Peyo Yavorov is generally considered one of the finest poetic talents of the turn of the century in Bulgaria. Although a prominent member of the Misul group, an intellectual circle of writers and thinkers gathered about Krustyo Krustev's journal Misul (Thought), he had little formal education--unlike Pencho Slaveykov, for example--and was not even especially interested in literature. Indeed, in his later years he once declared that he had "never cared for poetry." In addition, he displayed little self-discipline in his writing: he was preeminently a lyric poet who produced short pieces that he did not bother to rework. Despite all this, he had an innate poetic gift that was evident even in writings lacking in shape or organization.

Yavorov was born Peyo Kracholov on 1 January 1878, the year of his country's liberation, in the small town of Chirpan, located between Plovdiv and Stara Zagora. His family was relatively well-to-do...