Portrait : Ruzar Briffa

Abstract

Ruzar Briffa (1906 - 1963), born at Valletta, is one of the more important romantic poets of Malta. His lyrics translate personal sorrow into a universal vision of human suffering and express in a sentimental way his attitude towards life seen as a difficult condition in which man is solitary and largely unable to understand himself and be understood by the outer world. He succeeds in blending together daily experience and a basically negative intuition of life. His vast medical experience, especially with the lepers, is the most significant point of reference of his inspiration and one can hardly distinguish the medical doctor from the poet in him. Briffa is always conscious of suffering as the supreme adventure of existence.