In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

cZEcHosloVaKia | 171 Pavol brodnaňský (1930–2004) A student of natural sciences at the Comenius University in Bratislava, he was arrested in 1952 and sentenced along with others to twenty-two years in prison. He spent eight of these years toiling in the Jáchymov uranium mines before being released in the amnesty of 1960 by which political prisoners in poor health were permitted to return home. After several years’ employment in a cellulose and paper factory in Ružomberk, where he had settled, he retired and became an official of the Confederation of Political Prisoners. His collection of religious and liturgical songs together with his poetry appeared in book form in 2008 under the title Svedectvo (Testimony). The following excerpt is from Svedectvo, reprinted in Básnici za mrežami (Prešov: Vydavatel’stvo Michala Vaška, 2009), 33, and has been translated from Slovak by Harold B. Segel. Ťažký kríž (The Heavy Cross) Why, O Lord, did you give me such a heavy cross That my body exhausted Sinks beneath its weight And was no easier For me to find. See the strong bear a lighter cross But I was given the heaviest What can I do in my grief Maybe it leads me to happiness Although it presses me so to the ground Complain not son There is strength in it That sundered Terrible hell Do you no longer see On it is the weight of your sins Which He bears to the grave You recognize pride lie dark betrayal All of that adorns His head With painful thorns in His crown of laurel Someone else took up the heaviest cross 172 | cZEcHosloVaKia That which you bear Is not his The Son of God bears your cross No, I do not wish Only for Your Son to bear it Take Him from this weight Add it to me I too want to die Beneath the cross Thanks be to Thee, Lord. ...

Share