Page:An Anthology of Modern Bohemian Poetry.pdf/88

84 Or to the mighty old oak, that stands there yonder, incline thee,
 * 'Gainst the treacherous time holding its own till to-day.

Ah, but worse than the time, is the man, who a sceptre of iron,
 * Slavia, on thy neck, here in these lands has imposed;

Worse than savage encounters and fiercer than fire and than thunder-—
 * He who in frenzy blind covers his kindred with shame.

O ye years of the past that as night are lying around me,
 * O my country, thou art image of glory and shame;

From the treacherous Elbe o'er the plain to the Vistula faithless,
 * From the Danube until Baltic's insatiate foam.

Where the mellifluous tongue of the sturdy Slave once resounded.
 * Now it, alas! is still. silenced by onslaughts of hate.

Who has committed this theft that cries for vengeance to heaven?
 * Who has upon one race outraged the whole of mankind?

Blush thou for shame, O envious Teuton, the neighbour o! Sláva,
 * Many such sins have thine hands often committed of old.