person
Saint John of Nepomuk
Nepomuk
also: Jan Nepomucky, Johannes von Nepomuk
Bohemian priest (c. 1345-1393) drowned in the Moldau on the king's order and venerated as the patron saint of bridges; his statue stands on bridges throughout the Bohemian lands.
Reading notes
- Early Poems §40 Nepomuks
St. John of Nepomuk (Jan Nepomucky), the Bohemian martyr drowned in the Moldau and patron of bridges; his statue stands on nearly every bridge in the land--hence the poem's mock-exasperation.