Pavol Országh Hviezdoslav
Encyclopedia
Vyšný Kubín
Vyšný Kubín is a village and municipality in Dolný Kubín District in the Žilina Region of northern Slovakia.-Famous people:*Margita Figuli, writer born in Vyšný Kubín*Pavol Országh Hviezdoslav, poet born in Vyšný Kubín...
(Felsőkubin), Austrian Empire
Austrian Empire
The Austrian Empire was a modern era successor empire, which was centered on what is today's Austria and which officially lasted from 1804 to 1867. It was followed by the Empire of Austria-Hungary, whose proclamation was a diplomatic move that elevated Hungary's status within the Austrian Empire...
, Kingdom of Hungary
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary comprised present-day Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia , Transylvania , Carpatho Ruthenia , Vojvodina , Burgenland , and other smaller territories surrounding present-day Hungary's borders...
, † November 8, 1921 in Dolný Kubín
Dolný Kubín
Dolný Kubín is a town in northern Slovakia in the Žilina Region. It is the historical capital of the Orava region.-Geography:Dolný Kubín lies at an altitude of above sea level and covers an area of ....
, Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
(now Slovakia
Slovakia
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
), was a Slovak
Slovaks
The Slovaks, Slovak people, or Slovakians are a West Slavic people that primarily inhabit Slovakia and speak the Slovak language, which is closely related to the Czech language.Most Slovaks today live within the borders of the independent Slovakia...
poet, dramatist, translator and for a short time member of the Czechoslovak
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
parliament.
At first he wrote in traditional style but later became influenced by parnassism and modernism
Modernism
Modernism, in its broadest definition, is modern thought, character, or practice. More specifically, the term describes the modernist movement, its set of cultural tendencies and array of associated cultural movements, originally arising from wide-scale and far-reaching changes to Western society...
.
Name
Born as Pavel Országh in Vyšný Kubín, Austrian EmpireAustrian Empire
The Austrian Empire was a modern era successor empire, which was centered on what is today's Austria and which officially lasted from 1804 to 1867. It was followed by the Empire of Austria-Hungary, whose proclamation was a diplomatic move that elevated Hungary's status within the Austrian Empire...
, Országh became a Hungarian patriot and wrote his poems only in Hungarian until the 1860s. He was of noble origin. He studied in Miskolc
Miskolc
Miskolc is a city in northeastern Hungary, mainly with heavy industrial background. With a population close to 170,000 Miskolc is the fourth largest city of Hungary It is also the county capital of Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén and the regional centre of Northern Hungary.- Geography :Miskolc is located...
, Kežmarok
Kežmarok
Kežmarok is a town in the Spiš region of eastern Slovakia , on the Poprad River.-History:...
(Késmárk), Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
and Prešov
Prešov
Prešov Historically, the city has been known in German as Eperies , Eperjes in Hungarian, Fragopolis in Latin, Preszów in Polish, Peryeshis in Romany, Пряшев in Russian and Пряшів in Rusyn and Ukrainian.-Characteristics:The city is a showcase of Baroque, Rococo and Gothic...
(Eperjes). Hviezdoslav (a Slavic name, meaning approximately "celebrating the stars" and/or "Slav of the stars") was his pseudonym from 1875. His earlier pseudonym was Jozef Zbranský.
Life
Squire
The English word squire is a shortened version of the word Esquire, from the Old French , itself derived from the Late Latin , in medieval or Old English a scutifer. The Classical Latin equivalent was , "arms bearer"...
and had his son work in the field.
Hviezdoslav studied in grammar school
Grammar school
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and some other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching classical languages but more recently an academically-oriented secondary school.The original purpose of mediaeval...
s in Miskolc
Miskolc
Miskolc is a city in northeastern Hungary, mainly with heavy industrial background. With a population close to 170,000 Miskolc is the fourth largest city of Hungary It is also the county capital of Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén and the regional centre of Northern Hungary.- Geography :Miskolc is located...
and Kežmarok
Kežmarok
Kežmarok is a town in the Spiš region of eastern Slovakia , on the Poprad River.-History:...
. After his graduation in 1870, he continued his studies in the Law Academy of Prešov
Prešov
Prešov Historically, the city has been known in German as Eperies , Eperjes in Hungarian, Fragopolis in Latin, Preszów in Polish, Peryeshis in Romany, Пряшев in Russian and Пряшів in Rusyn and Ukrainian.-Characteristics:The city is a showcase of Baroque, Rococo and Gothic...
where in 1871 he participated in the preparation of the Almanach Napred ("Forward" Miscellany/Almanac) which marks the beginning of a new literary generation in Slovak literature. Due to his contribution to this Almanac with several radical poems, however, he was ignored in the literature life of the country in the rest of the 1870s and couldn't published his works. During this period he pursued his law carrier in Dolný Kubín but he also carried on with his literature work in his past time. He practiced as a lawyer between 1875 and 1899 in Námestovo
Námestovo
Námestovo is a town in northern Slovakia. It is the capital and largest town of Námestovo District in the Žilina Region. its population was 8,094.-Geography:...
