Bouquets

He worked on his Bouquet of National Legends, as Karel Jaromír Erben called it in 1853, for many years and constantly expanded it in individual editions. Today it consists of thirteen ballads, dealing primarily with maternal and lover' s love, paternal and filial relationships, and issues of guilt, repentance, and forgiveness. The cruel and dramatic stories are underlined by the presence of magical powers and supernatural elements. Erben' s heroes act in the grip of strong emotions and passions, and their fate is often tragic. All the compositions in this collection have a distinct plot and are attractive and perhaps even enchanting to readers even today.
The author set a number of poems in his native Miletín region. The mother from Poklad visits the church in Červená Třemešná, the grandfather from the poem The Golden Spinning Wheel lives in a hermit' s cave near Miletínské Lázně, and the sinister Waterman lives in the Hluboký pond near Lázně Bělohradu.
A production based on Erben' s book, titled Bouquet, performed at the Semafor Theatre, became famous. A recording of this performance was also released on gramophone records in 1974.
Seven poems from The Bouquet were performed by F. A. Brabec in the film of the same name from 2001. 2000.