LITERATURE
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Osman chooses her as first Sultana, and marries two Greek maidens as well. He then prepares for an expedition to Asia against the rebels, but the Janissaries revolt, and demand the heads of Dilaver Pasha the Grand Vizir, of the Hodja, and of the chief eunuch. The rebellion spreads, the Grand Vizir is murdered, and Osman’s uncle Mustafa freed and proclaimed Sultan. While Osman is deploring his misfortunes and recalling the glories of his ancestors, he, too, is assassinated by Mustafa’s orders.
   This poem, although not of first-rate quality, has some originality, and is interesting from its subject. It is only at Ragusa that a Christian writer would have made a Turkish Sultan his hero, and it is only here and there that a few passages are introduced reflecting unfavourably on the Turks. A great deal of it is simply an adaptation of Tasso, and whole passages are translated from that work. It is full of repetitions and exaggerations and useless accessories, but it also contains many passages of real beauty and feeling, such as the address to Ragusa: “O mayest thou ever live peaceful and free as thou art now, O white city of Ragusa, famous throughout the world, pleasing to the heavens. . . . Bondmen are thy neighbours, oppressive violence grinds them all down, thy power alone sits on the throne of freedom ” (Canto viii.). Gondola also apostrophises Stephen Dusan, the Nemanjas, Marko Kraljevic, and other Servian heroes. Cantos xiv. and xv. were lost, and have been rewritten by Petar Sorkocevic, Marino Zlat-aric, and Ivan Mazuranic. The interest is divided between the two heroes, Osman and Ladislas, and a