01The Scent of a Gruža Field
Homeland, village, nature, and a land that remembers the footsteps of its ancestors.
Ljubomir R. Janković · 1971–2018
A Voice That Remains
A digital memorial collection devoted to the life, voice, and complete surviving poetry of Ljubomir Janković.
...so they may know well that I too am a man, torn apart by life and scattered through the world... that I am strong as stone, yet frail within my soul as any anonymous poet.Open the Poetry Collection
Six Paths Through the Collection
Thematic Paths
The poems are arranged around motifs that return throughout Ljubomir's verse. Each title opens the complete text.
01
02When Daybreak Parts the Blue Dawn
Love, longing, intimacy, and a face that remains within a dream.
- When Daybreak Parts the Blue Dawn
- I Dream
- The Wedding Night
- Purple Morning
- Matriarchy
- Intimate Poem II
- Intimate Poem III
- Confession
- Intimate Poem IV
- Requiem for Love
- Intimate Poem V
- The Kiss
- She Is Gone
- I Know
- Be Still, My Life
- My Beloved Did Not Marry
- ***
- At Parting
- Everything Comes to Light
- To Shine in My Former Splendour
- The Joyful Fairy
- The Sour Cherry Tree
- Within Your Eyes
- Parting
- The Wedding
- The Weddingarchival version
- The Wedding Nightarchival version
03Before the One God
Faith, transience, eternity, and the soul in conversation with heaven.
04In the Rhythm of Joy and Pain
Humanity, bohemian unrest, suffering, and the truth of everyday life.
05The Light of the Homeland
Serbia, her descendants, the memory of a people, and a land steeped in history.
06Along the Paths of Poetry
The poet, the verse, the Muses, and the voices of Gruža that endure through time.
In Ljubomir's poetry, the homeland is a land that remembers, a field that speaks, and a place where labour, love, and poetry meet.
Complete Textual Archive
All Poems
01PrologueAlong the Paths of Poetry02He, the One True OneBefore the One God03O GraveyardsBefore the One God04When Daybreak Parts the Blue DawnWhen Daybreak Parts the Blue Dawn05I DreamWhen Daybreak Parts the Blue Dawn06My HomelandThe Light of the Homeland07The BohemianIn the Rhythm of Joy and Pain08To Serbian ChildrenThe Light of the Homeland09They Did Not KnowAlong the Paths of Poetry10The Wedding NightWhen Daybreak Parts the Blue Dawn11PeopleBefore the One God12Identity CardAlong the Paths of Poetry13Time MachineIn the Rhythm of Joy and Pain14DrunkennessIn the Rhythm of Joy and Pain15The Poem of GružaAlong the Paths of Poetry16TerpsichoreAlong the Paths of Poetry17Purple MorningWhen Daybreak Parts the Blue Dawn18MatriarchyWhen Daybreak Parts the Blue Dawn19Both Life and DeathBefore the One God20Intimate Poem IIWhen Daybreak Parts the Blue Dawn21SufferingIn the Rhythm of Joy and Pain22Let Me Count the Stars AgainBefore the One God23Intimate Poem IIIWhen Daybreak Parts the Blue Dawn24ConfessionWhen Daybreak Parts the Blue Dawn25Queen of the StreetIn the Rhythm of Joy and Pain26Intimate Poem IVWhen Daybreak Parts the Blue Dawn27Pontius PilateBefore the One God28Requiem for LoveWhen Daybreak Parts the Blue Dawn29The Prince's WeddingThe Scent of a Gruža Field30The Family HomeThe Scent of a Gruža Field31Noted Poets of GružaAlong the Paths of Poetry32Intimate Poem VWhen Daybreak Parts the Blue Dawn33The KissWhen Daybreak Parts the Blue Dawn34She Is GoneWhen Daybreak Parts the Blue Dawn35A Spring Evening at MidnightThe Scent of a Gruža Field36To Sleeping SpringThe Scent of a Gruža Field37A Day Within the DayThe Scent of a Gruža Field38I KnowWhen Daybreak Parts the Blue Dawn39Happiness Waits ThereBefore the One God40Be Still, My LifeWhen Daybreak Parts the Blue Dawn41My