Page:Bohemian legends and other poems.djvu/27

And those who went to death said, “Have no care;
God’s holy angels will be sent to show
Your souls the way to God, and we shall wear
The wedding garments ere the sun be low.”
The first to die, had been a mighty lord,
Joachim Andreas Šlik, count of Bazan.
Ah, me! ah, me! that fearless soul had soared
With love of country, and the Count Pason,
As patriot and heretic, must die—
And his brave hands be nailed up as a sign,
That henceforth none should ever question why
Their ruler’s voice came from across the Rhine.
He gazed upon the shining sun and said,
“Leave me in peace” (to Jesuit priests that came
To torture his brave soul before it fled),
“The Sun of Righteousness shall rise the same,
In God’s good time, to scatter from our land
The shadows of this world. We will be free.”
And then he knelt upon the wooden stand
And prayed to God that every one could see.
And it is said a radiance not its own
Shone in his face, as there he knelt to pray;
And from the scaffold, to a golden throne,
The count of Pason passed this summer day.
The next to die had walked in learning’s ways
Václav Budoec, well-known throughout the world
For learned books, that sought from out the maze
Of darkness still God’s banner to unfurl.
’Twas he who said with voice that knew no fear,
“I’d rather die than see my country die;
And ye have longed so for our butchery here,
I fain would satisfy you—see me die.”
To which the monks replied, “We fain would show
An erring soul the way to Heaven’s gate.”
Then smilingly he told them, “Is that so?”
Then quickly answer ere it be too late.
With many questions from the Holy Word,
He plied their ears, unwilling of the truth,
And when they could not answer, “I have heard
That ye be asses, now I know ’tis true.”
When called to die he said, “Oh, my white hair,
What honor hath God had in store for thee?