What I truly wish you, sweet Romanian homeland [Ce-ţi doresc eu ţie, dulce Românie]
What I truly wish you, sweet Romanian homeland,
My beloved country, longing of my soul?
Nervous arms and weapons always close to your hand
And your past of glory guide your lofty goal!
May the wine in goblets boil and curb the crying
If your stately children hold this in esteem
For the rock is standing, but the wave is dying,
Sweet Romanian homeland, this is my big dream!
Yearning for harsh vengeance, black as grave and growing,
Blood of foes on your sword fuming in the air
And above the dragon, with the wind be flowing
Visions of the glory, triumph and bright glare,
Your tricolor banner tell the world entire
The Romanian people is like a swift stream
When a tiny sparkle ignites his pure fire,
Sweet Romanian homeland, this is my big dream!
The angel who always brings us peace and passion,
On the Vesta's altar resting dressed in white,
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poem by Mihai Eminescu, translated by Octavian Cocoş
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'Tis Eve on the Hillside
'Tis eve on the hillside, the bagpipes are distantly wailing,
Flocks going homewards, and stars o'er the firmament sailing,
Sound of the bubbling spring sorrow's legend narrating,
And beneath a tall willow for me, dear one, you are waiting.
The wandering moon up the heavens her journey is wending,
Big-eyed you watch through the boughs her gold lantern ascending,
Now over the dome of the sky all the planets are gleaming,
And heavy your breast with its longing, your brow with its dreaming.
Cornfields bright flooded with beams by the clouds steeply drifted,
Old cottage gables of thatch to the moonlight uplifted,
The tall wooden arm of the well in the wind softly grating,
And the shepherd-boy's pipe from the sheep-pen sad "doina" relating.
The peasants, their scythes on their backs, from their labour are coming,
The sound of the "toaca" its summons more loudly is drumming,
While the clang of the village church bell fills the evening entire,
And with longing for you like a faggot my soul is on fire.
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poem by Mihai Eminescu, translated by Corneliu M. Popescu
Added by Veronica Serbanoiu
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You leave...[Te duci...]
You leave and hurts me when I'm thinking
My eyes won't see you for a while,
They love the glamour of your being,
The way you move, the way you smile.
And it's not mild like a nice story
My love, which gives me so much pain,
Your soul is fiendish and I'm sorry,
Because your face is without stain.
You have a charming pale complexion
And eyes that shine and send out rays,
But they are wet, full of rejection
And flattering and cunning ways.
When touching me I feel the shiver
And when you pass my thrill is rife
On your eyelashes, when they quiver,
Depends my whole entire life.
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poem by Mihai Eminescu, translated by Octavian Cocoş
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Greenwood's story [Povestea codrului]
Greenwood is a king in glory
Thousands nations he can bear
And all thrive across the ages
Through his mercy, through his care.
Moon and Sun and Luminaries
Decorate his royal flag,
He's surrounded by fair ladies
And by courtiers, heirs of Stag.
Heralds are the speedy rabbits,
Who bring news and give details,
Nightingales are his orchestra
And the springs murmur old tales.
Above all the shaded flowers
Near the waters, all around,
Bees are wandering enchanted,
Ants are swarming on the ground...
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poem by Mihai Eminescu, translated by Octavian Cocoş
Added by Octavian Cocoş
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Leave your world [Lasă-ţi lumea]
Leave behind your world of sorrow
Give yourself to me and glow,
If you were my love tomorrow
No one in the world would know.
Come with me, let's wander purely,
Feeling happy, feeling good,
Where at night awakens surely
The voice of the ancient wood.
Through the branches, stars are twinkling
And the narrow path is clear,
Even if our hearts were tinkling
No one in the world could hear.
And I see your hair is flying
And I'm feeling young and free,
If I hug you, don't start crying
No one in the world will see.
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poem by Mihai Eminescu, translated by Octavian Cocoş
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Blue flower [Floare albastră]
Have you plunged again in spheres
And in clouds you wanna flee?
