Independently of the measure of ten syllables, universally used in the ballads of the Servians, they have verses of seven syllables, consisting of two trochaics and one dactyl:
Of eight syllables, consisting of four trochaics: as,
Of ten syllables, two trochaics and two dactyls:
Of twelve syllables, composed of two trochaics and one iambic:
Gō thěn, Kūm, thŏu lōv’d ŏne, wāits shě fŏr thēe.
And of thirteen syllables, namely, four trochaics, a dactyl, and a closing trochaic:
Lōok ăroūnd, thŏu lōvěly Crētă, smīlĭngly lŏok rōund.
The translations which have appeared in Germany under the name of Talvj are the work of an amiable woman (Theresa von Jacob), who having passed the earlier part of her life in Russia, and possessing a mind cultivated by literature, and captivated by the natural beauties of Servian poetry, has most successfully devoted herself to their diffusion.
Professor Eugenius Wessely, of Vinkovcze in Slavonia, has also published a small volume of Translations from the Nuptial Songs of the Servians; { 0m} the renderings have the merit of perfect fidelity, and his introduction contains many interesting illustrations of Servian manners.
In the following translations I have, in all the narrative poetry, preserved the original measure. _Rhyme_ is seldom used by the Servians. It is found in some of the shorter lyrical pieces, in the rendering of which I have allowed myself some latitude of expression. But the wish, above all things, to preserve most faithfully the character of the original, has prevented my introducing many very obvious decorations, and my veiling many equally obvious defects. To fidelity, at least, this volume may lay an honest claim. I have endeavoured to avail myself of all the authors who have written on the subject, particularly of the valuable criticisms of Dr. Kopitar in the Vienna _Iahrbuch der Litteratur_, of the works of Göthe, Grimm, and Vater. The notes attached to Talvj’s translation I have employed, without any special reference to them.
HISTORICAL, TRADITIONAL, AND RELIGIOUS BALLADS.
GOLDEN wine drinks Theodore of Stalach, { 3} In his Castle Stalach, on Morava; Pours him out the wine his aged mother. While the wine-fumes to his head were rising, Thus his mother spoke unto the hero: