{"id":70241,"date":"2024-07-03T16:27:46","date_gmt":"2024-07-03T14:27:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/?p=70241"},"modified":"2024-07-03T16:29:57","modified_gmt":"2024-07-03T14:29:57","slug":"ismail-kadare-is-escorted-to-his-final-resting-place","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/ismail-kadare-is-escorted-to-his-final-resting-place\/","title":{"rendered":"The colossus of Albanian literature, Ismail Kadare, is escorted to his final resting place"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"s3\"><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">Homages in honor of Ismail <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">Kadare<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\"> were held in the premises of the <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">Theater<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\"> of the Opera and Ballet<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">,<\/span><\/span> <span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">with the participation of <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">personalities from the political and cultural life as w<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">ell as diplomats of the country.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s3\"><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">There were also many citizens who accompanied the writer <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">Kadare<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\"> with applause and flowers.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s3\"><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">After the tributes and the state ceremony, Ismail <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">Kadare<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\"> was escorted <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">to his final resting place<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s3\"><strong>Prime Minister Edi Rama\u2019s speech:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"s3\"><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">This shadow of Mother Teresa on Is<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">mail&#8217;s body was not brought by those who <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">prepared this state ceremony.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s3\"><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">It was here.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s3\"><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">It had come before.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s3\"><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">This<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\"> hall was occupied and Mother Teresa<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">\u2019s shadow<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\"> could not be moved<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\"> due to a performance scheduled for tonight. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s3\"><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">Leave it there, I told them, <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">nothing will suit<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\"> better.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s3\"><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">Chances brought Ismail here, under her shadow, she, the<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">Albanian who belongs to the world, <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">conducting the passing away ceremony <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">of <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">another <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">Albanian who belongs to the world.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s3\"><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">Knowing <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">him, Ismaili would feel protected by all those <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">who loved him, or loved him not. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s3\"><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">In the meantime, since the news of the death of Ismail <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">Kadare<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">got out, in the frequent message box of my usual days, opinions came to me, driven by a strange anxiety about his burial place.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s3\"><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">I was reading them and I remembered Ismaili.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s3\"><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">I tried to imagine how he would take those unsolicited proposals to bury him at the <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">Frash\u00ebri<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\"> Brothers, at the park in front of <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">Rogner<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">, at the green field behind the prime minister&#8217;s office, at the Cemetery of Martyrs of the National &#8211; Liberation War, and up to the Cemetery of Martyrs in Kosovo.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s3\"><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">I know just like that coffin where his body lies, that if I had been able to show him my vigil for this ceremony yesterday evening, there in <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">Durr\u00ebs<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\"> by the seaside house, where he closed himself off to watch his own sunset like a spectator descending from a long life at its zenith, he would have been very amused &#8211; and as Gabriel Garcia Marquez said, he would have been furious that he c<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">ould no<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">t attend his own funeral.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s3\"><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">When Helena herself sent word that she only wanted my words at his funeral, remaining loyal as always to her Isi, who had a severe allergy to gatherings, <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">honors<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">, and especially speeches, she chose, I believe, the lesser evil.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s3\"><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">An unavoidable speech for the occasion, but <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">at least from someone who does no<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">t speak just out of duty, but also as someone with whom Ismail shared the pleasure of infrequent conversations.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s3\"><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">Thus, this special <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">honor<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">, besides being a heavy burden of responsibility, right next to the coffin of the man who elevated the Albanian language to its most unattainable peak and Albanian literature to the pantheon of the world of letters, also became an overwhelming discomfort for me, as rare as facing Ismail\u2019s mocking face towards gatherings, <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">honors<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">, and speeches<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">, similar to an <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">exam.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s3\"><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">In fact, as soon as I learned of his death and thought about the inevitability of preparing the ceremony, along with my inability to avoid involvement in the gathering, <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">honor<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">, and speech, <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">an<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">image<\/span><\/span> <span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">stuck <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">in my mind like a postage stamp, that of <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">his discomfort during the ceremony of his decoration with the highest grade of the Legion of <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">Honor<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\"> by the President of F<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">rance at the Palace of Brigades.