Beloved Did Not MarryWhen Daybreak Parts the Blue Dawn42TruthIn the Rhythm of Joy and Pain43***When Daybreak Parts the Blue Dawn44At PartingWhen Daybreak Parts the Blue Dawn45That Is How It IsIn the Rhythm of Joy and Pain46The HarvestThe Scent of a Gruža Field47Everything Comes to LightWhen Daybreak Parts the Blue Dawn48O Fate, You Are to BlameIn the Rhythm of Joy and Pain49Wheat, Maiden of the FieldsThe Scent of a Gruža Field50To Shine in My Former SplendourWhen Daybreak Parts the Blue Dawn51To My NephewThe Scent of a Gruža Field52The ApparitionIn the Rhythm of Joy and Pain53The Joyful FairyWhen Daybreak Parts the Blue Dawn54The Sour Cherry TreeWhen Daybreak Parts the Blue Dawn55Within Your EyesWhen Daybreak Parts the Blue Dawn56DawnThe Scent of a Gruža Field57The AshesIn the Rhythm of Joy and Pain58Both Life and DeathBefore the One God59From Field to TableThe Scent of a Gruža Field60The White Angel of MileševaBefore the One God61ForerunnersAlong the Paths of Poetry62PartingWhen Daybreak Parts the Blue Dawn63The WeddingWhen Daybreak Parts the Blue Dawn64A Story from ToponicaThe Scent of a Gruža Field65To the Shades of Our AncestorsBefore the One God66Thus Sings the River GružaAlong the Paths of Poetry67The Family Home in the VillageThe Scent of a Gruža Field68Upon the Native Soil of My HomelandThe Light of the Homeland69The WeddingWhen Daybreak Parts the Blue Dawn70On the RiverbankThe Scent of a Gruža Field71Let Me Count the Stars AgainBefore the One God72The Wedding NightWhen Daybreak Parts the Blue Dawn73TerpsichoreAlong the Paths of Poetry74From Field to TableThe Scent of a Gruža Field75The White Angel of MileševaBefore the One God76ForerunnersAlong the Paths of Poetry
The Scent of a Gruža Field, p. 4
Prologue
This book of poems
I dedicate to her,
the woman of my life,
and to the land of my birth;
to all those
who know me
and those who do not;
so they may know well
that I too am a man,
torn apart by life
and scattered through the world...
that I am strong,
strong as stone,
yet frail within my soul
as any other
anonymous poet.
Ljubomir Janković
the village of Toponica
The archive currently contains 76 separate poetic records. It comprises 63 titles from the book The Scent of a Gruža Field, three short independent texts printed on pages 15 and 18, two additional poems from the family archive, and eight preserved variants.
Life and Homeland
About Ljubomir
Ljubomir Janković was born on 30 December 1971 in Toponica, in the municipality of Knić. He was the son of Radisav and Leposava Janković. His paternal grandparents were Živojin and Milunka Janković.
He completed primary school in Toponica and attended the Mechanical and Traffic School in Knić. He worked for the Knić Municipal Administration at the Toponica Local Office as an administrative officer and civil registrar. He possessed a deep knowledge of the history of Upper Gruža.
His work as a civil registrar placed him at the heart of life in Toponica. Official registers brought him close to the destinies of its residents, while his poems preserved the homes, fields, customs, and voices of a village that changed before his eyes.
His poetry grew from Gruža, rural life, family memory, faith, and reverence for his forebears. Nature has a voice in his verse, while the homeland remembers across generations.
He was among the founders of the Živadin Stevanović Literary Club in Knić and served as its secretary from its founding until his death. He was a close friend of Dobrica Erić and other poets and artists. A category at the Petrovdan Poetry Meetings bears his name and honours the finest poem about one's native region.
