The Soul Of A Century/Vitezslav Halek
VITEZSLAV HALEK
(1835–1874)
Vitezslav Halek is justly called the “nightingale of Czech poetry” for in all his works he sings with joyous abandon of the beauties and splendor of nature. Halek was born April 5, 1835, and died at the height of his fame in Prague, October 8th, 1874. Although philosophy claimed Halek’s early interest, he soon gave it up to plunge headlong into the fomenting literary currents of his time. Halek worked feverishly in all branches of the belles-lettres, but at all times his lyricism crops forth, even in his heavy tragedies and epic poems. In his lyrical poetry Halek shows traces of the influence of Heine, but free from the latter’s cynicism and irony. Halek’s complete works, comprising eleven volumes, were published in Prague during the years 1879–87.