Karel Hynek Mácha – May Twilight

The response to the book Karel Hynek Mácha – Úsvit spatřený (Dawn Witnessed) confirmed for the authors, Otomar Dvořák and Josef Pepson Snětivý, that the work of Karel Hynek Mácha is still alive two centuries later, and the poet's fate continues to captivate thoughtful and cultured Czechs.

So they once again looked at Hynek through an admiring yet realistic lens. They attempted to portray him as a man who, on the one hand, has his “head in the clouds,” while on the other, is deeply rooted in our beautiful landscape, which he so masterfully celebrated not only with words but also with his drawings. As a youth who walks through life with dreamy eyes, but at the same time, in certain aspects and moments, acts incredibly pragmatically, with a cool head and sober reason. As an occasionally rebellious and provocative student who champions Slavism and all things noble, yet simultaneously chooses the profession of a lawyer, which is miles away from all that…

The book Karel Hynek Mácha – Májový soumrak (May Twilight) focuses on the last four years of the poet’s life journey (1832–1836). It introduces new companions to the stage, and above all, his fateful woman: Lori Šomková. And another antagonism appears: outwardly, Hynek bows to women as goddesses, yet he treats his own in a way that is, to say the least, bewildering. Mácha was, in short, a strong, sensitive, and exceptional young man – with all the virtues and vices that can be associated with such a person.

At the same time, the books by this creative duo are always an invitation to a journey. A journey through our wondrous country, endowed with such diversity that it takes our breath away every time. And these places of quickened pulse, as the authors call them, are further embellished by an incredible number of monuments, some small, some dominant. Hynek saw, perceived – and recorded it all.

We invite you, therefore, to the capital city of the Kingdom of Bohemia, which is a bottomless treasure trove of architecture and mysterious corners. We will leave it with Wenceslas IV and his executioner, who will lead us to the Podbrdsko and Křivoklátsko regions. Mácha's Region, the setting of our most famous poem, cannot be missed. And finally, the Bohemian Central Highlands, the Litoměřice region and its centre, where one extraordinary young life was so unhappily extinguished. And where the poet's remains rested for a whole century before returning to the Mother of Cities, which thus became both his cradle and his grave.