Petar Preradović

“ Strainest and rubbest thine eyes, already thou art at the point
Of rousing thee, of gazing in concord upon
God's beauteous day, whereof love is the sunrise: oh, ere long,
Ere long thy tribes shall rally them, shall arise and clasp
One the hand of the other, with a kiss they shall evoke happiness
And heroic prowess, one unto the other; ere long shall love
Blaze up as an overwhelming pyre of happiness, and all thy broad focus
Shall be its domain, with every heart that is thine
For its fuel; resplendent shall be its exemplar
And hitherto unheard of, unseen in the world ”

“ All that is God's in the world—thee He chooses and empowers
From among the race of mankind to be hero
And idol of her. Ah, it fares ill upon earth
With those favoured by heaven: for heaven they
are in travail, and of hell
They cannot long elude the toils; thus already
Thou bindest upon the thread of thy life
Ages of suffering, and upon each limb of thy huge body
Thou feelest all human griefs diversely grievous. ”

“ Greatest in number of dwellers, when virulent savagery
Harried it to the bane of ages; in fine, to behold
An image most like unto itself upon earth, when in God's name
Godlessness evilly vexed it, and for the sake of the cross
Nailed, as it were to the cross, the gentlest of tribes. ”