Evening Songs and Songs of the Slav
An Anthology of Modern Bohemian Poetry
Various Authors
9781465642851
313 pages
Library of Alexandria
Overview
Vítězslav Hálek, whose little volume of verses is herewith presented to the reader in English translation, belonged to the romantic and lyric school of Czech poesy during the second half of the last century. He was born in 1835 and died in 1874. From his first appearance in literature in 1858 he held his nation at attention and enjoyed its admiration and love for twenty years. During that time he produced a line of works touching upon nearly all classes of writing; however, the lyric string of his lyre proved to be the most charming one, and this little volume of Evening Songs proved to be his culminating point. As an expression of fragrant effusions of feeling it always appealed to the tenderness of youthful hearts and was eagerly sought and read, so that the book in the original appeared in many editions. Should the little volume bring real pleasure to the reader and induce others to open wider the doors to the rich and charming Czech literature for the readers in English, the effort of the translator would be well rewarded. Although the Czecho-Slovaks have a great literature, particularly rich in poetry, but very little has been introduced to the American public. This has perhaps been due mainly to the fact that the Czechs did not possess their independence and consequently were considered an insignificant nation submerged within the shadows of the former Austro-Hungarian empire. Since the World War has resulted in liberating oppressed nationalities, and Czecho-Slovakia has again regained her ancient independence, undoubtedly a greater opportunity will be offered to learn more about the language and literature of that liberty loving people. As is usually the case with a nation held in subjugation, so with the Czecho-Slovaks, their poets kept alive the national spirit until their liberation. The purpose of this little volume is not only to present a few specimens of Czecho-Slovak poetry, but also to show how Czecho-Slovak poets kept the “fires of Liberty” burning, while awaiting “dawn’s redemptory glow.” Of the poets herein represented, Jan Kollár, the Slovak poet, is known as the poet of Pan-Slavism. Vítězslav Hálek was the forerunner of the modern school of poets, instilling idealism and enthusiasm into the then newly resurrected national life. Svatopluk Čech has the distinction of being the most popular of all the Czech poets. Petr Bezruč, “first bard of Bezkyd, and the last,” is the Mountain Poet of (Lower) Silesia. Blowing into a “dying flame,” he has kept alive the Czech national spirit of that region against the combined efforts of the Germans and the Poles. J. S. Machar is the leading poet of Czecho-Slovakia in the present day.
