The gossip is fair to all in his speech,
But his heart is full of evil, false craft.
I should wish that maidens and matrons
Would always hate the gossip.
And that man shall be my comrade
Who will never be at peace with such a one (as the gossip).
For in this world there is nothing more difficult
Than to beware of gossips;
For he is friendly with you to your face,
But, like a snake, he bites you from the back;
His speech is sweet as honey
And his heart is as cruel poison.
Dear God, do not grant success
To him who troubles the comfort of lovers,
As his heart is endeavouring (to find)
Where the two lovers live together.
Almighty Lord God,
Deign Thou to guard these two."
It will be noticed that the refrain "Almighty Lord God," &c. (slightly varying in the middle of the poem), recurs three times. It has been conjectured that these Songs at Daybreak, which were discovered in the archives of Bohemian castles, were the works of knights or nobles, men somewhat similar to the "Minnesänger" of Germany. By the song which I have translated it will be seen that these songs are tainted with the peculiar views concerning conjugal fidelity which characterise so large a part of chivalrous literature, where Tristram is so often the hero and King Mark so often the knave.
A few ancient love-songs which have not the character of the Svitanicka have also been preserved. Of these, the so-called Cantio Zavisonis, written in Bohemian in spite of its Latin name, deserves notice. It was formerly falsely attributed to Zavis of Falkenstein, the lover of Queen Kunegund, and one of the most celebrated Bohemian nobles of his time. The fact that Falkenstein wrote verses in prison shortly before his death (as the historians tell us) led to this supposition, which is contradicted by the manner of the poem. Nothing except the name "Zavis" is known of the author of this strange love-song, one of the best of early Bohemian literature. I have translated a few of the best lines:—
"Now all joy has left me,
Now for me all comfort has ceased,
My heart swims in wistful blood,
All this because of the beloved one for whom I long.
By the glance of her eye
She has sharply struck my heart.
I live in flaming yearning,
My life sickens with love,
All for the sake of her dear beauty.
* * * * *
My longing cannot decrease;
Pity me, oh air! pity me, all creation!
Carbuncles, sapphires, and all precious stones,
Rays of the sun and everything on the earth,
Pity me, lilies! pity me, most precious roses!
My beloved wishes to take my little life[16] from me
If she will not have compassion on me."
Neither the mysterious Zavis nor the author of the Song at Daybreak which I quoted before were devoid of poetical talent. But they, as well as other writers whom I have not specially noticed, were greatly deficient in the technique of versification; nor did they adhere with sufficient care to the Western metres and forms of song which they endeavoured to adopt. These verses, therefore, lose little by translation. Bohemian writers have attributed the absence of polish and finish which we find in these early writings to the fact that, while in France, Provençe, and Germany the different courts were the centres of knights' poetry, the Bohemian court at all periods had a distinctly German character, and favoured poetry in the national language but little.