The Soul Of A Century/Julius Zeyer
JULIUS ZEYER
(1841–1901)
Julius Zeyer represents a truly cosmopolitan literary type whose works show the influence of the French-German-Jewish blood coursing through his veins. Unlike so many other poets Zeyer was born of wealthy parents/ and hod the opportunity of education and travel denied to others. Zeyer was bom in Prague, April 26th, 1841, where he died on January 29th, 1901. It seems that the elegiac beauty of old Prague had a marked influence upon Zeyer, and that under this guidance the deeply impressionistic poet turned consciously away from German and Vienese influences to a deep penetration into the realm of Czech history and philosophy. To offset the prevalent German influence Zeyer reached out into the heroic literature of old France and the Christian nobility found in the pre-Raphaelite literature in Italy. Zeyer is a true aristocrat of art/ who turns away from the grey commonplace of the present to the inspiring glory of historical yesterdays.