The Royal Pavillion

By Jaroslav Seifert, Translated from the CzechEwald Osers.; Jaroslav Seifert is, by universal consent, the greatest living Czech poet. Chairman of the Czech Writers Union at the time of the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968, he issued a strong condemnation. Because for twelve years he has refused to withdraw the condemnation, he has remained a muzzled poet. Living in a curious literary twilight, he has not been allowed to publish any new writing; on the other hand his popularity and distinction are so great that the authorities have been compelled to republish many of his pre-1968 volumes of verse. The following poem is part of a larger poem, circulated clandestinely in Prague last year. It is published here for the first time.

August 20, 1980

Whenever I gaze out on Prague -- and I do so constantly and always with bated breath because I love her -- I turn my mind to God wherever he may be, beyond the starry mists or just behind that moth-eaten screen, to thank him for granting that magnificent setting to me to live in. To me and to my joys and carefree loves, to me and to my tears without weeping when the loves departed, and to my more-than-bitter grief when even my verses could not weep. I love her fire-charred walls to which we clung during the war so as to hold out. I would not change them for anything in the world. Not even for others. not even if the Eiffel Tower rose between them and the Seine flowed sadly past, not even for all the gardens of paradise full of flowers. When I shall die -- and this will be quite soon -- I shall still carry on my heart this city's destiny. And mercilessly, just as Marsyas, let anyone be flayed alive who lays hands on this city, no matter who he is. No matter how sweetly he plays on his flute.