Poem ‘Love in the Corona Time’ by Maja Herman Sekulić has been written at the time when the whole world has been gripped by a plague of unprecedented proportions. The Coronavirus pandemic that suddenly broke out in all four corners of the globe at the beginning of 2020 has left many people scared and forced overnight to change their lives and habits. During her days in quarantine in her hometown of Belgrade, on the day of the Equinox and the Spring arrival (also on the occasion of the Poetry Day), internationally ac- claimed Serbian author Maja Herman Sekulić was inspired to write this poem. That moment was: ‘a sign of new life, positive energy and a poetic inspiration’. The Author by writing this poem wanted to bring hope to this tragic moment that like a black cloud hung over the entire planet.

This poem, written in one breath, summarizes all that the world suffered during these pandemics days. In a short time, the poem ‘Love in the Corona Time’ achieved planetary success as an anthem of hope. It soon started to get new translations that made it accessible to large number of readers around the world in multiple languages. Interestingly enough the great Russian poet Pushkin while being under the same circumstance as Maja Herman Sekulić in self-isolation and quarantine during the cholera epidemic of 1827, wrote a poem where he says: ‘Let us rise in spirit and make us closer and better to each other’ and that is exactly what our poet tried to convey.

Realizing the importance of the author’s idea at the end of April 2020, Association Alia Mundi for Promoting Cultural Diversity initiated a multicultural poetry and art project called ‘Poem that united the World’ in addition to Virginia Boden’s initiative to launch the translation of this poem into multiple foreign languages.

It is important to mention that a large number of people from all over the world have worked on this project starting from translators to artists who gave significant contributions not only to this very project, but also to the idea that we can fight this plague with the strong creative spirit of Poetry and Art.

This publication aims to show the importance of Poetry, an its strength in the most difficult times for humankind, and that a single poem can connect the whole planet. The poem ‘Love in the Corona Time’ shows that Poetry knows no boundaries as one of the pillars of multiculturalism, and one of the most powerful ‘cultural connectors’ among nations as author Maja Herman Sekulić acts as the global icon of Poetry and Serbian cultural ambassador. The unique importance of this poem for the Serbian culture will be recognized in the years to come.

马贾·赫尔曼·塞库利奇（Maja Herman Sekulić）的诗歌《疫下之爱》是在全世界都被空前规模的瘟疫所笼罩的时候写成的。2020年初在全球四个地区，突然爆发的新型冠状病毒让许多人感到了恐惧，不得不很快地改变了自己的生活习惯。当她在家乡贝尔格莱德隔离的日子里，于春分的那一天（也是在世界诗歌日的时候），国际诗坛发表了塞尔维亚作家马贾·赫尔曼·塞库利奇（Maja Herman Sekulić）在有了灵感写下的这首诗。那一刻就像是：“新生命的象征，正能量和诗意的灵感”。作者写这首诗，是想给这悲剧性的像乌云笼罩的时刻与世界带来希望。

这首诗，一气呵成，描绘了世界上所有遭受了此疫情的地方的生活场景。在很短的时间内，这首诗歌作为一首希望之歌获得了全球的赞誉。它很快被翻译成多种文字，使之可以不断流通。有趣的是，伟大的俄罗斯诗人普希金在1827年霍乱流行期间写下的作品，与马贾·赫尔曼·塞库利奇隔离时期写的作品高度相似，普希金曾写过：“让我们振作起来，让我们彼此更亲近、更美好”，这也正是我们的诗人要传递的意思。

意识到诗人这个大爱的重要性，在2020年4月底，Alia Mundi杂志——促进文化多样性协会发起了一个多文化诗歌和艺术的项目，名为“团结世界的诗歌”，此外，弗吉尼亚·博登（Virginia Boden）也倡议将这首诗歌翻译成多国文字。

值得一提的是，从翻译人员到艺术家，来自世界各地的诗人作者都参与了这个项目，他们不仅为这个项目做出了重大贡献，而且也为我们能够用诗歌和艺术的强烈创作精神战胜这场疫情的想法作出了重要的贡献。

这本书的目的是展示诗歌的重要性，和一首诗在人类最困难时期可展现的力量，一首诗可以串联起整个地球。《疫下之爱》这首诗说明，诗歌作为多元文化的支柱之一，是无国界的，也是民族间最强大的“文化纽带”之一，作家马贾·赫尔曼·塞库利奇（Maja Herman Sekulić）是诗歌的全球偶像和塞尔维亚的文化大使。这首诗对塞尔维亚文化的独特重要性将在未来几年得到承认。