Hymn of the Kosovo Heroes

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• published: 27 Dec 2011
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The Hymn of the Kosovo Heroes is a medieval Serbian folk song depicting the Battle of Kosovo that occurred in 1389. The first lines of the text is better understood if you study some epic Serbian poetry. In the most famous poem Tsar Lazar is presented with a choice between an earthly kingdom and a heavenly kingdom: 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." ... Lazar chose a heavenly kingdom and his whole army was crushed by the ottomans. Thus the lines in the text: "Serbian land is flying through the clouds. It is flying over the heavenly heights, Its wings are Morava and Drina" (Morava and Drina are rivers in Serbia) Lazar already knew that the battle would be lost and the soldier leaving for battle in the text knew that as well. Farewell my first, unborn son, farewell roses, farewell rosemary. Farewell summers, autumns and winters, We are leaving never to return. The complete text can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Himna_kosovskih_junaka and the poem can be found in its entirety here: http://home.earthlink.net/~markdlew/SerbEpic/thefall.htm The girl and the (still living) soldier at the end of the video are depicted in another of the epic poems: Early rose the maiden of Kossovo, Early rose she on a Sunday morning, Rose before the brilliant sun had risen. She has rolled the white sleeves of her robe back, Rolled them back up to her soft white elbows; On her shoulders, fair white bread she carries, In her hands two shining golden goblets, In one goblet she has poured fresh water, And has poured good red wine in the other. Then she seeks the wide plain of Kossovo, Seeks the noble Prince's place of meeting, Wanders there amongst the bleeding heroes. When she finds one living midst the wounded Then she laves him with the cooling water, Gives him, sacramentally, the red wine, Pledges with her fair white bread the hero. ... Read the whole poem here: http://home.earthlink.net/~markdlew/SerbEpic/maiden.htm