Karel Jaromír Erben

“ I am married, married now
But against my wishes,
For our best men stood black crabs,
For my bridesmaids . . . fishes.
And my husband, God forbid,
Stays wet on the dryest land.
Human souls he keeps in cups
Buried in the sand.
Sleep and rest my little darling
With your greenish tresses,
Know your mother married not
Under love’s caresses.
But deceived and caught within
A treacherous, stout net,
She has here no other joy
But you, my little pet.”
This work is a translation and has a separate copyright status to the applicable copyright protections of the original content. ”

“ Marking a trail toward the lake ’neath the hill.
One girl is kneeling where the ice shows a break,
Impatient, the other stands by.
“Hannah dear, Hannah, for our friendship’s sake
Tell me what meets your eye.”
“I see a cottage, as yet hazy and far,
It looks like my Václav’s home . . .
The vision grows brighter . . . ”