Kossovo: Heroic Songs of the Serbs

From Jerusalem, the holy city, Flying came a swift grey bird, a falcon, — And he carried in his beak a swallow.

But behold and see! ’Tis not a falcon, *Tis the holy man of God, Elias, And he does not bear with him a swallow, But a letter from God’s Holy Mother. Lo, he bears the letter to Kossovo, Drops it on the Tsar’s knees from the heavens, And thus speaks the letter to the monarch: “Tsar Lazar, thou Prince of noble lineage, What wilt thou now choose to be thy kingdom? Say, dost thou desire a heav’nly kingdom, Or dost thou prefer an earthly kingdom? | If thou should’st now choose an earthly kingdom, Knights may girdle swords and saddle horses, Tighten saddle-girths and ride to battle— You will charge the Turks and crush their army! But if thou prefer a heav’nly kingdom, Build thyself a church upon Kossovo, Let not the foundations be of marble, Let them be of samite and of scarlet. ... And to all thy warriors and their leaders Thou shalt give the sacraments and orders, For thine army shall most surely perish, And thou too, shalt perish with thine army.”