Desanka Maksimovic's poems for children

Abstract

What one can notice first when reading Desanka Maksimović's poems for children is the thematic diversity and richness of motifs highly lyrical and emotion inspired poetic structures. For this reason, the aforementioned characteristics will be used as guidelines that will guide the analysis of her poems, with play as a constant subtext and moral as a dominant principle of poetics in literature for children. Nature and its changes, animal and plant life, various characters, personalities and actions of children are the poetess's constant inspiration on which she builds poetic creations close to the child reader. By registering both entertaining and educational principles in her poems, one can notice a pedagogical impulse which thanks to the kind of procédé works seamlessly and directly to the recipient. Although to some extent mimicking relationship to the Zmaj's poetry can not be denied, it can be concluded that highly lyrical lines of her poetry, verses interwoven with emotion and unobtrusive pedagogy, are legitimate reasons why Serbian critical thought often valued poetry of Desanka Maksimović as more prominent attainment in terms of the history of Serbian poetry for children.