The last major project in our English class involved poetry from yet another collection of poetry edited by Carolyn Forche, Against Forgetting. The poets and poems in this collection all respond to major conflicts around the world. The poet that I selected to study was Jaroslav Seifert from Czechoslovakia. The project involves a biography and a poetry analysis of his works and literary influences. After researching his life and most well known poems, I found Seifert to be a fascinating and inspiring writer and politician and I hope you do as well.
Jaroslav Seifert
Poetry in Czechoslovakia During World War II and the Communist Regime
Biography
Jaroslav Seifert was an influential figure in the history of poetry, in his hometown of Prague, Czechoslovakia as well as abroad. He lived during tumultuous times for Czechoslovakia and the world, during the rise of Communism and the oppression of World War II. From an early age, he used poetry to respond to conflict and encourage his countrymen. At every stage of his career, he was revolutionary in his writing. He experimented with proletarian writing, Surrealism, and anti-Soviet writing. Seifert had a natural gift of poetic verse and maximized it to make his readers aware of the oppression and injustice that writers in Czechoslovakia endured during World War II and under the Communist Party.
Seifert was born in 1901 in a suburb of Prague, Czechoslovakia. He attended elementary and secondary school and went on to attend a university at a young age. During his time at the university, he discovered his talent in writing poetry. He began studying and writing poetry and in 1921; he published his first collection of poems titled Mesto v sizach (A City in Tears). After leaving the university, Seifert joined the Communist Party in Czechoslovakia. At this point in time, Seifert’s primary occupation was journalism and he wrote poetry on the side. Seifert’s early style of poetry exemplified “poetism”: according to the Encyclopedia of World Biography, Seifert’s style had, “…a sort of mischievousness in form and content and an almost overwhelming affection for life and beauty…” (“Jaroslav Seifert” World Biography).
Seifert’s early style of writing involves an emphasis on imagery. As mentioned above, he frequently described and discussed topics like love, romance, memories, and powerful emotions with unusual comparisons and many of the trademarks of the Imagism style of poetry; however, his poems did not follow a specific model each time. Each poem involves a variety of unusual and predictable images. Many of these poems ware song-like in nature. In fact, Seifert’s poetry has been likened to the work of Mozart ("Seifert, Jaroslav - Introduction" Poetry Criticism).
In 1925, Seifert toured Europe and Russia and spent a large amount of time in Moscow. During his time in Moscow, he witnessed Joseph Stalin assume control of Communist Russia after the previous dictator, Vladimir Lenin, died. Seifert was shocked by Stalin’s use of force to eliminate dissent. Any lingering supporters of Lenin were imprisoned or executed. Seifert documented his observations as a poet and journalist. Because of his controversial writing, he was kicked out of the Czechoslovakian Communist Party (World Biography).
In the 1930s, Seifert continued writing poetry and experimenting with different styles and techniques, including surrealist verse, which he was introduced to during his years of travel (World Biography). According to “A Brief Guide to Surrealism,” surrealism is, “…pure psychic automatism by which it is intended to express, either verbally or in writing, the true function of thought. Thought dictated in the absence of all control exerted by reason, and outside all aesthetic or moral preoccupations,” (Poets.org). Surrealist poets experimented with the limits of reality and surreality, particularly in dreams. Many used poetry to help interpret and analyze dreams (Poets.org 1). In 1936, Seifert received the Czechoslovakian State Prize for Literature for his Surrealist works in Jabliko zklina, An Apple in the Lap, (1933) and Ruce Venusiny, The Hands of Venus, (1936) (World Biography).
Seifert’s poetry took another drastic turn when the Nazi army invaded independent Czechoslovakia in 1938. The German occupation of Prague inspired many of Seifert’s most famous pieces, including “The Candlestick,” and “Never Again.” His poems written during this era primarily served as responses to World War II on his homeland. Josef Skvorecky, a fellow Czech writer, spoke of Seifert in a 1985 issue of a Czechoslovakian newspaper, New Republic, “In book after book full of both linguistic beauty and encoded messages—clear to the Czechs, impenetrable to the Nazi censor—the poet boosted the morale of his nation. His poetry inspired fellow Czechs with love for their country.…” Skorecky reveals one of Seifert’s most powerful, influential tools that allowed him to write under the noses of Nazis for many years: during the war, Seifert used specific images and pieces of history that only Czechs would recognize and be comforted by. In this way, Seifert was able to respond and help Czech’s respond to the worldwide conflict (World Biography).
