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Leaves of Grass is the first Czech translation of the original edition of Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass (1855). It includes passages that were deleted or altered by the poet himself in later editions. For the first time ever, the Czech reader can also read Whitman's extensive preface, a famous and influential poetic manifesto. The poetic summa itself opens with a large composition in the last manuscript edition, entitled Song of Myself, the most poetic, elaborate and at the same time the most up-to-date text of Leaves of Grass. Eleven other tracks follow. Whitman's strongly humanistic and all-encompassing ethos enters a new context in a time of increasing xenophobia. A contemporary translation by Americanist and song folklorist Ondřej Skovajsa and writer and musician Hana Lundiak seeks an adequate counterpart to Whitman's voice. He tries to capture the deliciousness of freedom and the delight of existence. Today there is no need to censor Whitman's spermatically relaxed singing and vivacious shouting; rather, it should be emphasized. As the horizon from where we came and where we are going.

Czech edition