What for a song is its melody, for a poem is its rhyme. This is not
just my own belief, but one shared by many others, especially by
poets of nineteen century. As to living body is the heart what
gives it regular rhythm, the same does rhyme and melody for the
poetry and music. It could be argued that in the eyes of many,
there are some remarkable songs without a trace of any distinct
melody and the same could be said about poetry without rhyme. It
could be also said that there are uncounted statues, modeled on
living bodies, beautiful, but not alive. What is in all of them
missing, is that pounding heart. This is a collection of selected
work of Bohemian romantic poets from the nineteen century. From
times, which I believe, the European civilization was reaping its
greatest cultural accomplishments. Literature and music composed at
that time is still remembered and highly praised. Czechs would have
next to nothing of their cultural heritage, if it wasn't for
Bedrich Smetana and Antonin Dvorak, for Macha, Erben, Vrchlicky and
many others from that century. Similarly, most other nations also
draw their most famous representatives of their culture exactly
from the same era. In this translation I tried, as much as I was
able, to adhere to poetry's original form, with corresponding
meaning and rhyming sentences. Particularly in Macha's "May" I
dutifully copied his sometimes "chaotic" style, as some of his
critics claimed when it was first self-published in 1836. After his
death his work was appreciated though, and despite all his
contemporary critics, he is now recognized as the greatest Bohemian
poet. This book contains only a small selection of authors and even
smaller selection of their poetry. Since I was guided only by my
preferences and limitations, it might not represent exactly the
typical poetry of these poets. However, I believe that this
selection will give you, the reader, at least a succinct
reflection, just a mere glimpse, into Bohemian poetry of the
eighteen century. My illustrations in this book are there only to
help you to construct an appropriate time frame with corresponding
scenes, depicted in each piece of poetry. They are unfortunately
inadequate and are only imaginary glimpses of that long forgotten
romantic world, into which this poetry will hopefully lure you.
George Dlouhy
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