ATTEMPT TO SUBLIMATE ORTHODOXISM
ATTEMPT TO SUBLIMATE ORTHODOXISM

Summary/Abstract: Ioan Alexandru`s poems represent a mission to spread the word of God. He sees himself as a successor of the Orthodox Christian faith. The role of poetry is to link people to the Supreme Being. The model Ioan Alexandru takes after is Romanus the Melodist who is known as a fifth century sacristan in the temple of Hagia Sophia, Constantinople. He is said to have been a slow speake,r poor reader and singer. The other monks used to make fun of the way he sang until, one night, in The Eve of the Nativity of Christ, the Mother of God appeared to him in a dream. She gave him a scroll and told him to eat it. From that moment on, he started to sing with a beautiful voice and composed a great number of hymns known as kontakia some of which are still used today in the service of the Orthodox Christian church. Ioan Alexandru understands poetry as a way of connecting people with God. All the efforts of the poet are seen as a struggle to capture the will of God and pass it on to the next person. So, the role of the poet is also understood as that of a prophet. Salvation comes from combining love, suffering and redemption. Another role of the poet in the eyes of Ioan Alexandru is to create a sort of connection between faith in God and the national history. He praises a series of Romanian national history personalities. While some texts are well written and put together, others are a little difficult to understand.

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