Poems

We present the poetic work of Josef Kainar (1917–1971) through four of his seminal books from the 1940s and later the 1960s. Nové mýty (New Myths, 1946) is one of the most distinctive literary expressions of Group 42, and contemporary critics recognised the author as one of the most talented members of the young generation. However, Kainar was already close to the group's poetics in his previous collection, Osudy (Fates, published in 1947), especially for its concreteness, disillusionment, and epic quality. He also demonstrated a lifelong inclination for concisely sketched stories in his songwriting, and in our selection, this dual poetic and musical nature is represented by the collections Lazar a píseň (Lazarus and Song, 1960) and Moje blues (My Blues, 1966). The reflective or confessional character of both late books is the result of the tension between a civil and a powerful poetics, one that is both plain-spoken and mournful. This volume of Kainar's work was edited, provided with commentary, and revised for its second edition by Petr Šrámek.