Prologue
PrologueWho from Turecký vrch follows the flow
Of the Váh river upstream, or whose eye
Toward the Jastrabský mountains should go
Downstream through vales resounding, shall espy
A castle on a summit, lofty, proud,
That soars amidst the heavens like a cloud.
The castle stands there hoary, empty, bare,
Bereft, just like an old man at the tomb
Of his children might stand, silent, and stare,
Himself about to tumble in that gloom —
Sadly, it gazes on the Váh, that spreads
Wide, along which now a sad pilgrim treads.
It’s deathly silent there, where once the halls
Throbbed with a bustling life, of which echoes
Boomed from the uplands whence mighty Váh falls,
Past where the Tisa, or the Danube flows —
Such was, in days past. Now, there reigns such peace
As one finds often
