The old men, having grown-up sons

Already we enter upon the domain of Servian poesy, which is connected with and expresses these sentiments. Like them, it is altogether national, and intuitive; an unconscious result of the ordinary dispositions and direction of the popular mind. Even of the most recent songs, no one is able to name the writers : people even hesitate to acknowledge their authorship ; and indeed it is little inquired after. As their lyrical effusions are subjected to constant changes, and the very song which is disliked when given by an inferior singer, excites enthusiasm when sung by a more successful performer  by one possessing more of the national sentiment and spirit  the authorship is considered as of little importance.

It has been observed that there are, in Servian Hungary, schools in which the blind learn these national songs: but that is not the true method. In the mountains of Servia and Herzegowina, there is no occasion to learn them: they are familiar to all, even from their infanc).

In the mountains, the gusle, the instrument on which the song is accompanied, is to be met with in almost every house. When, in the winter evenings, all are assembled around the lire and the women are engaged with their spinning, a song is struck up by whomsoever happens to know it best.

The old men, having grown-up sons, and being excused from hard labour, recite these songs to their grandchildren, who yield themselves with delight to the impressions through which they receive their first knowledge of the world. Even the Igumens of the cloister do not deem it derogatory to sing to the gusle. But the performance has more of the character of recitation than of singing: the monotonous sound of the instrument, which has but one string, falls in only at the end of the verse.

In the mountains  where men are of simpler habits, loftier in stature, and of ruder nature  we hear heroic songs, invariably of five trochees, with the fixed pause after the second foot; and almost every line is in itself a complete sentence.

The lower we come down towards the Danube and the Save, and the closer together we find the villages  the race of men is more polished, more friendly, and also smaller in stature; and the gusle becomes less common; and  especially as an accompaniment for dancing  the lovesong prevails : it is more flexible and flowing than other songs since it adds the dactyl, in varied modes, to the trochee; but it is in its kind equally national.