(Námesztó) and then in Dolný Kubín
Dolný Kubín
Dolný Kubín is a town in northern Slovakia in the Žilina Region. It is the historical capital of the Orava region.-Geography:Dolný Kubín lies at an altitude of above sea level and covers an area of ....
again. In 1918 he became a member of the newly created Revolutionary National Assembly (provisional governing body, later parliament) in Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
and from 1919–1920 served as its representative. In 1919 he was chosen as the leader of the re-established Matica slovenská
Matica slovenská
The Matica slovenská Mother) is Slovakia's public-law cultural and scientific institution focusing on topics around the Slovak nation. It is based in the city of Martin...
(see below). In 1954, the Literary Museum of P. O. Hviezdoslav was established in Dolný Kubín. A festival of amateur reciters named Hviezdoslav's Kubín has been held there since.
His relation to the Slovak Matica
The Slovak Matica is a cultural institute. During the darkest years of Slovak literary life, Slovak Matica kept alive Slovak literatureSlovak literature
-Middle Ages:The first monuments of literature in present-day Slovakia are from the time of Great Moravia . Authors from this period are Saint Cyril, Saint Methodius and Clement of Ohrid...
. The intolerant anti-Slovak policy of the Hungarians forcibly closed the doors of Matica and confiscated its property in 1875. The Matica was re-opened after the creation of Czechoslovakia in 1919. Hviezdoslav was honored by being named its new head. Under his inspired leadership, the Matica spread and grew.
Works
He introduced the syllabic-tonic verseVerse (poetry)
A verse is formally a single line in a metrical composition, e.g. poetry. However, the word has come to represent any division or grouping of words in such a composition, which traditionally had been referred to as a stanza....
into Slovak poetry and became leading representative of Slovak literary realism
Literary realism
Literary realism most often refers to the trend, beginning with certain works of nineteenth-century French literature and extending to late-nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century authors in various countries, towards depictions of contemporary life and society "as they were." In the spirit of...
. His style is characterized by extensive use of self coined words and expressions making it difficult to translate his works into foreign languages.
His oeuvre constitutes some 12 volumes of original poetry and additional 3 volumes of translations of classical authors. During his era he was the poet laureate of the Slovak nation. Honoring his quality translation, made in 1905, of The Tragedy of Man
The Tragedy of Man
The Tragedy of Man is a play written by the Hungarian author Imre Madách. It was first published in 1861. The play is considered to be one of the major works of Hungarian literature and is one of the most often staged Hungarian plays today. Many lines have become common quotations in Hungary...
by Imre Madách
Imre Madách
Imre Madách de Sztregova et de Kelecsény was a Hungarian writer, poet, lawyer and politician. His major work is The Tragedy of Man . It is a dramatic poem approximately 4000 lines long, which elaborates on ideas comparable to Goethe's Faust...
, he was elected a member of the Kisfaludy Society
Kisfaludy Society
The Kisfaludy Society was a literary society in Pest, founded in 1836 and named after Károly Kisfaludy, who had died in 1830. It held monthly meetings and was a major force in Hungarian literary life, giving prizes, funding the collection of folk songs, and sponsoring the publication of works like...
in 1912.
Collected works and selections
- The Collected Poetical Works of Hviezdoslav, vol. 1 to 15 (Zobrané spisy básnické Hviezdoslava, zv. 1–15, 1892 – 1931)
- Biblical Poems (Básne biblické, Prague 1911)
- The Writings of P.O. Hviezdoslav in 12 volumes (Spisy P.O. Hviezdoslava v 12 zväzkoch, 1951–1957)
- Poetic First Fruits (Basnicke prvotiny I-II, 1955–1956)
- Poetic Maturing I-II (Básnicke zrenie I-II, 1957–1958)
- Works I-IV (Dielo I-IV, 1973, second edition 1997–1998)
Reflexive poetry
He began writing poetry – initially in Hungarian – while still attending the grammar school (in Miskolc and Kežmarok / Késmárk)). His first poetry collection, the Básnické prviesienky Jozefa Zbranského ("Poetry primroses of Jozef Zbranský"), was published in 1868. It introduced the syllabic-tonic verse into Slovak literature.An awakened national pride brought a resolution to work in Slovak
Slovak language
Slovak , is an Indo-European language that belongs to the West Slavic languages .Slovak is the official language of Slovakia, where it is spoken by 5 million people...
, but the inclination towards realism in his early poetry met with the aversion of the older generation.
