Psát okem na zeď cely… Črta k vězeňské lyrice Václava Renče
Writing with an Eye on the Jail Cell Wall… An Essay on the Prison Poems of Václav Renč

Summary/Abstract: This article presents an analysis of Václav Renč’s lyrical poetry from the period of his imprisonmentby the Communist regime in 1951–1962. From Renč’s extensive collection of prison poems (including such lyrical-epic compositions as Cinderella of Nazareth, first published in book form in 1969;Prague Legend, 1974; and Loretan Light, 1992; as well as several poems collected in Meeting with the Minotaur, 1969) we take a look at the nineteen poems Renč included in an anthology of his works from1941–1962 under the title Lark Tower (1970). To the section of lyrical texts from the years 1951–1962the poet gave the title Without Echoes. In particular, the study focuses on how Renč’s lyrical poetryfrom the period of his imprisonment builds upon his previous critically acclaimed poetry, simultaneously aiming to address the question of what makes this work unique. The unique quality can befound in the formal precision of the texts, which represents the poet’s effort to maintain his moralintegrity and identity while in prison, while at the same time, by virtue of carefully constructed allusions to the verses of certain poets with whom Renč had worked as a poet and translator beforehis imprisonment, strengthening his sense of inner freedom. A key starting point for the aestheticcomposition of the prison poems is the combination of various expressive and often elementarycontradictory motifs, perspectives or attitudes, a process typical of prison poetry in general. In Václav Renč’s poetry, this initial moment is re-envisioned on the principle of the so-called lyrical dichotomy, which, on the basis of subtle gradational and compositional techniques and intersections,connects distinctive opposites into subtle poetic images. However, this is not the expression of a selfcentered aesthetic game, but an attempt to articulate — and cope with — a new and exacting life situation. In this way, Václav Renč’s poetry, which had always been characterized by its compositionaland figurative rigor, would later become more austere in its semantics, at the same time gaining inintensity, depth and reach.

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