Dílo sv. 4. Zpíváno do rotačky - Básně do sbírek nezařazené (1933–1938) - Překlady – Seifert Jaroslav (2014)

The fourth volume of Jaroslav Seifert’s collected works presents poems that match its title: verses he generally published anonymously in the second half of the 1930s, after his expulsion from the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia in 1929, in Social Democratic daily newspapers including Ranní noviny, Právo lidu and Večerník Práva lidu. In the regular Monday Morning News column known as Pondělní sloky, Seifert responded to current events of many kinds, from changes in the weather and Sunday derby results to political and cultural scandals of the First Republic, such as the activities of Jiří Stříbrný and the dispute with J. S. Machar, as well as international events including the rise of Hitler’s Germany and the Spanish Civil War. He also addressed more timeless and recurring subjects, such as the beginning of the school year and May Day, making it possible to follow the development of his poetic motifs. Some of these verses, illustrated by the noted caricaturist František Bidlo, were collected by Seifert in the satirical volume Zpíváno do rotačky, published several times, while others appeared in A. M. Píšou’s 1957 edition of Jaroslav Seifert’s works. This volume therefore offers a previously unpublished book counterpart to Seifert’s individual collections and journalism from the period. It also includes several short translations from the same era, variant readings, notes and an index of names. The contents are in Czech.