Among the most important of his mature lyric cycles are:
- Sonety (1882–1886) (Sonnets)
- Letorosty I-III (1885–1893) (Growth Rings I – III)
- Žalmy a hymny (1885–1892) (Psalms and Hymns)
- Prechádzky jarom (1898) (Walks through Spring)
- Prechádzky letom (1898) (Walks through Summer)
- Stesky (1903) (Languors/Complaints)
- Krvavé sonetyKrvavé sonetyKrvave Sonety is one of the most important works of the Slovakian poet Pavol Országh Hviezdoslav.In this work he expresses his opposition to World War I.For these poems he was nominated for the Nobel Prize for Literature....
(1914/1919) (Bloody Sonnets) – important anti-World War I poetry
Epic compositions
The poet's epic compositions derive from his native OravaOrava (county)
Árva is the Hungarian name of a historic administrative county of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory is presently in northern Slovakia and southern Poland...
and from biblical
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
topics, through which he commented allegorically on the situation of the Slovak nation:
- Hájnikova žena (1884–1886) (The Gamekeeper's Wife)
- Ežo Vlkolinský (1890)
- Gábor Vlkolinský (1897–1899)
Biblical poetry with allegorical untertones
- Agar
- Kain
- Ráchel
- Sen Šalamúnov (The Dream of Salomon)
Drama
- Pomsta (Revenge)
- Herodes a Herodias (1909) (Herodes and Herodias)- verse drama inspired by the Bible; a pillar of Slovak classic dramatic repertory.
Translations
Hviezdoslav was also a versatile translator who endeavored to refine and enrich the Slovak languageSlovak language
Slovak , is an Indo-European language that belongs to the West Slavic languages .Slovak is the official language of Slovakia, where it is spoken by 5 million people...
and to advance its potential as a medium for poetic expression.
He translated many works of such authors like Goethe (Faust
Goethe's Faust
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust is a tragic play in two parts: and . Although written as a closet drama, it is the play with the largest audience numbers on German-language stages...
, Iphigenia on Tauris, ballads), Schiller (selected poems), Mickiewicz (Crimean Sonnets http://www.sonnets.org/mickiewicz.htm et al.), Pushkin (Boris Godunov, The Captive of the Caucasus, The Gypsies
The Gypsies (poem)
The Gypsies is a narrative poem by Aleksandr Pushkin, originally written in Russian in 1824 and first published in 1827. The last of Pushkin's four 'Southern Poems' written during his exile in the south of the Russian Empire, The Gypsies is also considered to be the most mature of these Southern...
, Rusalka
Rusalka (Dargomyzhsky)
Rusalka is an opera in four acts, six tableaux, by Alexander Dargomyzhsky, composed during 1848-1855. The Russian libretto was adapted by the composer from Pushkin's incomplete dramatic poem of the same name...
et al.), Shakespeare (Hamlet
Hamlet
The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
, A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream is a play that was written by William Shakespeare. It is believed to have been written between 1590 and 1596. It portrays the events surrounding the marriage of the Duke of Athens, Theseus, and the Queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta...
), Słowacki
Juliusz Slowacki
Juliusz Słowacki was a Polish Romantic poet. He is considered one of the "Three Bards" of Polish literature — a major figure in the Polish Romantic period, and the father of modern Polish drama. His works often feature elements of Slavic pagan traditions, Polish history, mysticism and orientalism....
(In Switzerland et al.), Arany
János Arany
János Arany , was a Hungarian journalist, writer, poet, and translator. He is often said to be the "Shakespeare of ballads" – he wrote more than 40 ballads which have been translated into over 50 languages, as well as the Toldi trilogy, to mention his most famous works.-Biography:He was born in...
(28 lyric poems and ballads), Petőfi
Sándor Petofi
Sándor Petőfi , was a Hungarian poet and liberal revolutionary. He is considered as Hungary's national poet and he was one of the key figures of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848...
(42 selected poems), Lermontov (A Song about the Emperor Ivan Vasilievitch, The Song of the Merchant Kalashnikov
The Song of the Merchant Kalashnikov
A Song about Tsar Ivan Vasilyevish, the Young Oprichnik, and the Valorous Merchant Kalashnikov, often abbreviated as The Song of the Merchant Kalashnikov, is a poem by Mikhail Lermontov written in 1837 and first published in 1838....
, The Demon) and Madách
Imre Madách
Imre Madách de Sztregova et de Kelecsény was a Hungarian writer, poet, lawyer and politician. His major work is The Tragedy of Man . It is a dramatic poem approximately 4000 lines long, which elaborates on ideas comparable to Goethe's Faust...
(The Tragedy of Man
The Tragedy of Man
The Tragedy of Man is a play written by the Hungarian author Imre Madách. It was first published in 1861. The play is considered to be one of the major works of Hungarian literature and is one of the most often staged Hungarian plays today. Many lines have become common quotations in Hungary...
).
These artistic translations were collected after his death into volumes 12 to 15 of The Collected Poetical Works of Hviezdoslav.