The poems Terpsichore and The Wedding received awards at the Gruža Poetry Meetings in 2000 and 2001. His poetry appeared in the journals Lipa, Koraci, and Savindan, and in the literary newspaper Svitak. His work was included in the anthologies Gružanska šarenica, Srce što u srcu bije, and Vila sa Boračkog krša.
He died on 2 October 2018 after a long and serious illness. He was survived by his son Matija, his mother Leposava, his sister Mirjana, and his wife Vesna.
Work, Literature, and Legacy
Enduring Traces
At the Petrovdan Poetry Meetings in Borač, an award bearing Ljubomir's name honours the finest poem about one's native region.
Civil Registrar and Chronicler of the Region
Ljubomir worked as an administrative officer and civil registrar at the Toponica Local Office and knew the history of Upper Gruža intimately. Official registers gave him a direct view into village life, while poetry gave that experience an enduring human voice.
Open source ↗An Award Bearing His Name
The Petrovdan Poetry Meetings include a competitive category named Ljubomir Janković. Its award honours the finest poem about one's native region.
Open source ↗Club Founder and Secretary
Ljubomir Janković was among the founders of the Živadin Stevanović Literary Club in Knić and served as its secretary from the club's founding until his death.
Source: The Scent of a Gruža Field, About the Poet, pp. 71–72.
Posthumous Collection
The Scent of a Gruža Field was published in 2019 as Ljubomir's first independent and posthumous book. The 83-page edition was issued in 170 copies by Svitak of Požega and the Centre for Culture and Library in Knić.
Sources: The Scent of a Gruža Field and the publishing records of the Centre for Culture and Library in Knić.
Award-Winning Poems and a Ceremonial Toast
Terpsichore and The Wedding received first and third prizes at the Gruža Poetry Meetings in 2000 and 2001. Ljubomir also won an award for a ceremonial toast at the Assembly of All-Serbian Folk Creativity in Banja Vrućica near Teslić.
Source: The Scent of a Gruža Field, About the Poet, pp. 71–72.
Journals and Anthologies
His poems appeared in the Kragujevac journals Lipa and Koraci, the Prijepolje journal Savindan, and the Požega literary newspaper Svitak. His work was included in the anthologies Gružanska šarenica, Srce što u srcu bije, and Vila sa Boračkog krša.
Source: The Scent of a Gruža Field, About the Poet, pp. 71–72.
Subtle Poetic Communication
Marija Kostić reads the collection as an inner portrait of the poet, composed of personal dilemmas, existential questions, and the preoccupations of human existence. Her interpretation follows nature and its beauty, Gruža and its people, patriotic and social poetry, and the poet's vision of woman and her beauty.
At the centre of this world stand love, sensuality, God, the universe, the Moon, wind, grain, and the conflict between body and mind. Mornings and evenings acquire human qualities, while the lyrical voice speaks with fields, trees, sky, and clouds. The Moon becomes a link between earthly life and the universe.
Kostić finds an affinity with Dis in their subjective vision, reflective character, and images of death, rebirth, purity, and light. She recognises the influence of Dobrica Erić in Ljubomir's vivid imagery, frequent figures of speech, and his sense of Gruža as origin, refuge, and final homecoming. She gives particular attention to the bond between the peasant who creates bread and the grain, soil, and natural world.
Most poems are shaped as quatrains with alternating or enclosed rhyme, alongside several sonnets and intentional departures from regular rhythm. The poet's language combines neologisms, archaisms, folk expressions, epithets, comparisons, rhetorical questions, apostrophe, and personification. Kostić regards the relationship between the lyrical voice, woman, and beauty as one of the most original aspects of Janković's poetry.
Ljubomir Janković's poetry is a clear reflection of his personality, his dilemmas, existential questions, and the preoccupations of one human existence.
