Reference to the Bible in the Poem Ko dobrave se mrače and in Josip Murn’s Rural Lyric

Abstract

The discussion of Murn's work focusses on two New Testament metaphors found in his crisis poem of romantic subjectivity Ko dobrave se mrače. These metaphors refer to the poetic self, "lyrical subject", and define it in reference to its relationship to nature. In Murn's rustic lyrics, which represent the solution of the crisis, nature ceases to be the source of subjectivity of the subject and remains that mysterious ground, which is on the very background ofbiblical image evoked in its epiphanic presence. Murn's work is thus a good example of how the secularization of the Bible does not necessarily result in demystification: the world filled with the mystery of nature cannot be reduced to its own identity.