In the struggle against traditional verse-making, [Popa's] poetry, like that of Miodrag Pavlović, played a prominent role and contributed decisively to the victory of the modernists. Since [his first book of verse, Kora], he has gained steadily in stature and popularity; today he is considered one of the best, if not the best, of contemporary Yugoslav poets. (p. 24)
Popa's world displays unique features. From the very first he showed a predilection for objects, for specifics rather than generalities, for the concrete rather than the abstract. As if to restore the equilibrium disturbed in his early manhood during the war, he felt a need to call everything by its proper name, to relegate each object to its appointed place. Among his first poems there are those entitled simply "A Chair," "A Violin," "A Plate," "Papers," "The Quartz-Stone." From this basic desire, however, he takes a step further in his attempt to penetrate the outer shell of objects (kora means "crust") and to arrive at their core. One gets the impression that he stares persistently at an inanimate object until it begins to breathe and to move…. The secret of Popa's propensity for things lies in that they are not things for him but beings, which only the sixth sense or the inner eye of a poet can discern. Moreover, he likes to use them as symbols for his own concepts and attitudes.
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