Poetry

Kytice was inspired by Erben’s love of Slavonic myth and the folklore surrounding such creatures as the Noonday Witch and the Water Goblin.

First published in 1853, these poems, along with Mácha’s Máj and Němcová’s Babička, are the best loved and most widely read 19th century Czech classics. Published here in the expanded 1861 version, the collection has moved generations of artists and composers, including Dvořák, Smetana and Janáček.

Translated and with an introduction by Susan Reynolds, Curator of the Czech, Slovak and Lusatian Collections at the British Library.