An Anthology of Czechoslovak Literature/The Pillar-Box

For works with similar titles, see The Pillar-Box.

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An Anthology of Czechoslovak Literature (1929)
translated by Paul Selver

The Pillar-Box by Jiří Wolker

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Jiří Wolker4867413An Anthology of Czechoslovak Literature — The Pillar-Box1929Paul Selver

JIŘÍ WOLKER

(1900–1924)

The Pillar-Box

THE pillar-box at the street-corner is not a mere
Commonplace, paltry thing.
It is a blossom of blue,
And folk hold it very dear;
Trusting it utterly, they
Throw letters into it on both sides,
One for the sad, the other for the gay.

The letters are white as pollen, and abide
Till trains, ships and messengers
Like bees and winds scatter them far and wide,—
Where there are hearts,
Crimson pistils,
Which in rose-hued wrapping are stored.

When to them the letters have soared,
Fruits begin to sprout there,
Some sweet and some bitter.
The Guest in the House (1921)

This work is a translation and has a separate copyright status to the applicable copyright protections of the original content.

Original:

This work was published before January 1, 1930, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

Translation:

This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published before January 1, 1930.

The longest-living author of this work died in 1970, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 54 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse