Page 623 - Kosovo Metohija Heritage

a seven–headed monster He sent forth
To plague and extirpate the Serbian Name,
Be they betrayers or be they betray’d.
On falling rums of a realm heroic
Did Milosh shine with firm and constant justice; Crowned be too, with an undying glory,
Those pobratims who steadfast were to Milosh;
Not less the lovely jugovitch bouquet!
So parsed the Serbian Cap and Name away:
Warrior lions gave place to ploughmen,
While selfish poltroons took Mohammed’s creed, – Their Serbian milk shall ever bring them plague!
all those who ’scaped from death by Moslem sword, all those who still held true to Christian faith,
Who with abhorrence thought of bonds and chains, all such as these took flight to mountains grey,
To wane and perish and pour out their blood;
’Mid mountains, trust and heritage to guard,
Our sacred Freedom and our glorious Name. Thereto our Traders Providence hath called,
Our Serbian Youth as radiant as the stars,
The children of these mountains wild,
in bloody combats falling day by day,
For sake of Honour, Faith, and Freedom dear;
Yet all our tears are wiped away
When skilful gouslar comes with rousing lay.
Oh, let our losses all be light,
if the hard mountains of our land
Become the grave of Moslem might!...
[...]
[SiRDaR VUKOTa]
O accursed land, may you perish in doom!
Your name is most horrible and dreaded.
No sooner does a young hero appear
than you take him away in early youth.
Or if there is a brave man of honor,
you snatch him, too, long before his time comes. Or if there is a garland of flowers
to decorate the heads of lovely brides,
you harvest it at the peak of flowering.
My land, you have turned to blood for me now! in very truth you are now nothing more
than piles of bones and graveyard monuments, on which our youth, resolved and without fear, holds a solemn festival of horror.
O Kosovo, the site of judgment Day,
may Sodom burst into flames on your field!
[...]
O you, Miloš, who does not envy you?
You are the victim of your noble feelings,
you, a mighty military genius,
a terrific thunder that shatters crowns!
The greatness of your noble knightly soul surpasses the immortal, valiant deeds
of great Sparta and of powerful Rome.
all their brilliant courageous endeavours
your knightly arm places in deep shadow. Leonidas and Scaevola, can they
match Obilić on any battlefield?
His powerful arm with a single blow
toppled a throne and shook all Tartarus.
The wonder of all valiant knights, Miloš,
fell victim at the throne of the world’s scourge.
[...]
a MONTeNeGRiN WeDDiNG GUeST
Our Obilić, you fiery dragon,
the eyes of those who look at you go blind.
all brave men will always honor your name! You did not fail our crown like a coward
when you set your foot on the Sultan’s throat and stepped into the Sultan’s torn belly.
Now i see you riding your stallion, Kiaurs,
and dispersing the Turks around the tent.
What will happen? Who will do the right thing? Serb and Turk can never get together.
The salty sea will sooner change to sweet.
Rendered into English by James W. Wiles, George Allen & Un- win, Ltd., London 1930. Petar II Petrović Njegoš (1813–1851), was Serbian Orthodox Prince—Bishop of Montenegro (Metropoli- tan of Cetinje).
Kosovo, the site of judgment Day
The burial chappel of Prince-Bishop Petar II Petrović Njegoš on the mountain Lovćen peak (1851)
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