How I wish you stayed with me,
You're the soul of all my years.
To no end the sunny rivers
You are piling in your head
Distant plains of which we read
And the sea that's dark and quivers.
The old pyramids are charming
Point directly to the sky
You don't need to search so high
For your happiness, my darling!
This is what the girlie said
Gently playing with my hair
Oh! she said a truth so rare;
And I laughed and shook my head.
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poem by Mihai Eminescu, translated by Octavian Cocoş
Added by Octavian Cocoş
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Doina song [Doina]
From Nistru to Tisza Plain
All Romanians complain,
For they can't bear anymore
All these guys with foreign core,
From Hotin to Black Sea coast
Rides the Moskals' mighty host,
From the sea back to Hotin
They would like to take our skin;
And from Dorna to Boian
Cankerworms come one by one,
While the strangers with their power
Everything want to devour,
In the mountains, down the vales
Enemies have made large trails
From Săcele to Sătmar
The escape is much too far,
Woe the poor Romanian soul!
Like a cancer starts to crawl,
Neither walks, nor he is calm
Cannot feel the autumn's charm
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poem by Mihai Eminescu, translated by Octavian Cocoş
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Separation [Despărţire]
Shall I request, my darling, a token of your love?
I wish I could have kept you, but you flew like a dove;
And I don't need the flower that withers in your hair,
I want you to forget me, to leave me sad and bare.
What is the point to foster the bad luck and to strive
Instead of let it dwindle and never to revive?
When even a small river new torrents will receive
Why should we stay for ever in pain and always grieve?
Because it's our lot to float on life's big stream
As if we were a shadow, as if we were a dream.
From now on why to bother to worry about me?
Why should you keep a record of things that ceased to be?
I don't care if I die and leave the world behind
I want to disappear from everybody's mind
And let you live in peace and to forget my face.
But, love, if you remember my soft and warm embrace,
I curse the dark, dense shadow in which I died upset
I wish that you and I had never ever met
To taste the thrill and bliss, to feel each other's touch
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poem by Mihai Eminescu, translated by Octavian Cocoş
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From abroad [Din străinătate]
When everybody's happy, when benefits are pouring,
When people are delighted and spend their time with style,
Only a soul is crying, only a soul is longing
For its enchanting homeland with fields that always smile.
That heart, which is despondent and feels the irritation,
That soul, which suffers greatly and sings its silent song,
Is my own heart, which finds no peace, no consolation,
Is my own soul, which burns with yearning all along.
I'd like to see my birthplace, that dale I held so dearly
Along which flows a river with waters clear and cold,
To see what made me happy and what I loved sincerely:
The shadow of the forest, its labyrinth of old;
And once again to welcome the shanties in the valley,
Which used to look so peaceful in that relaxing place,
Where they could breathe in secret and the sweet pleasures tally,
The mystic dreams, the whispers, the poems full of grace.
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poem by Mihai Eminescu, translated by Octavian Cocoş
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Melancholy [Melancolie]
It was as if a gate was opened in the clouds
Through which the dead night's queen emerged in thin, white shrouds.
Oh, sleep in peace among the torches shining bright,
Rest in your bluish tomb and bathe in silver light,
The starry sky above, your monument will be,
Majestic queen of night that anyone can see!
The world beneath is large, but rime is all around,
Resembling a thin veil that covers all the ground;
The air is full of sparks, the buildings gnawed by time
Gleam like a bunch of ruins that have been smeared with lime.
The isolated graveyard is covered with thick moss,
A greyish owl is resting on a lopsided cross,
The wooden plank is sounding, the bell tower is creaking,
The cunning evil demon somewhere around is sneaking,
But when his wing is touching the shining copper bell
From it a sound emerges, like a pathetic spell.
The church now feels the cold
Deserted are its ruins, and very sad and old
And through the broken windows and through the open door
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poem by Mihai Eminescu, translated by Octavian Cocoş
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