Beniak is an exceptional figure among the Slovak poets. His life and work were marked considerably by the dramatic events of the 20 th century with its two world wars and revolutionary political changes that were the result of the war and post-war conditions. He was sentenced to isolation for twenty-five years, just when he was in the prime of his creative powers, thus prevented from taking an active part in the social and cultural life. Nevertheless, he found sufficient strength to continue in his work despite the prohibition to publish.
His poetic beginnings are marked by the influence of native and foreign poets that he was able to overcome already in his first collection of poetry, which sets out his own way. Here, the dominant element is the deep connection to his home, to the village life. The search for his own philosophy of a solitary poet weakens the idyllic character of his poetry. He surprises the reader with the metaphorical expressiveness of his sensual imagery that is a special feature of the Slovak poetism. He remains true to his philosophical principles and empathizes deeply with the tragic condition of the human life.
A separate group form the collections inspired by his journeys to Italy and France
(The Echoes of the Steps, Royal Chain, Faifground). Through the prism of little incidents and impressions he humanizes great historical personages and cultural monuments. In his collection
Mail Pigeon comes the transformation of his vision of the world and a reflection on the coming war events (Italy and Germany). Contemporary events are dealt more intensively in his collection
Beechnut. The war events were reflected in his collections from 1939 - 1944. These are poems full of personal restlessness, worries about the danger (threatening the world, nation, people), dressed in a metaphorical robe of poetry.
The peak of his poetry was reached in the collections
Sophia, Ash Wednesday, and
Jester. They present the vortex of the world at war depicted poetically and resolved in an anxious vision of peace.
Here he opens spacious areas of emotional and intellectual dramas of the man of his time influenced by the historical events brought about by the high-power interests. As a solitary poet, he maintains his detachment and relies on the power and inviolability of the poetic statement about the dramatic shapes of his time, the inner struggles of the human beings, their tragedy, but also love.
His work after 1945 evidently surpasses his previous work with its quantity and quality, though he lived alone in isolation. His poetry surprises by its generic wealth and poetic richness. In the history of Slovak literature his place is among the major 20 th century poets.
Read more 
