Page:The Queens Court Manuscript with Other Ancient Bohemian Poems, 1852, Cambridge edition.djvu/58

CZESTMIR AND VLASLAW.^[1]

 

’Twas Neklan bade arise to war,
And Vlaslaw was the foe,
His host with princely high command
He bade ’gainst Vlaslaw go.
The host arose, arose to war,
And Vlaslaw was the foe,
Arose at the prince’s high command
’Gainst Vlaslaw fierce to go.

Prince Vlaslaw did o’er Neklan boast
With vaunting proud and high,

 

1. The subject of this poem is the victory of the heroic Czestmir or Cztmir, General of Neklan, Prince of Prague, over Vlastislaw, Prince of Zatec (Saaz), in the first half of the ninth century; of which a further account is given by Kosmas, and after him by other Bohemian chroniclers.
   It is contained in the Queen’s Court Manuscript, at the beginning of the 27th Chapter of Book iii., where it is headed, “Begins the 17th Chapter of the Third Book of the Victory over Vlaslaw.”