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s3\"><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">And since the special state funeral commission began to come to life, and parallel clashes of opinions both on stage and behind the scenes about him and his burial place, I felt like a character in Ismail <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">Kadare&#8217;s<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\"> final literary trap, a whirlpool of dreadful dreams in wakefulness, with me as the official of the surreal palace of those dreams.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s3\"><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">A grave was needed. Whoever could, proposed their own, as in a self-declared race, where the one who found the ideal place for the grave of the lifeless body of the author of <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s6\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">&#8220;The General of the Dead Army&#8221;<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\"> and <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s6\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">&#8220;The Fe<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s6\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">stival Committee<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s6\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">&#8220;<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\"> would secure the closest place to him in the afterlife<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\"> too<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s3\"><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">Along with the image of his discomfort, I hear his warning line about death<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s6\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">, &#8220;I will make a sign and leave,&#8221;<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\"> and it seems to me that this unwritten novel about the search for a burial place, where his great brother <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">Naim<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">, whose grave was changed five times, is not absent, and in these feverish hours between reality, history, and literature, they wanted to split <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">h<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">is grave<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\"> in half to place Ismail next to him, like those who were released from prison and put into the houses of the<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\"> living dead of the old regime.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s3\"><span class=\"s6\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">&#8220;This <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s6\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">is what happens<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s6\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\"> when we do not have a pantheon like the rest of the world for the dead heads of the nation,<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">&#8221; said some. Another called for a &#8220;mausoleum,&#8221; assuring us all that unlike the mausoleum of that other man from <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">Gjirokastra<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">, which ended up in ruins urinated upon by the hatred of his former admirers, this one of the young man from <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s6\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">&#8220;Chronicle in Stone&#8221;<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\"> would withstand al<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">l times like a Buddhist temple.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s3\"><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">While I, an involuntary part of this grotesque extension in the real life of <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">Kadare&#8217;s<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\"> world, in the role of the government-authorized official for the proper organization of the funeral, thought that if we built a tower behind Skanderbeg, with m<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">any places<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\"> for all the dead with great names of this country, we might forever close the historical problem of finding the right burial place in such cases. But then I stopped, not only by the real possibility of the overwhelming<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\"> flow of requests for <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">places<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">from so many &#8220;national <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">honors<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">&#8221; done over these years for a multitude of <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">people<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">, but even <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">more so by the idea of creating a long line of the living, who would likely submit along with their relevant CVs, a request to die<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">,<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\"> to se<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">cure a<\/span><\/span> <span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">places<\/span><\/span> <span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">in that tower.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s3\"><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">Dear Ismail,<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s3\"><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">I <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">can<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">not<\/span><\/span> <span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">emphasize<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\"> how much I would like to tell you what my eyes saw and what my mind said while dealing with your funeral, but at least I have to thank you with this unwritten novella, which is<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\"> undoubtedly that sign that you said<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\"> would do before you left, and even the answer <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">to my questions of why you do not write again, when you replied:<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\"> Because<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\"> I have said it all.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s3\"><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">I could not obey, and it seemed a sin to me that his pen was lying lifeless somewhere in the house by the sea. But today I am fully convinced that Ismail <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">Kadareja<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\"> told the truth of all that he had to say, and I have no doubt that this country will never disappoint him in that stubborn belief of his, because he will never repeat it with himself, perhaps in new ways, but without saying anything new, everything he said about him and who lived or will live in him.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s3\"><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">Therefore, among all, I say, no longer in the unsolicited role of the character of the newly lived novel, but simply in the function of the spokesperson here and of the Albanian government and not simply of someone who thinks like this, Ismail <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">Kadareja<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">deserves to rest in a house all his.