Venice masks

Saturday 14 September 2013

The Danube - Ján Kollár

Duna! thou queen of many rivers,—thou
Of all Slavonia, venerable mother!
Why to a foreign ocean dost thou flow,
Why leave thy native home to seek another?
O, if thou love thy birthplace, if thou know
Pity for these thy sorrowing children, glide
Not to the Osmans, but these tears of woe
Bear to thy cradle on thy silver tide.
Dost thou seek wreaths of fame?—it is no fame
To bear a hundred ships upon thy face
While it is watered by a single tear,—
Yet this is glory, when Wletawa here
Joins to thy name its own fraternal name,
And thy bride Saale speeds to thine embrace.

Ján Kollár (1793 - 1852) Slovakia
Translated by John Bowring
Source: Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes, ed. by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. James R. Osgood & Co., 1876–79

No comments:

Post a Comment

Please keep your comments relevant and free from abusive language. Thank you. Note that comments are moderated so it may be a day or two before your comment is posted - irrelevant or abusive comments will not be published.