After his return, Topîrceanu published several volumes of wartime recollections: Amintiri din luptele de la Turtucaia ("Memories from Battle of Turtucaia", 1918), În ghiara lor... Amintiri din Bulgaria și schițe ușoare ("In Their Claw... Memories from Bulgaria and Light Sketches", 1920), and Pirin-Planina, epizoduri tragice și comice din captivitate ("Pirin-Planina, Tragic and Comical Episodes from Captivity", 1936), which represent, among others, a vivid depiction of the profound effects that the cholera epidemic had on the morale of Romanian troops during their attempted retreat. He began publishing short verses to increasing critical acclaim. In 1926, he was awarded the National Poetry Prize. Topîrceanu died in Iași in 1937 of liver cancer, and was buried in the city's Eternitatea Cemetery. Streets are named after him in Berceni, Chișinău, Craiova, Hunedoara, Iași, Mediaș, Miroslava, Otopeni, Ploiești, Sibiu, and Suceava. Schools in Bucharest and Mioveni are also named after him. Works Poetry His three main volumes of poetry, Balade vesele şi triste ("Ballads, Merry and Sad"), Parodii originale ("Original Parodies") and Migdale amare ("Bitter Almonds"), are a compelling mixture of humor and delicate lyricism. Topîrceanu's favorite device is to switch, without warning, from biting sarcasm to genuine sentiment and vice versa, often with beguiling ease. In his own words he aimed to: through jest, render tears all too clear. Topîrceanu's most celebrated pieces, such as Balada unui greier mic ("The Ballad of a Tiny Cricket") and Rapsodii de toamnă ("Fall Rhapsodies") can be enjoyed for their flowing verse, on an infantile level, as well as appreciated for carefully constructed metaphors, incisive humor and contemplative ambiance. Other, more muscular and less lyrical pieces such as Acceleratul ("The Bullet Train") and Cioara ("The Crow"), display his command of the Romanian language, with cascading similes and emphatic rhythms. Prose Topîrceanu wrote many satirical pieces, almost all first published as articles. His prose works were collected in several volumes: Memories from the Battle of Turtucaia (Bucharest, 1918), In their claw... Memories from Bulgaria and Light Sketches (Jassy, 1920), Letters with No Address, Humorous and Pessimistic Prose (Bucharest, 1930), Pirin-Planina, Tragic and Comic Episodes from Captivity (Bucharest, 1936). He also left an unfinished novella, Minunile Sfântului Sisoe ("The Wonders of Saint Sisoe"), published posthumously in 1938. Presence in English language poetry anthologies References External links 1886 births 1937 deaths Deaths from liver cancer Writers from Bucharest Romanian children's writers Romanian humorists Romanian magazine editors 20th-century Romanian poets Romanian male