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O what did Poland think of, every day and night?
Six horses and a carriage! What a glorious sight!

The servants clad in silver shine from head to toe;
The ladies' pearls and diamonds -- every one must show!

The tables groan with sweetmeats, wine flows like a flood;
But gone is virtue, manhood. Where then are the good?

Now town and village perish, heathens take our lands;
The castles sink in ruin; none before them stands.

The golden banquet's over, gone the crowds who feed;
The unpaid troops are begging; "Bread!" is all they plead.

The lords die young from surfeit, serfs from want and chill;
The cup of bitter sorrow -- take and drink your fill!

In vain the dog is barking. No one hears the sound.
And all the lords are sleeping. None to watch is found.

The robbers storm your portals; thieves in every room!
The portents of disaster all foretell your doom!

The land sleeps on unheeding; the people have no fear,
In vain the dog is barking; none has ears to hear.²⁰⁵

TRANS. A. E.

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