Tri žalmické adaptácie Andreja Sládkoviča
Three Psalmic Adaptations by Andrej Sládkovič

Summary/Abstract: The article focuses on reflective-meditative poetry the Slovak poet Andrej Sládkovič (1820 – 1872) wrote in the 1860s and early 1970s. His three psalmic adaptations (poems Žalm XLIV [Psalm XLIV], Žalm XXI [Psalm XXI] and Žalm III [Psalm III]) draw on biblical texts dealing with suffering, repentance, the passing of time and eternity. The three poems show the gradual change in the poet’s work – the restless revolutionary attitude changes into thankfulness for the victory and finally to the humble acceptance of life, submitting to God’s will the joyless state of the nation and the poet’s personal suffering. Sládkovič begins with a collective elegy, pleading on behalf of the whole nation, turning to the past and showing devotion and trust in God. In the royal psalm, he uses climax and literary devices involving repetition. The final poem, an elegy of a theologian, is marked by the author’s return to the use of the Czech language and to the melodies from the Protestant hymnal Cithara sanctorum. The elegiac parts resonate with motives of negative emotional states and accusations of enemies. Each poem ends in the lyrical subject making sure he has been heard.

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