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Janis Jaunsudrabins Mention Latvia What do his words mean for you? Translations rhetorical ... metaphorical ... literal ... Comments ...

Jaunsudrabins, #1   {5 paragraphs}

Adaptive translation provided by Peters Janis Vecrumba on Friday, August 02, 2002 Not as eloquent as the original... /Peters ------------------- Latvians, whatever lands you may come to, -- proclaim the name of Latvia! Never and nowhere in your life will you ever hear a more beautiful word than this word; whoever of you carries this word forth, shirk not, therefore, from spreading it far and wide; cease not to praise our country -- Fathers, inculcate it into your children; mothers, sing of it by your children's and grandchildren's cribs; but, if you are a child born in exile, -- relent not in ceaslessly interrogating your parents about this land. Let Latvia be in your thoughts and imaginings as a distant, beautiful island in the sea of the world; as you sail your course through life, always keep your prow pointing towards it. Day or night, dusk or dawn, -- keep it in your thoughts, utter its name, fall in love it ever more passionately. As the years pass, coming and going, -- proclaim the name of Latvia! Just remember! Where else will you ever find such a Spring, where the birches blaze against rose-colored skies, a whole fresh new stand of birches, as they are still budding; and nowhere else is their scent as such when they blossom. Where else do the ice flows resound, as in Latvia's rivers, as they lurch toward the sea.