“ The warlike Vlaslaw lay.
From wood to wood his army reach’d,
It reach’d along five times as strong
As the men of Prague arrayed,
And from it, as from thunder-clouds,
Was heard around a hurtling sound,
And countless bloodhounds bayed.
“With foes like these we scarce can fight,
“Not oft the staff can strive
“Against the axe!” [2] Thus Voimir, thus
Doth Czestmir answer give:
“’Tis wise in whispers thus to speak,
“’Tis wise prepar’d to be
“For every chance. With heedless shock
“Why strike thy forehead ’gainst a rock? ”

“ Thus there arose among the patriots of every condition in life the most laudable rivalry in seeking out and bringing together manuscripts and documents, which had almost marvellously escaped destruction in the wasting wars and troubles, by which Bohemia had so repeatedly and often for half-a-century at a time been devastated, and which were thus unexpectedly rescued from oblivion or concealment and incorporated in the National Museum. ”

“ Could there be a greater proof of the progress of Slavonic literature, than that so large a work should find a sufficient circle of readers in the Bohemian language? I now proceed to consider the external form and internal contents of the important manuscript itself, which has proved and is proving so valuable to the land that gave it birth. ”

“ That stands in the oakwood high;
And on the summit of the rock,
The rock to the gods right dear,
He burns his offering to the gods,
Who rescued him from fear,
For victory that’s past and gone,
For victory that’s near. ”

“ Among the men, who in those days of universal rivalry, busied themselves with restless zeal and rare good fortune in discovering and publishing ancient, hitherto unknown or neglected memorials of Bohemian Literature, one of the first and most honourable places is unquestionably held by the present Librarian of the National Museum, Pan [1] Vaceslaw Hanka. This gentleman, after completing his studies and working for some time at Vienna j as co-editor of a Bohemian newspaper and magazine, was settled at Prague just at the time when the preliminaries to founding the Museum were in progress ”

“ Doth chase the birds that fly.
And Zaboi’s band thro’ all the land
Spreads wide, their foes to meet,
And down they smite them everywhere
Beneath their horses’ feet.
They chase them by night ’neath the moon’s pale light,
Beneath the sun by day,
And then in the darksome night again,
And then in the morning gray. ”

“ He has also amongst other things composed and published a volume of poems of considerable merit, which has now reached the fifth edition. It was P. Hanka’s good fortune, a reward as it were for his patriotic exertions in the cause of his country’s literature, almost by accident to discover the very best thing that has escaped the ravages of time, not merely in the old Bohemian literature, but in that of all the Slavonic races, the Queen’s Court Manuscript, of the discovery of which I shall now proceed to give an account. ”

“ The Tatars make their home
In Poland, all things devastate,
And near and nearer come.
And now the savage heathen press
To Olmütz; cries of woe
Arise in ev’ry district; nought
Is safe before the foe. ”

“ The Austrian empire was not devoid of this common patriotic feeling, and it was with especial vivacity that it thrilled through every vein in a country ever susceptible of the impulses of an active intellectual life, the country of Bohemia. ”

“ Not only has a generation of poets arisen worthy of any age and any nation, but a historical school has also begun to place Slavonic prose in a position to rival that of hitherto more cultivated and polished literatures. It is needless to multiply names; suffice it to mention, that the great Bohemian history of Palacky, which was begun in German and translated by the Author into Bohemian, is now being continued originally in Bohemian, and the German translation is made by another hand. ”

“ The discoverer of the fragment expressed immediately in the first edition, and P. Palacky has supported, both in periodical publications and in his history of Bohemia, with various weighty reasons, the conjecture that the collection of poems was made or caused to be made by Zavisz of Rosenberg, the husband of Przemysl Otakar the Second’s widow, Queen Kunigunda, a man most distinguished for intellect and accomplishments, and at the end of his life for misfortune, and who was celebrated in Bohemia by both contemporaries and posterity as a poet, though none of his works are now extant ”

“ Did he think upon a battle of ancient times, he sent forth ten falcons against a troop of swans, and the first, who made a capture, entoned also the first song, whether of the ancient Jaroslaw, the brave Mistislaw, who hewed down Rededia before the Kasosk bands, or the beautiful Roman, descendant of Sviatoslaw. Though Boïan, brethren, loosed not ten falcons against a flock of swans; his prophetic fingers touched the living strings, which of themselves celebrated the glory of the princes. ”

“ The Germans they must die!
↑ With this poem begins in the Queen’s Court Manuscript “the 26th Chapter of the Third Book, of the Overthrow of the Saxons.” This overthrow of the Saxons, accomplished by Benes, the son of Hermann, took place in the year 1203, when, during the absence of King Przemysl Otakar I. at the Court of the Emperor Otho IV., an army belonging to the Margrave of Meissen entered Bohemia, to avenge the repudiation of Queen Adela or Adelheid.
This Benes, son of Hermann, who appears in old Bohemian records between 1197 and 1220, was Castellan of Budisin (from 1217 to 1220) . ”

