Weeping has moistened my pen, more tears have I shed than any one who before me sang and wailed. Bend your heads downward, dear friends; sprinkle with your tears the much-beloved rose.[1] Pray faithfully for it to the Heavenly God, that it may blossom and grow for ever in His paradise."
At the end of his poem Lomnický reflects on the shortness of human life, and alludes to the curious tradition, that appears then to have been prevalent in Bohemia, that the extinction of the house of Rosenberg would be the prelude to great troubles and changes in Bohemia. Lomnický writes:—
"Our lifetime here becomes shorter; it perishes like a flower; we
must betake ourselves hence into that other world.
Little time will pass till they carry us from our house; like a little
leaf we fall from the tree.
But you, O Bohemian land, be careful of your fate, for all the words
of Christ will be fulfilled;
Many wonders happen; the people murder one another; foul pestilences
arise everywhere.
Frequently very noble lords leave us; the able and leading men disappear.
Thus this noble who lies on the bier, let him be an example to us; for we must remember That there is a prophecy that when this family is extinct there will be no peace in the Bohemian kingdom; Indeed, that after the departure of this most glorious rose, things will go from bad to worse.[2] Let no one be surprised that I dare to write thus, for this disorderly world cannot exist long. We also must all die, must go to the distant land, taste death. Nothing remains but to prepare for it; however much a man may cry he must pay his penalty.
