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18 In common with other Czech poets—Neumann is an illuminative example—Březina and Sova have attained to a free and optimistic outlook on life after a somewhat complex poetical development. Their early poems display an uncertainty, a groping hesitance, with a tendency to insincere pessimism, derived rather from the study of books than from contact with life. But gradually the mask of unreality is laid aside, the affected cynicism is discarded, and life has become for these poets something tangible, something that inspires hope and happiness.

In the midst of all these cross-currents of tendencies and poetical movements, there are a number of poets who still remain true to the old poetical traditions, and whose work commands respect. Foremost among these is Fr. S. Procházka (b. 1861), a poet of strong patriotic tendencies, a skillul imitator of the folk-song, a writer of descriptive verse, marked by clearness, fluency, and an occasional touch of humour. His most famous collection is the volume "Songs of the Hradchin," a series of poems based on historical and patriotic motives; their popularity was so great that they passed through several editions in a few months. He has also edited the "Česká Lyra," an excellent anthology of modern Czech verse. His qualities as a descriptive poet are seen in such a poem as "Moravian Landscape" (page 104). His poem "The Ore Mountains" gives an example of his patriotic verse (page 105).