“ From Czestmir’s piercing eye,
From Czestmir, who o’er Vlaslaw fierce
Hath won the victory.
Loud sounds the shout of victory
In Neklan’s joyous ear,
To Neklan’s joyous eye doth spoil,
Abundant spoil appear.
↑ The subject of this poem is the victory of the heroic Czestmir or Cztmir, General of Neklan, Prince of Prague, over Vlastislaw, Prince of Zatec (Saaz) , in the first half of the ninth century; of which a further account is given by Kosmas, and after him by other Bohemian chroniclers. ”

“ All men of higher education and deeper insight appeared after the pacification of the continent of Europe by the Congress of Vienna, to feel a new and lively zeal for the interests of their country awakened within them. ”

“ We may remark in it the mention of an old Bohemian poet, Lumir, of whom nothing more is known; this is however a proof that inspired bards were already held in especial reverence among the earliest Bohemians. The name of the foreign enemy of the Bohemians, Ludiek, indicates the German Ludwig, without its being possible to attach it to a historical person. ”

“ Far in the land where Olmütz reigns,
Rises a hill, not high;
’Tis Hostajnow; God’s Mother there
Works marvels wondrously.
'Twas quiet in our country long,
Long bloom’d a peaceful age,
When from the east a storm arose,
Amongst the lands to rage.
It was the daughter of the Khan,
The Khan of Tatary,
By Christian hands did for her gold,
Her pearls and jewels, die.
The daughter bright of Kublay Khan,
Fair as the moon was she,
Had heard of countries in the west,
Where many people be ”

“ On all our pilgrimage,
“From Vesna to Morana, must
“Be ours, from youth to age.
“No more may we our foreheads strike
“Before the Gods we know,
“No more to them at eventide
“With meats in offering go. ”

“ Now Czestmir sends the booty back
To the folk from whom ’twas ta’en,
And with the booty the lovely maid
Returns to her home again.
But Voimir will in the selfsame place,
At the selfsame hour of day,
To the gods, who granted victory,
His thankful offerings pay.
“Up, Voimir, up!” quoth Czestmir then,
“Our steps are hastening straight
“O’er Vlaslaw victory to win ”

“ The rhymed epic fragments, the Alexandreis, and other ancient Bohemian poems differ from them as much as night from day, though some of them are contemporary with, or even older than, the latest of those contained in the Queen’s Court Manuscript. ”

“ But Ludiek aside hath stood.
Zaboi on high his war-axe swung,
And cast it at the foe;
The axe it flew and cleft the shield,
And Ludiek’s breast below.
The heavy axe the soul affrights,
The soul by the war-axe strong
Is driven forth, and fathoms five
Through the army borne along.
Loud shriek the panic-stricken foe,
When low their leader lies,
But glad the shouts of Zaboi’s bands,
Joy sparkling in their eyes.
“O brethren! the Gods have granted aid,
“And given us victory;
“And now divide we left and right,
“Steeds seek we speedily
“In every vale ”

“ Ye men, that fain would heroes be,
“And bear the hero’s name!
“Die we upon the hill with thirst,
“’Tis God our fate doth guide;
“Surrend’ring to the foemen’s swords,
“Our death is suicide.
“Our God doth slavery abhor ”

“ There is, however, considerable plausibility in the conjecture of Svoboda (adapted by Eichhoff) that the poet is here commemorating the victory of Samo over the Frankish army of Dagobert, between 628 and 638. ↑ The Varito, the harp of the Slavonians, corresponds to the βάρβιτον of the Greeks. ↑ Allusion to the recent death of a chief, followed ,by a period of anarchy and an invasion of the enemy. ↑ The introduction of Christianity abolished polygamy, and forced the Bohemians to be content with a single wife, from Vesna, the goddess of Spring and Youth, to Morana, the goddess of Death. ”

“ Their hands, from earth to heaven’s height
Looking imploringly.
“We cannot longer faint with thirst,
“For thirst we cannot fight;
“Who loves his health, who loves his life,
“Must mercy seek in flight
“Among the Tatars.” ”

“ The fragment that remains consists in the first place of two narrow strips, and secondly of twelve complete leaves of parchment. The two narrow strips, on which only single syllables and words are still to be read, are connected in contents and sense with the leaves immediately following. Two such strips were found in the place of feathers on arrows, and came with the arrows into the possession of the late Prince Rudolph Kinsky. ”

“ Two years afterwards appeared the first oomplete edition of the manuscript, (which had been presented to P. Hanka by the authorities of the Church, and which he afterwards presented to the Museum) under the title, Rukopis Kralodvorsky a. t.d. ”

“ This appears equally from the legend of the Tatar Princess, which is found about the same date in a German legend of St. Hedwiga. A further account is contained in “Der Mongolen Einfall im Jahre 1241, von Fr. Palacky, Prag. 1842.” ↑ Hana is a district in Moravia in the neighbourhood of Olmütz. ”