Author: Jiří Opelík
Institute of Czech Literature, Czech Academy of Sciences
Translation from Czech by Radost Zhelezarova
Published in Slavyanski dialozi, XVIII, 2021, 28, 31-37 [In Bulgarian]
Abstract: The article ignores the literary-historical context, as it aims to discover the inner logic of the strong presence of the image of the angel in the poetry of Jaroslav Seifert. The appearance of angels in his debut collection City in Tears (Město v slzách, 1921) can be explained by the ideological connection that many writers at the time made between early Christianity and the dream of revolutionary change. On the other hand, Seifert’s penchant for the prayer genre naturally evokes certain biblical characters, but he fills them with a different, more earthly meaning. Gradually, the disobedient or fallen angels, the angels avengers, entered his poetics. In his poetry of
the 1960s, angels already carry the heavy mortal fate.
Key words: Jaroslav Seifert, angels, Christianity, earthliness, disobedience, mortality