Talk:Still White Danube Undulates

message: This English translation is my own. It is not perfect, but I am neither a poet, nor a native speaker. It was made especially for this page, so there are no copyright issues. I believe that now the English version is rhythmically and stylistically much closer to the original. There might be some "official" translation somewhere, as the pre-1989 regime tried to showcase Bulgarian culture by commissioning and publishing translations of "important" works of literature in various languages, it would be copyright protected however.
ANRH (talk) 08:41, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

message: To answer your question, first of all, yes, the complete poem has twenty-two verses. The song, to what I could find online, only features 5 or 6 of the verses total. There is no sound file attached to this article of the song, but I will attach one and make any necessary changes. Here is the translation I made of the whole poem:
Quiet, white Danube is excited
splashes merrily
and Radetzky proudly sails
upon golden waves
But when there glimmers
the Kozloduy shore,
on the steamboat, a horn sounds
a banner is unfurled
Young Bulgarian champions
I attend/appear there
on their foreheads lion emblems,
fire in their eyes
Bravely Botev stood there
their young leader,
thus spoke he to the captain
a bare knife in his hand
"I am a Bulgarian voivod
these are my men
we fly for freedom
let us spill blood today
We fly for Bulgaria,
help to give
and from heavy tyranny
to relieve her| # where the song typically ends
Тhe steamboat left us
you by gentle ways
so the battalion to pass
to the native shore
The captain, the same German,
refused, then
Botev hotly frowned
and yelled with a booming voice:
"This I want, I do not plead:
you are all in my plan
here is seen my will
I am the captain!
Hear, there die today the people
at war with an awful foe!
quickly drive the steamboat
on Bulgarian shore"
And his voice becomes scary
with these utterings
German, pale and frightened
hung his head [down]
Quickly the steamboat sails
to the desired ends
even more, the Danube undulates
merrily plays
Lots of time had passed
since he last wore
{uncertain}
burden, for mild him.
And the battalion sings
song due to war
and the banner is unfurled
proudly, with its lion.
The steamboat anchored
by the mild coast
Botev his hat takes off
for he speaks again:
"Come on, brothers, come out,
here we will stop
and kiss the earth
where we shall die!"
And by joy, relieved,
and before the lion banner,
all fall on their knees
upon the holy shore.
"Brothers!" shouts their Voivod
with thunderous voice
"Soon the people
shall meet us joyfully!"
Soon with thunder we will greet
Stara Planina
a bloody fight, we will lead
with Turkish unions!
We in fighting, are not items
we are few in count,
but our hearts are warm
we are thirsty for fight!
Soon, the turk will witness
our ugly might
justice is our defense
the lion is our leader!
And unanimously,
voices resound:
"Long live Bulgaria!
Death to the evil tyranny!"''
On another note
Please let us re-evaluate 'placid'. It makes sense but I think 'quiet' is a more accurate translation of 'Тих'.
Kiril kovachev (talk) 17:56, 24 October 2017 (UTC)
thread_title: Kiril Kovachev