“A Literary Gem: now accessible to the English-speaking world”
— Draugas News

Metūgės [New Shoots] (Lithuanian book of linked poems)
by Birutė Pūkelevičiūtė (1923–2007)

First complete translation (2023; revised)
by Aušra Kubilius

“I reflected that the axis of Metūgės revolves around the loneliness of a young woman—in a foreign country . . . in the aftermath of a terrible war.”
— the poet’s introduction

Young forest witches, my young mothers,
suckled me with sweet milk. Stars fell
through my fingers.
So I am like a new shoot — green and
without curse.
— “My Mothers” (Section 5)

Startling images suffuse these poems, many of them explorations of uneasy love by a passionate female “I.” The speaker engages with nature, sexuality, motherhood, gender roles, religion, God, war, death, and rebirth. The tone ranges from contemplative to defiant, enraged to exultant.  

Metūgės was first published in Canada in 1952, well before the second wave of feminism. Delving into a woman’s beliefs, desires, and experiences (real or imagined), this dramatic free verse initially faced harsh criticism from some shocked émigré reviewers. Later, Pūkelevičiūtė was hailed as an innovative, prescient poet by literary critics and admirers in Lithuania and beyond.

For the first time, the entire sequence has been translated into English: 33 linked poems that also stand alone as compelling vignettes. On this website, you can read the 11 poems highlighted in the Table of Contents. (A print publisher is sought for the complete volume.)

Most of the poems are untitled. The “p” numbers shown with the English translations (p9, etc.) refer to the page numbers of the original poems in the first Lithuanian edition (see Metūgės-1 for a facsimile of the book).

A second edition, published in 1997 in Lithuania, included a poignant introduction by the poet herself (see Metūgės-2 for a translation of the introduction). A third edition appeared in 2026.

For a translator’s note and a list of selected resources, please see About.

Poems