Towards the end of World War II, however, the Nazis caught on to Seifert’s tactics. When Seifert’s writings initiated an uprising in Prague, Seifert and several other well-known Czech writers were captured by German troops. They were shoved onto a train to be shipped out of the country, but when the train did not move, they were removed and lined up against a wall to be executed. After standing pinned there for several hours, they were released, but all further publication of political works was suspended for all involved. World War II ended soon after this incident (Slouka 35-36).
In order to make income, Seifert resorted to writing children’s literature for several years; however, the support of his fellow Czechs encouraged Seifert to keep writing for his people as he had done during the war. This marked the beginning of a second conflict that Seifert responded to: the oppression of the Communist government in Czechoslovakia after World War II. Due to the oppression of the Communist Party, Seifert and many other Czech writers were forced to write and publish in secret, also known as samizdat. According to Martin Machovec in his article in Poetics Today, “The term "samizdat," now widespread, denotes the unofficial dissemination of any variety of text (book, magazine, leaflet, etc.) within "totalitarian" political systems, especially those after World War II,” (Machovec 1-26). Much like the Nazis, the Communists in Czechoslovakia had specific restrictions and guidelines for literature. Seifert refused to write about the simple, naïve, harmless, politically correct topics that Communist mandated, such as stories of animals, school children, or harmless romances. Much of his poetry during this era called for political reform and social justice. Seifert wrote poetry during these years to prove to the Czech people how important his country and fellow citizens were to him and to keep the culture and art of Czechoslovakia alive (Benes 97-114). He continued writing in secret until 1977, when one of Seifert’s works was smuggled into a German publishing house, where it was translated to English and circulated internationally (Forche 419).
In 1981, Seifert finally received recognition from the Czech government for his years of oppression, determination, and talent. Due to his increasingly worldwide fame and the high demand for his work, the Czech government was forced to make his work accessible and published special editions of his major works. The culminating moment in his career was the award of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1984; he was the first Czech to receive a Nobel Prize (“Jaroslav Seifert” Britannica). This event was celebrated around the world. The Czechoslovakian government attempted to discredit the award, but the world recognized Seifert’s success as well as the oppression and violence that many Czech writers had worked through. Seifert helped make the world aware of the conditions inflicted on Czechoslovakia by the Nazis and the Communist Party. After his death in 1986, a book of Seifert’s favorite poems was compiled and published, The Poetry of Jaroslav Seifert (World Biography).
Poetry
During his literary career, Seifert wrote poetry to respond to two primary conflicts in his life. The first was the Nazi regime in Czechoslovakia in World War II. As discussed in the biography, Seifert’s style changed throughout his career as he was exposed to various conflicts and people. One thing that remained the same, however, was his energy and passion. Three of Seifert’s most well known poems represent a range of time periods from 1925-195: “Moscow,” “Sometimes We Are Tied Down,” and “Struggle With the Angel” (The Poetry of Jaroslav Seifert). According to a review of this collection, the translations stay very close to Seifert’s actual style, “The poems are ably translated by Osers, who renders Seifert's easy, flowing style into seemingly effortless English while giving hints of the "inner rhythms" so many critics have said make Seifert impossible to translate…” (Clarence 113). “Never Again” and “The Candlestick” are from the Against Forgetting collection of poetry from a wide variety of poets in different countries during times of conflict. These five poems have different tones and forms, but all respond to conflict.
Each of these poems was written during a different time in Seifert’s life, and the variety illustrates the changes in his style as he became more experienced in poetry. The first in the chronological sequence is “Honeymoon,” written in 1925. This is one of Seifert’s earliest poems and illustrates his “mischievous” and unique style. The poem reflects on memories of his free years as a young man recently graduated from university when he was an independent charmer. He loved being with women and remembering specific places and trips taken with them. In this poem there are two repeated words: wagon-lits and wagon-restaurants, both examples of train cars that allude to romantic getaways. The subject matter and obsession with the train from his memories reflect the playful writing of Seifert’s early career.
“Moscow” is from Seifert’s time in Russia when he witnessed Stalin’s violent and oppressive regime. The opening stanza reflects on music that is no longer played or heard in the streets of Moscow. People no longer drink wine and hold parties. Stalin’s determination to assert control over all the people of Russia pulled all life and energy from city. The reader can sense the loss of life in these lines from the first stanza of the poem, “The minuet has long ceased to be danced,/the harp has long lost its last audience./The display cases in the old palace/are tombstones of the dead.” Seifert also shares images of battlefields and crushed crowns to illustrate the depressing results of Stalin’s dictatorship. The poem is organized in list form with all of the pleasantries and notable traditions of Moscow that were abolished listed in stanzas.
