Slovak Literature in English Translation

The Bloody Sonnets is a cycle of 32 sonnets written between August and September of 1914, during the first months of World War I. Unlike many poets who were enthusiastically pro-war as fighting began, Hviezdoslav chose to reflect on war’s horrors. Sonnets 1-16 describe the catastrophe, while Sonnets 17-32 ponder how it might end and what may come after.