Neznámá ze Seiny. Ke kořenům Nezvalovy básnické skladby
Neznámá ze Seiny (The Unknown of the Seine). To the Roots of Nezval’s Poem
Author(s): Radek MalýSubject(s): Poetry, Czech Literature, Interwar Period (1920 - 1939)
Published by: Masarykova univerzita nakladatelství
Keywords: Nezval; poetismus; Unknown of the Seine; Ophelia-cult; Jean Arthur Rimbaud;
Summary/Abstract: In 1929 Vítězslav Nezval wrote the poem The Unknown from the Seine. This poem has three documented sources of inspiration: Nezval’s experience of his childhood; an episode with a drowning person in the 1920’s Prague, and the famouse motive of the „Unknown of the Seine,“ a girl, whose death mask has a mysterious smile. The study offers another source of Nezval’s inspiration: Jean Arthur Rimbaud’s Ophelia, which Nezval actually translated into Czech. In this poem Rimbaud explores the cult of Ophelia – a beautiful drowned girl. Nezval’s poetic composition can be seen as a belated tribute from the Czech poetist to the European cult that deeply inspired symbolism and decadence.
Journal: Bohemica litteraria
- Issue Year: 15/2012
- Issue No: 1
- Page Range: 81-88
- Page Count: 8
- Language: Czech