Slávy Dcéra

From Slavic.info

Slávy Dcéra (The Daughter of Sláva) is a poetic work of the author Ján Kollár.

Sorrow at separation from a sweetheart of his student life was the immediate stimulus of his first poetic production, Basne (Poems, 1821), consisting of 76 sonnets. In 1824 the collection had become 150, published under the title Slávy Dcéra (Daughter of Slava); the third edition was published in 1832, and the final edition (1851) contained 645 sonnets, divided into five parts. This is a glorification of the Slavic race ("Slava") between whom and his "Mina" his heart is divided. Though uneven in composition, the work in many parts rises to heights of passionate enthusiasm. It was written in Czech with a considerable admixture of Middle Slovenian features, which laid the foundation of the present Slovak literary language.

The Slavic spirit and the Slavic aspirations of unity are indicated in the following words of this excerpt:

"I have told you one hundred times, let us be a unity and not fractionary; let us be all, or—nothing! They call us pigeonpeople, but pigeons love at least a common pigeon-home. This virtue I wish you could have, O Slavs, dismembered people; unification makes power! The stream ceases to flow when its water is divided.

"My eye in Slavia is vainly looking for the Slavs. Answer, you trees, you temples full of trees, under whose shade the sacrifices have been lighted some time ago in honor of the gods. Where are the princes? Where are their cities? And yet it has been you, who for the first time evoked the life of the North. Some taught poor Europe how to use sails and oars which led sailors to rich shores. Others have taken the shining metal from the stomach of the earth, in order to honor gods rather than to enrich the people. They taught the farmer how to dig out with the plough the dry breasts of the earth and to force it to grow golden wheat. They planted the time-tree, the sacred tree of the Slavs, near quiet roads in order to give shadow and pleasant odors. Men taught their sons how to raise cities, how to traffic in merchandise, and the women taught their daughters how to make cloth. Industrious people, what thanks did you get for your services? Just as a bumble-bee smells the honey, enters the beehive and kills the bee-queen and bee workers, so the faith breaking neighbors subjugated the Slavs and put heavy chains on their necks...

"Slavia! Slavia! The name full of sweet harmony, bitter memories, the name a hundred times torn up in order to be still more worshipped. From Ural to the Carpathians, from the desert where equator extends up to the regions where the sun sets, everywhere extends thine empire. You suffered too much, but you survived all the plottings of your enemies and the sad lack of thankfulness of your children. And so while others built easily on the soft earth, you raised your throne on the ruins which accumulated with the ages.

"O, you, old ages, which press your hand like the night, O earth, image of all shames. There was a time when from the faithless Labe to the hungry waves of the Baltic, the mighty sound of the Slay echoed. And to-day it is dumb. Who did this injustice which cries for heavenly vengeance? Who has in one nation blackened all of humanity? Thou, red, bigoted Germany, the neighbor of Slavia! Thy hands did this crime. Never did any enemy spill so much blood as you did in order to destroy the Slav. Only he is worth liberty, who is able to respect the liberty of others. He who puts slaves in chains, is a slave himself; and he who chains the hands or tongue, is the same.

"What is lacking to the Slavs in order to be a great nation and the conqueror of the world ? Nothing. We have everything, believe me, my dear compatriots, everything which is able to put us among the great, ripe nations of the world. Land and sea are beneath our feet; we have gold, silver, industrious hands, language and fine songs: all we need is unity and cultural opportunities. Give them to us, give them to us, give us the all-Slavic spirit, and then you will have a people such as has not existed in the past. Besides the Greeks and Britons your name will shine beneath the starry, heavenly covering.

"What will happen with us Slavs in three hundred years? What will the whole of Europe be? Slavic life will extend, like the deluge, its power to all parts. This language, which is considered in the false ideas of the Germans as the 'slave' language, will echo over the roofs of palaces, and even the mouths of our enemies will be silenced. Then the sciences will pour through Slavic channels. Customs and songs of our people will be in fashion at the Seine and Labe. Ah! I wish I could be born at that age of Slavic empire, or at least to resurrect myself from out of the grave."