POETRY.

THE, BATTLE OF KOSOVO. (A SERBIAN BALLAD.)

[The great battle of Kosovo, or the Blackbird Field (June 28th, 1889), lives in history as the Flodden of the Balkans. In it the Serbian Tear Lazar

perished, and with him the mediaeval Serbian Empire. Mille, the preux chevalier of Serb legend, falsely accused of treachery by rival nobles, forced his way to the presence of the Sultan and slew him with his own hand, The Serbian ballads are unrhymed, and written for recitative purposes. The following version carefully preserves the caesura which gives character to the whole, but is of course only a faint echo of the original.]

MIlliAD camped on the Field of Blackbirds And then a letter did he write, And to the fortress of Krulevao sent it :— "To the knees of Lazar, Prince of the Serbs 0 Prince Lazar, Head of this land, It never was known, and it never can be, That in one Empire two should rule,

And that the lieges should doubly be taxed. We cannot both of us bear the sceptre.

Send to me then the keys and the taxes, The golden keys of each strong place.

And the taxes for seven years.

And shouldst thou decline to send them BIS,

Then let us meet on the Field of Bl sds And with our sabres divide the Empire."

When Tsar Lazar received this letter,

He read it through and bitterly wept.

Oh if some one could but have listened, To hear the deep curses of the prince.

"He who does not come to the Field of Blackbirds, Let nothing prosper in his hands, Neither the gold-white wheat in the field, Nor the vine on the mountain side, Nor the children playing at home."

Then Tsar Lazar kept his nameday In the silent fortress of KruNovae.

At his rich table he seated his guests, All his lords and noble courtiers.

On the right sat the old Jug Bogdan, At his side the nine JugoviO brothers; Vuk Brankovid on his left, And the other lords in their due order.

But facing him was MiloA seated, And beside him two Serbian Voivodes-• Ivan Kosaaite was the one, And the other was Milan Toplica.

The Tsar lifted the brimming goblet, And thus he spoke to his noble guests :- " To whom shall I quaff the brimming beaker P If it be age that should decide, Then I must pledge the old Jug Bogdan.

If it be rank that should decide it, Then I must drink to Vuk Brankovid.

If I may follow the voice of feeling, Then the cup falls to my wife's dear brothers, To my wife's brothers, the nine Jugovie.

Should manly beauty prescribe my choice, Then the cup is the prize of Bosantfid, And if height is to decide Then the cup is Milan Toplica's.

But if hero's prowess decides my choice, Then I drain it to milog the Voivode: To no other may it be pledged. To the health of Milo Obilid I Thy health, 0 Milos, loyal and false— First loyal to me and at last to me false.

To-morrow thou wilt in battle betray me, Wilt pass over to Murad's army.

Thy health, 0 and drain the beaker i Drink, and keep it as a gift."

Up to his feet sprang Milo Obilid, Then to the black earth down he bowed.

"Thanks to thee, most gracious Tsar Lazar, My heartfelt thanks to thee for thy toast; For thy toast and for thy present; But no thanks for such a speech.

For—else may my faith undo me—.

Never unfaithful have I been, Ne'er have I been, and ne'er shall be.

But lam resolved on the field to-morrow For the faith of Christ to give my life.

But faithless sits at thy very knee And drinks the wine from his silk-draped glass, He, the accursed the traitor Brankovid.

On the sacred Vidov-day* to-morrow We shall see on the Field of Blackbirds, Who is faithful and who is faithless.

But by God the Almighty I swear it, To-morrow I'll go to the Field of Blackbirds, And there I shall kill the Sultan Murad, And plant my foot upon his throat.

Should God and fortune grant to me My safe return to Krullevac, Yuk Brankovid shall be my captive, And to my warlance I shall bind him, As a woman the flax to her apron, And shall drag him thus to the Field of Blackbirds."

R. W. S. W.