Farewell and a Handkerchief

Farewell and a Handkerchief—Poems from the Road is a collection that reflects on the month-long travels of Czech poet Vítězslav Nezval through Vienna, Paris, southern France, and Italy. During this journey, on May 9, 1933, Nezval had a chance encounter with two of the surrealist movement’s most influential poets—André Breton and Paul Éluard—while sitting at the Cardinal Café on the Grands Boulevards in Paris, a meeting that proved transformative. After returning home, Nezval helped found the Czech Surrealist Group, along with Karel Teige, Jindřich Stýrský, and Toyen. It became the only official group of its kind outside of France.