Bohemian literature

“ Bohemian literature, as we possess it, is to a certain extent disappointing and unsatisfactory. In consequence of the wholesale destruction of everything written in Bohemian that continued during more than a century, countless Bohemian books, many of which are known to have been valuable, have disappeared.
Many forms of literature are scarcely represented in Bohemian. No dramatic works worthy of notice exist before the present century. Poetry also is valuable only in the earliest period and in the present century. ”

“ Trusting that my book may do something toward making Bohemian literature better known, I send my poor little book out into the wide world of intellectual thought, feeling sure that all will sympathize with my effort, and that some may even feel pleasure in reading the songs of long ago. ”

“ These facts, which are probably new to many, will prepare our readers to hear that the Bohemian literature of the fourteenth century—although almost destroyed by the Jesuits, who, for 150 years, hunted for, and burned Bohemian books; and, until thirty years ago, almost lost out of sight, even in Bohemia is as rich, if not the richest of all, produced in that century, by any country of Europe. ”

“ One noteworthy phase of Bohemian literature is the care with which the juvenile books are edited. Nothing seems to be good enough for the child. No wonder the new generations of Bohemians are such worshippers of the beautiful. We may say without hesitation, and without exaggeration that the Bohemian juvenile books have not their equal anywhere in the world, particularly in appearance. ”

“ It cannot be said that the strong nationalistic movement which developed in Bohemia was entirely beneficial, for it not only led to unhealthy, ecstatic moods in the Bohemian literature of the first part of the nineteenth century, but even to a series of literary falsifications which still form the subject of discussion among laymen. ”

“ The modern Bohemian Literature has finally gained its honorable place among the literatures of the world. Merely to enumerate the authors worth mentioning would take pages, not to mention their works. I shall have to limit myself only to the greatest: Svatopluk Čech, the most popular and beloved great poet of the Bohemians; next Jaroslav Vrchlický, the greatest master of Bohemian verse, exquisite, rich, dazzling; the most facile translator of world’s masterpieces; the most prolific poet of the Bohemian literature ”

“ His essays, letters, editorial articles and poems were widely read by the masses, since the language he employed, as seen in this epic poem, was that of the masses.
Bohemian literature, to which he added a goodly share, was then only in its inception, though it ranks today on a level with that of most of the civilized nations. ”

“ Yet we admire the great mastery with which he depicts the inner life to men; we must acknowledge his great merit: he introduced into Bohemian literature a more truthful presentation of life, and his works did much towards disseminating the advanced doctrines of modern philosophy. ”

“ There is abundance in the Bohemian literature which is well worthy of attention, but the duties and avocations of my position prevent me for the present from increasing my selection from it; and indeed my translations may more fitly be called a selection from my own reading, than from the productions of the Bohemian Muse. ”

“ From the battle of the White Mountain, Bohemian literature becomes, and continues for many years, an almost complete blank.
It was at this time that the great destruction of Bohemian books, so frequently alluded to in these pages, began, though it continued far into the eighteenth century. Catholic priests, generally Jesuits, accompanied by soldiers, visited the houses of the Bohemians; even the cottages of the peasants were not exempt. As these priests were generally unacquainted with the Bohemian language, it was thought best to destroy all books written in that language. ”

“ It is to the four writers whom I have now successively referred to that the revival of the Bohemian language and of Bohemian literature is principally due. They were the centre of a group of writers who, if less talented, were no less patriotic and enthusiastic. The isolated position in which they were at first placed, surrounded by Germans or Germanised Bohemians, and living under an absolute Government, that always treated them with suspicion and often with positive enmity, caused these men to draw closely together ”

“ The purpose of this society was to cultivate the Bohemian language; give aid to Bohemian schools; furnish the best books of Bohemian literature to the people of our city, and in every way possible to promote and awaken the love for Bohemian language and history among the people. It was a center of national life and spirit. In this laudable purpose the Reading Society of Cedar Rapids has met with unparalleled success.
The society today owns a fine library of nearly 3,000 volumes of the best works of history, art, and literature in the Bohemian tongue. ”

“ But you, O Bohemian land, be careful of your fate, for all the words of Christ will be fulfilled;
Many wonders happen; the people murder one another; foul pestilences arise everywhere.
Frequently very noble lords leave us; the able and leading men disappear.
Thus this noble who lies on the bier, let him be an example to us; for we must remember
That there is a prophecy that when this family is extinct there will be no peace in the Bohemian kingdom ”

“ Language in which lofty ideas are expressed is a language of a superior race. Literature rich in spiritual achievements is a literature of a nation of the future. This applies to Bohemia with particular significance since its literature had its great inspiration, its roots, so to speak, in that miracle of modern history—the Bohemian Reformation. ”

“ Among the very ancient documents written in the Bohemian language are a considerable number of missals, psalm-books, and translations of portions of the Holy Scriptures, which, though of great archaeological and historical interest, hardly require notice in an account of Bohemian literature. ”

“ Literature and history are very closely connected in Bohemia, and many of the modern historians, such as Palacký, Gindely, Goll, Tieftrunk, Kalousek, and Flajšhans, throw a great deal of light also on the literature of Bohemia. Much valuable information on Bohemian literature is also contained in the numerous editions of ancient Bohemian writings—frequently mentioned in these pages—which appeared in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. ”

“ The most favourable influence on its formation, however, was effected towards the close of the fifteenth century, by the custom which began to prevail of studying the classics, and of translating them with all the fidelity of which the idiom was capable. Thus fostered by judicious application and patriotic feeling, the Bohemian language approached, with rapid steps, the period of its golden age,—a time, indeed, in a political respect, of oppression, war, and devastation; but affording a gratifying proof, how powerfully moral means may counteract physical causes. ”

