Page:The Czechoslovak Review, vol4, 1920.pdf/88
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THE CZECHOSLOVAK REVIEW
A Selection of Contemporary Czech Poetry
Translated by PAUL SELVER.
Petr Bezruč: Kijov.
Ho, ye youthful swains, top-booted and lithe,
Ho, ye damsels in scarlet wear;
In Kijov town ye ever were blithe,
And blithe shall ye ever be there.
Ho, ye damsels in scarlet wear;
In Kijov town ye ever were blithe,
And blithe shall ye ever be there.
E’en as from fragrant vines it had gushed,
E’en as ye seethe, my lays;
The blood of the Slovaks is fierily flushed,
Lips burn and eyes are ablaze.
E’en as ye seethe, my lays;
The blood of the Slovaks is fierily flushed,
Lips burn and eyes are ablaze.
Who shall smite us, who shall afflict us with ill?
Of a master naught we know;
And as blithe as we live and drink our fill,
As blithe to our end we shall go.
“SILESIAN SONGS” (1909)
Of a master naught we know;
And as blithe as we live and drink our fill,
As blithe to our end we shall go.
“SILESIAN SONGS” (1909)
Otakar Březina: Earth?
World streches onward unto world,
Star unto star, when gloom of midnight is here,
And one there is in their midst, revolving around a white sun,
And its soaring thunders in music of mystical cheer,
And the souls of them who have suffered the most
May venture amid its sphere.
Star unto star, when gloom of midnight is here,
And one there is in their midst, revolving around a white sun,
And its soaring thunders in music of mystical cheer,
And the souls of them who have suffered the most
May venture amid its sphere.
Hundreds of brethren spake: We have fathomed its secret,
Dead arise therein from slumber, living in slumber therein are dead;
Lovers spake: Blinded are eyes by an over-great lustre
And all are slain there by time, as by fragrance that unknown blossoms have shed;
But they who had skill to gaze through the ages,
“Earth?” with a questioning smile, they said.
“TEMPLE BUILDERS” (1899)
Dead arise therein from slumber, living in slumber therein are dead;
Lovers spake: Blinded are eyes by an over-great lustre
And all are slain there by time, as by fragrance that unknown blossoms have shed;
But they who had skill to gaze through the ages,
“Earth?” with a questioning smile, they said.
“TEMPLE BUILDERS” (1899)
J.S. Machar: Avar Inroad.
Villages rearward burn. Smoke-black the sky.
Torrents of flame pour onward from afar
Over the ripened corn and meadow-grass,
And from these places rolls a rumbling cloud
Of Avar soldiery. The slant-eyed horsemen
Sway buoyantly upon their horses, for
There is no peril. And they are content,
Laden with goblets and with crucifixes,
With reliquiaries, candalabra, cruses,
With vestments, mantles, flagons and apparel.
Lowing of cows, and bleat of goats and sheep
Which are borne on amid the warriors,
Rings out like sweetest music in their ears.
And each one drags along, having entwined
Tresses like ropes about his bony hand,
Three or four women, naked utterly
And with their blood bedabbled, for their breasts
With a sheer wound are all pierced through and through.
“THE BARBARIANS” (1911)
Torrents of flame pour onward from afar
Over the ripened corn and meadow-grass,
And from these places rolls a rumbling cloud
Of Avar soldiery. The slant-eyed horsemen
Sway buoyantly upon their horses, for
There is no peril. And they are content,
Laden with goblets and with crucifixes,
With reliquiaries, candalabra, cruses,
With vestments, mantles, flagons and apparel.
Lowing of cows, and bleat of goats and sheep
Which are borne on amid the warriors,
Rings out like sweetest music in their ears.
And each one drags along, having entwined
Tresses like ropes about his bony hand,
Three or four women, naked utterly
And with their blood bedabbled, for their breasts
With a sheer wound are all pierced through and through.
“THE BARBARIANS” (1911)