Marija Kostić, p. 73
Ljubomir Janković's poetry breathes with love for the Gruža region and its natural beauty.
Marija Kostić, p. 74
Janković's universe differs from Dis's cosmogony, yet the experience of birth in tears and a renewed encounter with purity after the instant of death reveal a clear affinity between the subjective vision and reflective thought of these two poets.
Marija Kostić, p. 75
Another poet who certainly influenced Janković was Dobrica Erić, with whom Ljubomir Janković spent many hours in conversation and in philosophical discussions between two men of Gruža.
Marija Kostić, p. 75
Overview and selected passages from Marija Kostić's essay in The Scent of a Gruža Field, pp. 73–76.
Poetry with the Power of Goodness
Marko Marković begins with the poet as a timeless, transcendent being and recognises the poet of Gruža as a distinctive kind of creator. In Ljubomir's verse he hears the murmur of Gruža's waves and the whisper of willows and poplars along her banks.
For Marković, this poetry arises from an immediate love for the native landscape, its fields, plum orchards, and women. The beauty of folk speech and the strength of the soil connect Ljubomir with Vuk Karadžić and the poetic tradition of Gruža.
Marković finds prayerful hope, the White Angel, and the power of goodness in these poems. He also sees the poet's capacity to love with strength and sorrow, with the vigour of a peasant and the tenderness of a nobleman. In this portrait, Ljubomir is both poet and farmer, a compelling interpreter of his own verse and a man devoted to his native land.
The closing passage preserves the memory of a conversation in which Ljubomir doubted that he would ever hold his own book. For Marković, the published collection became evidence of the enduring beauty of Gruža and of a poetic voice that continued to live after its author.
The poet has always been a timeless and transcendent being, illuminated by the divine enchantment of beauty and knowledge.
Marko Marković, p. 77
When I first encountered the verse of Ljubomir Ljupče Janković, I immediately recognised within it the melodious murmur of Gruža's waves and the whisper of willows and poplars along her banks.
Marko Marković, p. 77
He sensed the power of goodness and sang to the White Angel with prayerful hope as he strove toward the heights of heaven.
Marko Marković, p. 77
Ljupče could be many things: a poet, a passionate and extraordinary interpreter of his own verse, and, in the next instant, a blue-blooded farmer of Gruža.
Marko Marković, p. 78
Overview and selected passages from Marko Marković's essay in The Scent of a Gruža Field, pp. 77–78.
Preserved from Ljubomir's Page
Poetic Posts on Facebook
Ljubomir posted poems, dedications, and memories on his Facebook page. Surviving posts from January, February, and March 2017 confirm poems preserved in this archive.
The White Angel of Mileševa
He posted two surviving versions of the poem dedicated to the White Angel. Each version has its own place in the poetry archive.
Read the poem ↓The Wedding Night
This love poem appeared on his page in the version also preserved in the family archive.
Read the poem ↓An Epitaph for His Father
On the anniversary of his father's death, he shared verses dedicated to Radisav Janković. The poem appeared in the book under the title O Graveyards.
Read the poem ↓The Poet's Voice
The posts preserve Ljubomir's way of addressing his readers and the moments when poems were first shared among friends.
Visit the memorialised Facebook page ↗Television recording · September 2001
Archival Voices from Toponica
Two surviving excerpts from the programme Šumadijski prag preserve the voices of Ljubomir and Blagoje Janković, his grandfather. They bring together poetic testimony, family memory, village history, and the living speech of Toponica.
A Poem Heard Aloud
When Verse Becomes a Voice Again
Ljupče recited his poems with his whole being. His voice, bearing, rhythm, and sudden surges of feeling turned a verse into a direct encounter with the audience. Marko Marković recognised this force when he called Ljubomir an extraordinary interpreter of his own poetry.
