Antonín Sova: Difference between revisions
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|source=—Entering verses of ''To Theodor Mommsen'' translated by [[Paul Selver]] for ''[[The New Age]]'', 1916<ref>The New Age, A weekly review of politics, literature, and art, 23 March 1916 [http://library.brown.edu/pdfs/1140814442983672.pdf] {{En icon}}</ref> |
|source=—Entering verses of ''To Theodor Mommsen'' translated by [[Paul Selver]] for ''[[The New Age]]'', 1916<ref>The New Age, A weekly review of politics, literature, and art, 23 March 1916 [http://library.brown.edu/pdfs/1140814442983672.pdf] {{En icon}}</ref> |
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[[Theodor Mommsen]] wrote a nationalist letter addressed to Germans in Austria (''An die Deutschen in Österreich'') and it was published in Vienna's ''Neue Freie Presse''. <ref name="Pozdrav"/> Mommsen called [[Czechs]] "apostles of barbarism" and wrote that "the Czech skull is impervious to reason, but it is susceptible to blows". <ref>{{cite web |url=http://anno.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/anno?apm=0&aid=nfp&datum=18971031&seite=1&zoom=2 |title=An die Deutschen in Oesterreich |publisher=Neue Freie Presse - issue 11923 |date=31 October 1897}}</ref> Antonín Sova wrote an answer in verses ''To Theodor Mommsen''. |
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The poem, in which he calls Mommsen "covetous dotard" or "arrogant spokesmen of slavery" became the national answer to the German imperialism of that time and Sova started to be the prominent poet of his generation. <ref name="Pozdrav"/> |
The poem, in which he calls Mommsen "covetous dotard" or "arrogant spokesmen of slavery" became the national answer to the German imperialism of that time and Sova started to be the prominent poet of his generation. <ref name="Pozdrav"/> |
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Revision as of 14:21, 23 February 2014
Antonín Sova (26 February 1864, Pacov – 16 August 1928, Pacov) was a Czech poet and the director of Prague Municipal Library.
Life
He was born in Pacov, a small town in South Bohemia, then part of Austrian Empire but since the age of two he grew up in nearby Lukavec. [1] His father Jan was a teacher and choirmaster who occasionally composed. [2] His mother died when he was 15 and his father married again (Sova never found positive relationship to his stepmother Sabina). [1] In Lukavec Antonín got acquainted with sisters of Jaroslav Vrchlický. He studied grammar school in Pelhřimov, Tábor, and from 1881 to 1886 in Písek. He met the Písek-based poet Adolf Heyduk who helped him publish first poems in literary magazines (he used pen-names Ilja Georgov and for Lumír Valburga Turková). [1] At the school he got the worst possible mark for morales because he ignored the interdict and wore Czech tricolore tie in a park. [1] He started studying law in Prague but he did not finish for lack of money. [2] Jaroslav Vrchlický helped him find employment in Otto's encyclopedia editorial department which lasted for only a year. [1] His next job was at medical department of the Prague municipality. Eventually, from 1898 till he retired, he worked as a director of Prague Municipal Library. [1] He got married with almost 20 years younger Marie Kovaříková in 1900 and had a son Jan with her a year later. [3] Their marriage broke up after several years, though. The poet got a disease that paralised him for last two decades of his life (probably syphilis). [1] After the constitution of Czechoslovakia in 1918 he lived in Prague and was often visited by younger poets of various styles and political inclination. [1] In 1924 he moved "in his horsehair grave" to Pacov where he died on an August stormy night in 1928. [1] The funeral took place in Prague but his ashes were taken to a granite stone in Pacov. [1]
Early literary career
In 1897 Sova was among writers who established the first Czech official literary association called Máj. [1] His first published poetry collections were Realistické sloky (Realistic strophes, 1890), Květy intimních nálad (Flowers of Intimate Moods, 1891), Z mého kraje (From My Country, 1893), Soucit a vzdor (Compassion and Defiance, 1894), and Zlomená duše (Broken Soul, 1895). Sova was a keen supporter of the progressive national movement of the 1890s connected with the Omladina Trial. [1] Together with 11 other writers he signed the manifesto called Česká moderna in 1895 to demand free speech, social refroms and individualism in art. The reflection of the manifesto in Sova's work is the collection Vybouřené smutky (Uprisen Griefs, 1897)
Theodor Mommsen case
To you, who have treacherously assailed my nation, covetous dotard,
Brutish, overweening! To you, on the brink of the grave,
Arrogant bastard of Roman emperors and conquering Germania.
To you, dotard, blinded by vainglory,
I chant the infuriate song of a barbarian, aroused by the smiting of hoofs.
With metallic buffetings
Scornfully I smite your enwrinkled visage,
O bestial fanatic of relentless kaiserdom;
Your shrivelled temples I smite, your turgid Neronic lips I smite
Covered with foaming of impotent fury!
—Entering verses of To Theodor Mommsen translated by Paul Selver for The New Age, 1916[4]
Theodor Mommsen wrote a nationalist letter addressed to Germans in Austria (An die Deutschen in Österreich) and it was published in Vienna's Neue Freie Presse. [1] Mommsen called Czechs "apostles of barbarism" and wrote that "the Czech skull is impervious to reason, but it is susceptible to blows". [5] Antonín Sova wrote an answer in verses To Theodor Mommsen.
The poem, in which he calls Mommsen "covetous dotard" or "arrogant spokesmen of slavery" became the national answer to the German imperialism of that time and Sova started to be the prominent poet of his generation. [1]
Later work
- Údolí nového království (Valley of a New Kingdom, 1900), Dobrodružství odvahy (Adventures of Courage, 1906) – collections of social poetry, the new utopian kingdom is a symbol of hope
- Ještě jednou se vrátíme (We Will Return Once More,1900) – intimate poetry about passionate love and life bitternessvášnivé lásce a hořkosti života
- Lyriky lásky a života (Lyrics of Love and Life,1907), Drsná láska (Scathing Love,1927) – collections of poems about falling to and sobering from love
- Povídky a menší črty (1903), O milkování, lásce a zradě (1909) – collections of short stories
- Ivův román (Ivo's Novel, 1902), Výpravy chudých (The Poor's Tours, 1903), Tóma Bojar (1910) – psychological and social novels
- Pankrác Budecius, kantor (Pankrác Budecius the Teacher, 1916) – novel about a rural teacher in the 18th century
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Josef Zika: Cesta básníkova, životopisná poznámka in Pozdrav bouřlivé noci, Prague 1964, p. 87-104 Template:Cs icon
- ^ a b Čeští spisovatelé 19. a počátku 20. století, Prague 1982, p. 241-245 Template:Cs icon
- ^ Minucipal Library of Písek: Antonín Sova [1] Template:Cs icon
- ^ The New Age, A weekly review of politics, literature, and art, 23 March 1916 [2] Template:En icon
- ^ "An die Deutschen in Oesterreich". Neue Freie Presse - issue 11923. 31 October 1897.
External links
- Biography and works (in Czech)
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