Svatopluk ÄŒech

Svatopluk Čech ( born February 21, 1846 in Ostředek at Benešov, Bohemia, † February 23, 1908 in Prague) was Czech poet, prose writer, journalist and world traveler. He was born the son of an estate manager.

Life

In Prague he attended high school and later studied law. He wrote for the magazines Ruch and Květy, and from 1871 he was editor of Světozor. 1873 to 1876, he moved to Lumír, and worked briefly for Národní listy. In 1873 he was a member of a law practice in Slany, but then switched in the same year to Prague.

He traveled like and visited the Caucasus, Croatia, Denmark, Poland, Italy and Paris. The end of his life he spent in Prague, where according to him, a bridge and a park are named.

Works

His work is characterized by extreme national commitment associated with socially critical elements. He is primarily a poet, but also wrote prose, the " Travels of Mr. Broucek ", not least because of the setting as an opera by Leoš Janáček, his still best-known work is.

His works are strongly influenced by Karel Hynek Macha. He wrote mostly epics with many comparisons and descriptions with which he interrupts the course of his stories. He describes the feelings of the bourgeoisie. He often returns to the past, his verses are patriotic, he deals with democratic thought and social justice.

In the historical epic The Hussite on the Baltic ( Husita na Baltu ) he compares the Hussite wars with the interpersonal relationships among people. In Václav Michalovice he depicts a story from the time after the Battle of White Mountain. Europe ( Evropa ) is a symbolic epic. The story takes place on the sea. There will be a revolt on the ship Europe. Main idea is the unity of the Slavs. The Blacksmith of Lešetín ( Lešetínský kovář ) is a social novel. In the shade of the lime (Ve stínu lípy ) is an idyllic epic of return of Bohemia to the country, in the Bohemian countryside - homecoming. In reality, there are childhood memories of the author.

In the lyrical work, The Songs of dawn ( Jitřní písně ) is placed on the verse satire with socialist ideas. He introduces himself in the role of the People's speaker. The poems have a meditative character. In the work, the songs of the slaves ( písně otroka ) with 23 poems, published in 1895, is a response to political events. He wanted to shake up the people, because he suspected that the people are oppressed. It is an allegory of the struggle against oppression. The book was very popular.

In the satire, he describes a monkey Hanuman State - a satire on the Austria - Hungarian monarchy. In hawk contrasting turtledove ( Jestrab contrasting Hrdlicka ) he tells the satirical and humorous manner on the history of Matěj Brouček. This is a typical petty bourgeois, greedy, jealous. He comes to the Hussites and here shows his cowardice. Other works dealt with the Hussites and stories from the field of lawyers.

• Ve stínu lípy, idyllic epic, Prague 1879 ( dramatization: R. Jurda, 1946)
• Výlet pana Broučka do Měšice, 1888
• Nový epochální výlet pana Broučka tentokráte do století 15, 1889 ( setting of both stories as an opera in two parts by Leoš Janáček, UA 1920)
• Písně otroka, cycle of political poems, Prague 1895 (German songs of a slave, Verlag JHW Dietz Nachf., Stuttgart 1897)
• The Adamites, German Dresden 1912
• Dagmar, German Dresden 1923
• Novellas, German Leipzig o.J.
• Under books and people. Narrative, GV Leipzig o.J.