344
LITERARY NOTES
PAGE
riper manifestations. Pessimism is not absent, but it is modified by a wider knowledge of life. In this volume, Theer gives proof of great technical skill. The variety of his metres and the melodious diction of his language are admirable. His later poems in free rhythm, which are rather of an experimental nature, appear to be lacking in the spontaneous qualities of his best verses.274
Vrchlický,[1] Jaroslav (pseudonym for Emil Frida, 1853–1912). The greatest name in Czech literature. The mere quantity of his work is astonishing. It consists of (1) over 80 volumes of lyric and epic poetry, (2) 30 plays, (3) 12 libretti for operas, (4) over 12 volumes of prose, (5) nearly 50 volumes of translated verse, (6) over 35 translations of plays, (7) 6 volumes of translated prose. These translations include the whole of Ariosto, Camoens, Dante, Tasso, together with extensive selections from Byron, Victor Hugo, Shelley, Tennyson, Whitman, Calderon, Goethe (the complete "Faust"), and several anthologies of modern English, French and Italian poetry. By this enormous body of work,
- ↑ Pron. Verchlitsky (ch as in loch).
