The Czechoslovak Review/Volume 3/Songs of the Slav

SONGS OF THE SLAV.—Translated by Otto Kotouč. The Poet Lore Company, Boston.

Slowly the world is getting acquainted with Czech culture, as it has learned to know something of their history and politics. After Paul Selver’ Czech Anthology, published in London, comes the first American anthology of Czech poets. Mr. Kotouč, former member of the Nebraska legislature, has given us an English version of a few examples of Kollár, Hálek, Čech, Bezruč and Machar. One might quarrel with his selections, because other poems seem more worthy of immediate translation; and as is but usual with poems rendered into a foreign tongue, the translation does not ring as clearly in English as in the original. But Mr. Kotouč has done here a bit of good work, of faithful translating and every Czechoslovak in America will be grateful to him and hope that the work will be continued.

From the little book of these Czech verses done into English we reprint two poems by Petr Bezruč, the bard of the Czech coal miners and foundry workers of Silesia, in civil life post office controller. In both poems, written before the war, reference is made to Archduke Frederick, the great feudal landholder of Těšín (Teschen) and during the war commander-in-chief of the Austrian forces. The appellation given him in this poem, alluding to the German margrave Gero who in the early Middle Ages enslaved the Slavs ,stuck to Frederick during the war, when he became infamous in Bohemia by reason of his cruelties to Czechs.

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