Josef Václav Sládek



Josef Václav Sládek (27 October 1845 in Zbiroh – 28 June 1912 in Zbiroh) was a Czech poet, journalist and translator, member of the literary group Lumírovci, pioneer of children's poetry in Czech lands.

Life
In 1865, he graduated at the Academic Gymnasium in Prague. In 1867, he became suspected by the Austro-Hungarian police of supporting the Czech opposition movement against the monarchy. In 1868 he moved to United States, where he spent two years working as a laborer. He was interested in the fate of indigenous peoples and blacks. He described his American experience in a collection of poems (titled Poems) and in one prose (American images). His stay in the USA influenced him significantly. Throughout the rest of his life he focused on translating Anglo-American literature. He translated 33 plays by William Shakespeare and other works by Burns, Longfellow, Harte, Byron, Coleridge etc. Less known fact is that Sládek translated the Czech anthem Kde domov můj into English. Sládek was a good friend of Antonín Dvořák and from 1897 to 1898 lived in Vysoká u Příbramě close to Dvořák. His poems were set to music by Karel Bendl and Josef Bohuslav Foerster.

Poetry

 * Básně (1875)
 * Jiskry na moři (1880)
 * Světlou stopou (1881)
 * Na prahu ráje (1883)
 * Ze života (1884)
 * Sluncem a stínem (1887)
 * Selské písně (1890)
 * České znělky
 * Starosvětské písničky (1891)
 * Směska (1891)
 * České písně (1892)
 * V zimním slunci (1897)
 * Nové selské písně
 * Za soumraku (1907)
 * Léthé a jiné básně (1908)