The next poem in sequence is “When in the history books…” written in 1936. This poem marks a transition into the years leading up to World War II (which would start in 1939). While there is a glimmer of Seifert’s early playful style with references to romance, he transitions into more serious content towards the end of the poem. In the third stanza, Seifert says, “Alas, my rose-red mantle/was ripped by sharp barbed wire/and our nights re-echoed/the tread of marching feet.” These lines show the political situation in Czechoslovakia at the time and foreshadow the eminent war. The analogy of the history textbook throughout the poem provides a way to reflect on the future and how war will change Czechoslovakian society.
“Never Again,” while the exact date is unknown, was written during World War II. Seifert uses poetry to describe the damage wrought on Czechoslovakia by bombs and troops. He paints pictures of whole streets and families that were wiped out by planes dropping bombs overhead. People were buried alive and dead under buildings. Animals were wandering the streets, seemingly unaware of the damage. Seifert uses a particular image of a rooster mocking his grief and the grief displayed on hundreds of faces, “The rooster looked at me/with its black beady eye/and burst into horrible laughter./He laughed at me/and at my pointless screaming.” The rooster appears to represent the German army wreaking havoc on their country, amused by their destruction. This image could also be a Biblical reference to the story where a rooster crows three times after denying Christ. Either way, the creature of nature sides with the enemy. The tone of this poem is more serious than the poems discussed previously. This poem seems to mark Seifert’s transition to socially and politically oriented writing.
“Sometimes We Are Tied Down…” was written in 1965. Seifert wrote this poem twenty years after World War II ended and most likely during the years where he was forced to write and publish underground. In this poem, Seifert discusses how people are often immobilized by unpleasant memories. With all the violence and social tumult that had occurred and was occurring in Czechoslovakia, Seifert wrote poems such as this to encourage his fellow writers and countrymen to learn from past experiences but move forward and hope for more peaceful times. One aspect of the form that stands out in this poem is Seifert’s unusual spacing, such as in the last stanza:
The years moved with unsure, tottering step
and I with them.
Years flying
till time stood still.
A various points throughout the poem, certain lines are indented, in this case to illustrate time. This enhances the sense of disjointed years of violence and oppression.
These five poems represent a small sample of Seifert’s extensive writing during the 20th century. They cover a broad span of years, conflicts, and styles during his career. Seifert wrote these poems with passion, conviction, and courage. Each one represents a different time in Seifert’s life, but they all illustrate Seifert’s use of poetry to response to and process conflict, particularly World War II and communism and write poetry that was relevant and understandable to Czechs. Seifert’s poetry was defined by these two eras and his poetry certainly reflects the sentiments of the times.
Works Cited
Benes, Hana. “Czech Literature in the 1968 Crisis.” The Bulletin of the Midwest Modern
Language 5 (1972): 97-114. JSTOR. Web 21 Mar. 2011.
Clarence, Judy. “Book reviews: Arts & humanities.” Library Journal 123.10 (1998): 113.
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Forche, Carolyn. Against Forgetting. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1993. Print.
"Jaroslav Seifert." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia
Britannica, 2011. Web. 12 Mar. 2011.
"Jaroslav Seifert." Encyclopedia of World Biography. Vol. 25. Detroit: Gale, 2005. Gale
Biography In Context. Web. 10 Mar. 2011.
Machovec, Martin. “The Types and Functions of Samizdat Publications in Czechoslovakia.”
Poetics Today 30.1 (2009): 1-26. JSTOR. Web. 12 Mar. 2011.
Seifert, Jaroslav, Osers, Ewald, and Gibian, George. The Poetry of Jaroslav Seifert. North
Haven: Catbird Press, 1998. Electronic.
"Seifert, Jaroslav - Introduction." Poetry Criticism. Ed. David Galens. Vol. 47. Gale Cengage,
2003. eNotes.com. 2006. 22 Mar. 2011.
Slouka, Mark. “Arrow and Wound.” Harper’s Magazine 306.1836 (2003): 35-36. Academic
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Unknown author. A Brief Guide to Surrealism. Poets.org, 2011. Web. 12 Mar. 2011.
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