Ján Kollár, translated by Paul Selver

“ 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.
Ne'er has an enemy yet shed blood—or ink-so profusely,
As by the German was shed, compassing Sláva's decay;
Only of liberty worthy is he who can liberty value,
He who puts captives in bonds—he is a captive himself. ”

“ More from respect for the gods rather than profit to men;
They taught the farmer to till the bosom of Earth with the plough-share,
So that the lands that were bare yielded the golden-hued corn.
They by the peaceful paths, the lime-tree sacred to Sláva,
Planted and scattered around fragrance and shadowy rest.
Each taught his son to build cities and in them to carry on commerce,
While by the women were taught maidens the weaving of cloth:
O thou masterly nation, for this what recompense hast thou? ”

“ Half of the nature of one, half of the other possess.
Thus do the Osman hordes run riot in countries Hellenic,
Lofty Olympus is now crowned with the tail of a horse;
Thus the two worlds of the Indies has grasping Europe corrupted,
Civilization removed virtue, land, colour, and speech.
Nation and honour have vanished, the gods have gone with the language,
Nature alone doth remain—nature that ne'er can be changed.
Forest, stream, town and village unwilling their titles Slavonic
Altered; the form but remains. Spirit of Sláva is gone. ”