At the Toponica Local Office, Ljubomir recorded village life in official registers. In poetry, he gave that same village memory, scent, colour, and voice. His public service and poetic calling became a single chronicle of the people and the land to which he belonged.
Our late grandfather, Blagoje Janković, published the book Toponica in Šumadija in 1999 after years spent collecting family, historical, economic, and ethnographic material. Ljupče continued that family devotion to Toponica through verse. Today, both voices express the same desire to preserve the memory of their homeland.
The surviving television excerpt restores one of the essential dimensions of Ljubomir's poetry. We hear how a poem arose during work, how it remained in memory, and how it was spoken before another person.
Nebojša LukovićLjubomir's brother
Ljupče could be many things: a poet, a passionate and extraordinary interpreter of his own verse, and, in the next instant, a blue-blooded farmer of Gruža.
Marko Marković, Poetry with the Power of Goodness
On the Birth of His Poems and The Life of a Peasant
Ljubomir describes how verses came to him while he worked in the fields of Gruža, then recites the poem The Life of a Peasant.
Read the English transcript
The presenter introduces Ljubomir and asks how inspiration comes to him.
Ljubomir explains that poems arise from inner unrest, troubled dreams, and a need to set a poem down in words. He usually writes in the fields of Gruža, beside the river, in the homeland where he was born. He returned to agriculture after leaving another job. Some people say that he took Dobrica Erić’s verse and style. He leaves that judgment to the audience and says that he writes because he feels a deep need to do so.
He describes himself as an entirely anonymous poet. A few of his poems had reached friends, and he had recently prepared a poem for an artists’ gathering in Borač. He had yet to publish a book.
Asked when inspiration arrives, Ljubomir says that it comes of its own accord. He cannot decide in advance that he will sit down and write a poem. Many poems came to him at work in the fields. One was born while he was milking cows. He stopped halfway through the task so that he could write the lines down.
He then recites The Life of a Peasant. The poem follows the peasant year from winter and Christmas through sowing, haymaking, harvest, taxes, full barns, livestock feed, gardens, wine, and rakija. Its humour accompanies a serious portrait of labour. The final lines say that farmers sell their produce for next to nothing and live that way until their hair turns grey.
A Book About Toponica
Blagoje Janković, grandfather of Ljubomir and Nebojša, speaks about the years he spent collecting material for Toponica in Šumadija and the archives in which he researched the village's history.
Read the English transcript
The presenter recalls that Toponica once had twenty-eight houses and ninety-four adult inhabitants. He introduces Blagoje Janković and his book Toponica in Šumadija, a village chronicle that grew from several years of research.
Asked how the idea arose, Blagoje says that his interest began in childhood. While tending livestock around the village, he asked older people about Toponica’s past. About ten years before the interview, he decided to turn that long curiosity into a book.
He stresses that writing a village history is a demanding task. A great deal has to be researched and studied. He consulted records in the Historical Archive and museum in Kragujevac, the Archives of Serbia in Belgrade, and civil registers that preserve births and marriages. Those sources allowed him to assemble the history recorded in Toponica in Šumadija.
Brotherhood and Friendship
Two Brothers, Two Bjus
Nebojša Luković is Ljubomir's first cousin. An only child, he regarded Ljubomir as his own brother and closest friend. Since childhood they had called each other Bju.
Although they had different interests and lived in different places, they always understood one another, remained close, and treasured the time they spent together. Nebojša dedicated this site to his brother, his poems, and the memory preserved by family and friends.
Nebojša Luković
A Farewell Speech for My Brother
My dear brother,
Saying farewell to someone dear is always difficult. To say farewell to one's dearest brother and friend feels impossible. How can words of comfort be found for a mother, sister, wife, brother, godfather, and so many friends? Such words do not exist.
How can I say farewell to you now? I know I must, although my whole being resists. I cannot and do not wish to, yet I shall try, because you truly deserve these words.
Today we bid farewell to a great man: extraordinary, timeless, incomparable, unique, yet close to every one of us. We bid farewell to an artist and poet who remained a man of the people and a friend to us all.
