The page of Botto, Ján
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Biography
Ján Botto (1827-76) is remembered for his allegorical balladic poem Smrť Jánošíkova (1862, revised 1870s), the most famous work on the theme of the executed bandit Jánošík. Throughout the poem there is a tension between fairy-tale-like visions (blended with messianism) and gloomy realism (almost) - a sense that ideals of freedom exist in a world apart from the world of men - there is a chasm between the mythic dreamworld represented by Jánošík and the portrayal of passive Slovak peasants (or between ideals and mankind's lot).
