in her hand stood Emina.
What beauty! By my faith I could swear,
She wouldn’t be ashamed if she were at the sultan’s!
And the way she walks and her shoulders move...
-Not even a hodja’s amulet could help me!
I offered her salaam, but by my faith,
Beautiful Emina wouldn’t even hear it.
Instead, scooping water in her silver pitcher,
Around the garden she went to water the roses.
A wind blew from the branches down her lovely shoulders
Unravelling those thick braids of hers.
Her hair gave off a scent of blue hyacinths,
Making me giddy and confused!
I nearly stumbled, I swear by my faith,
But beautiful Emina didn’t come to me.
She only gave me a frowning look,
Not caring, the naughty one, that I’m crazy for her! [4]
Aleksa Santic:Emina / Performer: Vule Jeftic
He was born in Mostar, where he spent most of his life. His father died during early childhood, and lived with the family of his uncle. He had two brothers Pero and Jakov, and one sister Radojka who later married a poet and Aleksa's friend Svetozar Corovic. Having lived in the merchant family, family members had little understanding of his talent. He graduated from trade school in Trieste and Ljubljana, then returned to Mostar.