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s3\"><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">Not with the martyrs, because he was neither a martyr nor did he have the desire or willingness to become a martyr.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s3\"><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">Not with the <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">Frash\u00ebri<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\"> brothers, who were among the very few whom he sincerely loved and respected, because they neither owe him to make room for him in their graves, nor did he owe us to stop him from<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\"> his beloved solitude. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s3\"><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">Not at the park in front of <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">Rogner<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">, nor<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\"> at the green field behind the P<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">rime <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">M<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">inister&#8217;s <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">O<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">ffice, because not only does a civilized country <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">refrain from keeping <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">the living and the dead together, in the same open urban environments,<\/span><\/span> <span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">but also because when you think that Ismail ran away as much as possible from places where people gathered, this would be like imposing a fatal sentence on him eternally.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s3\"><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">Ismail <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">Kadareja<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\"> lived as a witness to a word for which he received all <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">the possible praises and honors, <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">and all the praise and possible insults of the country that gave birth to him. He did not receive the Nobel Prize, but remained in the archives of the minutes of the Nobel Committee, the only candidate for whom there is a file of anonymous letters from his compatriots.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s3\"><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">He came, wrote and left.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s3\"><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">We have only one obligation. Let us respect his departure, giving him a final home at the right time and place, where he will not feel threatened either by unsolicited love, by never-desired neighbors<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">, nor<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\"> by gatherings, honors and speeches, <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">especially.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s3\"><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">As for today, it is the legitimate request of his inseparable shadow, Helena, that the temporary placement of his body in <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">Tufina<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\"> be done only in the presence of family members.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s3\"><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">There is no doubt that this would also be Ismail&#8217;s will if he were asked. Therefore, on her behalf, I ask everyone to respect this will and to conclude the tributes at the moment the small family cortege departs from the square here in front towards the city cemetery.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s3\"><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">Concluding my words here, which should end together with the transition of our national writer\u2019s body to his final resting place, where the concluding part of the state ceremony <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">honoring<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\"> Ismail <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">Kadare<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\"> will also be held in the presence of his friends from France and elsewhere, I find it necessary to publicly thank Ismail for a very special gift he has given me and all generations of steadfast lovers of the Albanian language, with the mesmerizing translation of <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">Mayakovsky&#8217;s<\/span><\/span> <span class=\"s6\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">&#8220;<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s6\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">A <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s6\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">Cloud <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s6\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">in Trousers<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s6\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">.&#8221;<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s3\"><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">He knows, I have told him more than once, but I also know today that he would be very pleased if he had the opportunity to be here with eyes and ears<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">,<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\"> at his own funeral, to hear these lines:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s3\"><span class=\"s6\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">Your thought,<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s3\"><span class=\"s6\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">Fantasizing on a sodden brain,<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s3\"><span class=\"s6\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">Like a bloated lackey on a greasy couch sprawling, \u2014<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s3\"><span class=\"s6\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">With my heart\u2019s bloody tatters, I\u2019ll mock it again.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s3\"><span class=\"s6\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">Until I\u2019m contempt, <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s6\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">galling and<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s6\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\"> ruthless.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s3\"><a name=\"_GoBack\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"s3\"><span class=\"s4\"><span class=\"bumpedFont15\">May he rest in peace, for eternity.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Homages in honor of Ismail Kadare were held in the premises of the Theater of the Opera and Ballet, with the participation of personalities from the political and cultural life as well as diplomats of the country. There were also many citizens who accompanied the writer Kadare with applause and flowers. After the tributes and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":70242,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[153,1803],"tags":[521,841,2001,150,243,151,2907],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The colossus of Albanian literature, Ismail Kadare, is escorted to his final resting place - Euronews Albania<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/ismail-kadare-is-escorted-to-his-final-resting-place\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The colossus of Albanian literature, Ismail Kadare, is escorted to his final resting place - Euronews Albania\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Homages in honor of Ismail Kadare were held in the premises of the Theater of the Opera and Ballet, with the participation of personalities from the political and cultural life as well as diplomats of the country. There were also many citizens who accompanied the writer Kadare with applause and flowers. 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