“ In this little selection of poems, circumscribed as it is by the conditions of today, there is no claim that a representative picture of Czech poetry can be given, nor that the English versions do anything like justice to the Czech originals. It will be enough if it serves to indicate the presence of a rich and diverse literary tradition, too often ignored and neglected because of linguistic difficulties of approach, and because it represents the voice of a small people. ”

“ Across the face of Central Europe, in generation after generation, there have passed the feet of marching men. Sometimes they have come, moving through on their way East or West, and have left behind them a trail of charred ruin: sometimes they have stayed to impose their rule. ”

“ It is hard to hear this voice amid the beating drums of bigger powers; but it is perhaps timely to remind ourselves that the abiding achievements of a people bear no relation to the extent of its population or territory, but rather to the intensity of its devotion to certain ideals and standards, both moral and intellectual. ”

“ On these occasions they have invariably found themselves opposed by a national resistance which drew strength and inspiration from the cultural traditions of the linguistic group. Thus the invaders have come to attack these traditions, to burn the books which expressed them, and to repress the language in which they were written.
During the systematic persecution which followed the battle of the White Mountain the Czech language was reduced to the status of a dialect fit only for lesser breeds, and unworthy to be the vehicle of literary expression. ”