"The Lament of Serbia" is regarded as the most notable among his poetic works of that period. He first published it anonymously in Venice in 1761. In this ode he fiercely pilloried the establishment of the Austrian Empire and the Roman Catholic Church, while also emphasizing the difficult position and unjust treatment of the Serbs under the Imperial protection. Even though the poem bore no signature, the authorship was soon discovered. It is believed that this was a reason for his hurried exit from Karlovci the following year.