How can such a man leave us?
I say that you were a friend to us all. Was there anyone whom Ljubomir Janković did not help? Anyone to whom he failed to offer support in hardship, comfort in sorrow, or congratulations in joy? How many young couples did you marry as registrar? How much did you give for those closest to you: your son, sister, father, mother, grandparents, wife, all of us, and so many people both known and unknown?
How can such a man leave us?
What justice can explain this? My mind and heart cannot understand.
My brother, our pride, this is a tribute to you and to the highest human virtues that you embodied. It honours humanity, nobility, love, goodness, hard work, sacrifice, honesty, honour, creativity, and so much more.
So many wonderful people have come today to bid you farewell and greet you one final time, my brother. My Bju.
If any comfort is possible, your suffering has finally ended. You are in heaven now, in a better place, with your father, grandparents, other ancestors, and friends.
You once wrote in one of your beautiful poems:
Do not grieve for earthly being
in the new home of the ancient hearth.
Our brother, know this: we who remain shall guard you from oblivion. We shall call you back in memory and speak your name in conversation. The memory of you and your noble life among us will never fade. Thank you for the gift of having you with us.
Our brother, may the earth rest lightly upon you. Eternal gratitude and glory be yours.
Marko S. Marković
For Ljubomir Janković
The leaves had yet to fall from the hills of Gruža. They had withstood the early autumn frosts so their rustling might greet Ljupče one final time.
No one loved Gruža and her swift waters more than Ljubomir Janković of Toponica in Gruža. In these troubled times, no one proved more worthy of the renowned forebears of this region.
Known for his honesty, directness, clarity, and resonant voice, Ljubo won people over through his presence and speech. Born in a metropolis, he might have become a major artist or a statesman of the highest order. His own Gruža and Toponica meant more to him than fame or applause. His poems revealed how deeply his tender poetic soul could love and give to others without seeking any reward.
When I first heard him recite Terpsichore in a tavern in Toponica, I fell silent in wonder and admiration. His bearing, freedom, and strength reminded me of Karađorđe; the power and clarity of his voice recalled Danilo Lazović.
Several years later, I asked whether he wished to gather his verse into a book. Ljupče declined. He wrote poems for poetry and beauty alone.
In these days, earthly Gruža lost one of her finest standard-bearers. Heavenly Gruža rejoices in his arrival. There, upon her celestial banks, he raises a glass to the people of Grivac, Oplanić, and Toponica. Dragiša Vitošević and Živadin Stevanović come to meet him, eager to hear Terpsichore from the poet himself.
Terpsichore
The clouds let fall their drops of silver rain
and washed the noble fields and wooded land.
The leaves waved melodies from every tree
while on the skyline arched a rainbow's band.
A whirlwind took a haystack from the field
and raised it lightly as a feather's flight.
The wind then shaped the figure of a Muse,
most like Terpsichore revealed to sight.
The blessed vision, borne upon the wind,
set out along the distant vault of sky.
In silence she danced gently over hues
that Mother Nature gives to earth on high.
O you, the daughter of the ancient gods,
untouched by any naked mortal view!
My beggar soul still wanders through the world
and sees in you the woman that I love.
Ljupče, brother of Gruža, may the earth rest lightly upon you.
Marko S. Marković
Posthumous Edition
About the Book
The collection The Scent of a Gruža Field was published in 2019 by the Svitak publishing workshop of the Razvigor Literary Society in Požega and the Centre for Culture and Library in Knić. Work on gathering the poems began in March 2019; editing and proofreading concluded in July. The book contains 63 poetic titles, while its acknowledgements note that surviving material may support a future expanded edition.
- 83pages
- 170copies
- 2019year
- 978-86-7960-247-3ISBN
Write to Us
Contact
If you have a question, memory, or information about Ljubomir and his work, please send a message through this form.