The Mountain and the Forest : A Comparative Study of Hviezdoslav and Eminescu – Nation and Nature in Slovak and Romanian Poetry

This study presents a comparative analysis of two major figures in Central European poetry: the Slovak poet Pavol Országh Hviezdoslav (1849–1921) and the Romanian poet Mihai Eminescu (1850–1889). Both poets emerged from the cultural awakenings of their respective nations in the second half of the nineteenth century, and both are considered foundational figures in their national literary traditions. Despite the geographical proximity of Slovakia and Romania and the shared historical context of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, no systematic comparative study of these two poets has yet been undertaken. Focusing on two core motifs—the mountain in Hviezdoslav’s poetry and the forest in Eminescu’s work—the research explores how both poets used natural imagery to articulate national identity, personal longing, and the relationship between the individual and the land. Through close reading of key texts—Hviezdoslav’sHájnikova žena(The Gamekeeper’s Wife) andLetorosty(Annual Shoots), Eminescu’sLuceafărul(The Morning Star) andScrisori(Letters)—the study reveals that while both poets share a Romantic poetics of nature and nation, their treatments diverge in significant ways. Hviezdoslav’s mountains are spaces of solitude, moral integrity, and resistance to modernity; Eminescu’s forests are spaces of myth, melancholy, and the weight of history. The study argues that these divergences reflect different historical contexts—Slovakia’s experience of cultural suppression within Hungary, Romania’s emergence from Ottoman suzerainty—and different poetic temperaments. By bringing these two poets into sustained dialogue, the study contributes to a deeper understanding of Central European Romanticism and offers a new framework for reading the literature of the Austro-Hungarian Empire as a field of parallel developments rather than national hierarchies. Email:bo.xia@posteo.de