“ As proof of our high appreciation of English literature, it is with pleasure that we state, that special arrangements have been made to issue from our press as frequently as possible all the best examples of English literary work, and in this way build up what we may reasonably style our „English library“. (Editor J. Otto—Prague.)
Bohemian scientific literature may be said only to have appeared for the first time in the 19th century, as proviously Bohemian savants published their works either in German or Latin. However, the nationalization of this branch of the work is progressing steadily. ”

“ Gosse, I have written this short History of Bohemian Literature according to a plan that differs considerably from that of certain earlier volumes in this Series. The works of Modern English, French, Italian, and even of Ancient Greek and Spanish writers, will be known to many readers of the volumes that deal with them. Bohemian literature, on the other hand, is absolutely unknown in Western Europe, and a large amount of space has therefore been devoted to translated quotations from Bohemian writers. Many of these unknown works have great interest and value. ”

“ By far the most powerful figure in both the scientific and political group of writers is Tomáš G. Masaryk, a Moravian Slovak, a philosopher, a statesman, the foremost leader of the Bohemian nation today, the martyr for the cause he believes in. He is without a doubt the greatest Bohemian living, and surely the most respected at home and abroad. Spiritually, he is the lineal descendant o Jan Hus and Comenius, and the illustrious martyrs of truth who followed. He was the conscience of the Bohemian nation before the war, he is its soul now. ”

“ It is at least the privilege of a critic of so little known a literature as that of Bohemia that he is not confronted by an enormous amount of anciently accumulated criticism. In one or two cases where I felt uncertain, I have had the privilege of receiving advice from Professor Josef Kalousek, of the Bohemian University of Prague, and from Mr. Adolphus Patera, head-librarian of the Bohemian Museum in that town. I have entirely limited my remarks to the works of those Bohemian writers who have general interest, or are at least characteristic of their time. ”

“ Though the chronology of early Bohemian literature is hopelessly unreliable, it can, speaking generally, be stated—leaving the manuscripts of Grüneberg and Königinhof out of consideration—that the existent Bohemian writings of a secular character are less ancient than those dealing with entirely religious subjects. ”

“ The Bohemians of this period were—partly, though by no means exclusively, through the influence of "humanism,"—penetrated with a blind, almost superstitious, love of learning for its own sake. They seem always to have aspired to the "tall mountain citied to the top, crowded with culture." This, indeed, applies not only to the humanists, literary men, or translators of classical works, but also to many of the practical and matter-of-fact politicians of the time. Witness Peter of Rosenberg, who died deploring "that he had not sufficiently cultivated the study of literature;" ”

“ Viktor Dyk, Jan Hilbert and Jirásek whose Jan Hus and Jan Žižka z Trocnova, are truly great works, not to mention his poetic “Lucerna” and numerous other works. The dramatic art promises a magnificent future. The nation—persecuted, with its path to progress blocked by the Austrian Government, built at a great sacrifice, from individual gifts, a magnificent temple of drama and music, The Bohemian National Theatre which is not merely a place of amusement, but a fireside of culture, a source of the nation’s aspirations, a real life giver in the darkest hours of death and persecution. ”

“ He may neither record the struggles of his ancestors for liberty, nor dream of the day when self-government shall give to his country whatever of happiness she is capable of enjoying. Love, of all the passions which he is permitted to sing, is that which allows the widest scope to his imagination and love is the ever-ruling subject of his verse. And surely their popular poets have treated this subject with exquisite tenderness and effect.” These are the opinions and words of two Englishmen, who trod before me the thorny path of Bohemian literature. ”

“ The foundation of a large national theatre has greatly encouraged dramatic authors, and the fact that the national language has to a very great extent among the middle classes, and to a lesser degree among the upper ones also, taken the place of German, has been of immense value to the Bohemian novelists. Those of the present day have naturally a great superiority over their predecessors, who, when attempting to describe Bohemian society, wrote of counts and barons, while the counts and barons of that period in real life only spoke German. ”

“ Its abundance and richness can be seen by this, that whatever can be expressed in Greek or in Latin can be so in Bohemian also.... May others compose new books written in Latin and—pouring water into the sea—extend the use of the Roman [Pg 184] language. I wish, by translating the books and works of really good men into Bohemian, rather to enrichen the poor than that, flattering the rich with bad and unwelcome presents, I should be despised and insulted. ”

“ Where one object is predominant, all others must naturally become [pg.184] subordinate; but wherever that which appears amiable only as the free tendency of the whole soul, is exacted as a duty, a spiritual despotism is to be feared; of which we find very little in the history of Bohemian literature. The classics never were studied with more attention and devotion, were never imitated with more taste. ”

“ It is a great pity that this work has not been translated into English. As yet we have been too content to learn about the Bohemians from people who are interested only in depreciating them, but the valuable work of Count Lützow previously alluded to will no doubt do much to dissipate the prejudices of ignorance. As I have not space on the present occasion to give a complete sketch of Bohemian literature, I am obliged to pass over many other valuable works. ”

“ German artists and mechanics and even agriculturists settled in Bohemia. The influence of German customs and habits showed itself more and more, and the nobility began to use in preference the German language. In the course of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, this influence increased considerably, and exhibited itself most favourably in the lyric poetry of the time, an echo of the German Minnesingers; many of the poets belonging like them to the highest nobility. Of all the Slavic nations, the Bohemian is the only one in which the flower of chivalry has ever unfolded itself ”