Page:An Anthology of Modern Bohemian Poetry.pdf/35

Rh  Thou art heartless and shameless—by lightning mayst thou be rent. From the Beskyds am I, and a son of serfdom and woe, I toil in thy forges and down in thy mine I toil; Gall seethes in my veins and yet I toil for thee still, I seize on thy wood by the side of the foaming rill. I am black, I am poor, and the sweat on my forehead appears, But no children because of my deeds in the Beskyds shed tears; I oppressed no widows nor seized on their land with might, So I am a beggar, and thou art my master to-day. Hast thou come to the mountains? O get thee gone from my sight; I wear a Phrygian cap—get thee hence from my way.

"" (1911).

 

I am the first who arose of the people of Teschen, The first Beskydian bard who uttered his strains; They follow the stranger's plough, the slaves fare downwards, Naught but milk and water flows in their veins. 