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Romania National Anthem

Deșteaptă-te, române!

Desteapta-te, romane!

Awaken, Romanian!

1848
1990
Andrei Mureșanu
Anton Pann (attributed)
🕊 Freedom ⚔ Battle / War 🏺 Ancestors / Heritage 🔥 Revolution 🏛 Identity |

Key Facts

  • 1. The poem has 11 stanzas, and Law 75/1994 prescribes stanzas 1, 2, 4 and 11 for official performance; the omitted stanzas hold further calls to arms and historical allusions, such as 'the yataghan of the barbarous crescent'.
  • 2. The anthem opens with a direct command to the listener, 'Awaken, Romanian, from the sleep of death', and urges 'now or never'.
  • 3. The melody is generally credited to Anton Pann, a church chanter, music teacher and folklorist, although some testimonies name Mureșanu himself as its author. A report on a rally held in Râmnicu Vâlcea on 29 July 1848 says that Pann, 'music teacher', and several singers had set 'very beautiful verses' to a triumphant national tune.
  • 4. Since 1998 Romania has marked 29 July as National Anthem Day, in memory of that rally, where the song is said to have been sung for the first time.
Romania - Deșteaptă-te, române!

Romania National Anthem Lyrics

The poem has 11 stanzas; Law 75/1994 prescribes stanzas 1, 2, 4 and 11 for official occasions
Deșteaptă-te, române, din somnul cel de moarte, În care te-adânciră barbarii de tirani! Acum ori niciodată, croiește-ți altă soarte, La care să se-nchine și cruzii tăi dușmani. Acum ori niciodată să dăm dovezi la lume Că-n aste mâni mai curge un sânge de roman, Și că-n a noastre piepturi păstrăm cu fală-un nume Triumfător în lupte, un nume de Traian! Priviți, mărețe umbre, Mihai, Ștefan, Corvine, Româna națiune, ai voștri strănepoți, Cu brațele armate, cu focul vostru-n vine, „Viața-n libertate ori moarte!“ strigă toți. Preoți, cu crucea-n frunte căci oastea e creștină, Deviza-i libertate și scopul ei preasfânt. Murim mai bine-n luptă, cu glorie deplină, Decât să fim sclavi iarăși în vechiul nost' pământ!

Translations are non-official and intended to convey meaning, not replace originals

Analysis

Editorial

Written by Andrei Mureșanu in 1848 during the revolutionary wave sweeping Europe. It was a rallying cry during the Wallachian Revolution. Banned after the communists took full power at the end of 1947, it became the unofficial anthem of the December 1989 revolution and was adopted as the state anthem on 24 January 1990.

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Sources & References

  1. pt.wikisource.org: Deşteaptă-te, Române! . pt.wikisource.org
  2. Deșteaptă-te, române! (Un răsunet) . ro.wikisource.org
  3. Statutul comunei Păunești — imnul național, PDF p. 10 . Monitorul Oficial Local, comuna Păunești

Source & Review

Source status
Reliable secondary source
Translation
AI-assisted working translation
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Editorial owner
Nationalia
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