Interwar polemic[edit]

In 1934, his lyrical works were virulently attacked by Nicolae Iorga, who saw th
em as "comprising all of the most repulsive in concept and all of the most trivi
al in shape";[27] such accusations against Arghezi and the group of writers arou
nd him became commonplace in the Iron Guard's press - writing in Sfarma-Piatra,
Vintila Horia accused Arghezi of "a willing adhesion to pornography" and of "bet
rayal".[28] The latter statement centered on Arghezi's earlier collaboration wit
h Gndirea - the newspaper published by Nichifor Crainic, an intellectual figure o
n the far right who shared Arghezi's initial religious traditionalism. Gndirea an
d its affiliated magazines alleged that the influence of Crainic's thought (Gndir
ism) had played a major part in Arghezi's early works,[29] while attacking his J
ewish editors with anti-Semitic slurs (and implying that his works would have de
creased in quality because of their influence).[30] To these, Argezi replied wit
h a dose of irony: "[...] I have never ever read Gndirea, not even when I was con
tributing articles to it".[31]
Shortly before his death, Arghezi reflected upon his status in the interwar peri
od, rendering a dramatic picture:
"[...] for a while, all the cultural institutions were associated against my wri
ting: the University, the Academy, the poets, the press, the police, the courts,
the censorship, the Gendarmerie and even the closest colleagues."[32]
His political attitudes at the time were more complex, and he continued collabor
ation with left-wing magazines such as Diminea?a and Adevarul while expressing s
taunchly monarchist views and support for King Carol II.[26] According to some v
iews, Arghezi developed a sympathy for the Iron Guard towards the end of the 193
0 (his poem Fat-Frumos was contended to be a homage to the movement's leader, Co
rneliu Zelea Codreanu, assassinated in late 1938).[33] This perspective, notably
favored by essayist Alex Mihai Stoenescu,[26] was disputed by the literary crit
ic Ion Simu?, who argued that evidence to support it was sporadic and contradict
ory.[26]