Post--World War II Croatian poetry finds its roots in the works of two poets: Jure Kastelan and Vesna Parun. These two writers broke with the prewar generation and set the stage for what was to come--a freer, more flexible poetic expression. A leading postwar Croatian poet, Jure Kastelan introduced several modern trends into Croatian poetic expression. Especially noteworthy is the personal tone with which he addressed such themes as suffering, sacrifice, war, love, and death. He is also known for linguistic associations and surrealistic wordplay and a subtle lyricism that has been compared to the poetry of Federico García Lorca. Other examples of Lorcian influence on Kastelan include traditional folk intonation, short lines, loosely structured stanzas, parallelism and repetition, and his habit of posing questions which remain unanswered. The themes of nature and lost childhood also appear in the work of both poets. In addition to...