Hermit Ivan and the place Svatý Jan pod Skalou in the Czech literature of the 19th century.
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| Year of publication | 2018 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
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| Description | Ivan, who is mentioned as the first hermit living in Bohemia, was an ispiration not only for many Czech writers of the 19th century such are Karel Hynek Mácha and today less known authors such as František Alexandr Rokos, Jan z Hvězdy, Marie Čacká (Pichlová). The place Svatý Jan pod Skalou is situated in the surroundings of Prague and it is connected with the life of St. Ivan as the place where the cave is located. The poem by Karel Hynek Mácha Sv. Ivan was published in 1831 in the magazine Večerní vyražení. Karel Hynek Macha describes the death of the hermit in this poem. Ivan dies alone on the rock, unlike in the poem of Jan z Hvězdy, in which princes Bořivoj and princess Ludmila burried the hermit Ivan with the famous funeral. Jan z Hvězdy let Ivan to die in the castle Tetín in his poem Sv. Ivan. The author Jan z Hvězdy (Jan Jindřich Marek) retains original content of the legend in his poem Sv. Ivan. Marek´s poem was choosen by the editor Josef Bojislav Pichl into his anthology of the Czech poetry focused on the topics from the Czech history - Společenský krasořečník, the first volume (1852). The poem of Karel Hynek Mácha, inspired by the Saint Ivan´s legend, was preceded by the poems in german language on a similar subject. This Mácha´s poem is titled Der Eremit - Hermit. As Vašica pointed out in the publication of the Czech Literary Baroque, Mácha's German-written Versuche (1829) contains a double variation of the Der Eremit poem. Mácha was therefore very interested in the theme of hermits and their lives. Hermits' figures were popular in both Baroque and Rococo and in the 19th century. The whole title of the intended poem is preserved in Macha´s manuscript so called Vprovod (ie, an introduction or a prelude) is Ivan / The poem in five wards. Mácha's published poem is the torso of the intended larger unit. František Alexandr Rokos´ poem Jwan (Ívan) was isuued in 1823. Rokos's poem is a kind of fiction, mostly in first part of the work that describes the life of Saint Ivan before his arrival to Bohemia. Marie Čacká, the wife of the doctor, translator, editor and writer Josef Bojislav Pichl, describes in her poem Svatý Jan pod Skalou how she was impressed by the visit of this place. She describes the enchantment of nature and also the uplifting spiritual experience that she felt when she visited a place where the heremit Ivan used to live. Romantic writers visited ruins of castles, caves, mountains and other interesting places not only from the tourist desire to walk in nature in the rocky countriside, but also due to the past of the Czech lands, which were inhabited thousands years ago. Romantic visitors were interested in the conection of these places with the Czech history, especially the Middle Age´s one. |
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