36
MODERN BOHEMIAN POETRY
None may hound him away from his land,
But,
But betwixt here and the Beskyds the gulf is wide.
"Songs of Silesia" (1911).
KYJOV
Ho, ye slender youths in your top-boots clad,
Ho, maidens in crimson array—
In Kyjov a joyful life ye have had,
In Kyjov 'twill ever be gay.
E'en as from fragrant vines it flows,
E'en as ye, O my verses, are streaming,
The fiery blood of the Slovaks glows,
Lips burn and eyes are gleaming.
Who will smite us, or who will afflict us with ill?
For unto no master we bend;
And as blithe as we live and we drink our fill,
As blithe we will go to our end.
"Songs of Silesia" (1911).
