Oj, svijetla majska zoro
Template:Short description Template:Infobox anthem
"{{#invoke:Lang|lang}}" (Template:Lang-cnr-Cyrl, {{#invoke:IPA|main}}; Template:Lit) is the national anthem of Montenegro adopted in 2004. Before its adoption, it was a popular folk song with many variations of its text. The oldest version dates back to the second half of the 19th century.<ref>Закон о државним симболима и дану државности Црне Горе (2004).</ref><ref name="opanak">Црногорска химна настала је у Србији, да би из ње био избачен стих у ком се помиње српски род</ref>
Lyrics
Many verses are repeated in order to follow the rhythmic composition.
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- English translation
- 𝄆 O bright dawn of May blazes forth 𝄇
- 𝄆 Our mother Montenegro 𝄇
- 𝄆 We are the sons of your gravel 𝄇
- 𝄆 And guardians of your candour 𝄇
- We love you, your craggy highlands
- And your magnificent gorges
- Which never came to experience
- The chains of shameful slavery
- 𝄆 Our mother Montenegro 𝄇
- 𝄆 O bright dawn of May blazes forth 𝄇
- 𝄆 Our mother Montenegro 𝄇
- For the cause of our Lovćen
- Our unity gives us wings
- All proud and lauded shall we be
- Our dear homeland beloved
- Estuary of our waves
- That surges into the two seas
- 𝄆 Shall bear voice into the ocean
- That Montenegro is ageless 𝄇
- That Montenegro is ageless!
History
Original version from the 19th century
The following is the oldest known version of the anthem, known as "O Bright Dawn of Bravery, Oi!" ("{{#invoke:Lang|lang}}"). It was played in public for the first time in 1863 in the national theater in Belgrade. It was a component song of the "Battle of Grahovo or blood feud in Montenegro" ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}) heroic play in three parts.<ref>Repertoire of the National Theatre in Belgrade 1868-1965, Sava V. Cvetkovic, Belgrade, 1966</ref> The play and the Montenegrin folk song was also played/sung in the National Theater again in 1870 and 1876.<ref>Istorija srpskog pozorišta od srednjeg veka do modernog doba, Borivoje Stojković, 1979.</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
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| lang}}</poem> | lang}}</poem> | <poem>O bright dawn of bravery,
Our mother Montenegro! High on the mountains, The enemy's force has been crushed. Only you are still remaining, For the Serbs to regain their freedom God and Holy Mother's willing All shall be restored again!</poem> |
World War II collaborationist version
In 1944, Sekula Drljević, a Montenegrin fascist collaborator, rearranged the lyrics of the Montenegrin patriotic song "Oj, svijetla majska zoro" to celebrate the creation of the Montenegrin puppet regime that had been established in July 1941.<ref name="Kenneth Morrison">Template:Cite book</ref>
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| lang}}</poem> | lang}}</poem> | <poem>Our eternal Montenegro,
Your Lovćen's the Adriatic ruler, Like peasants of your stones, When did they sing? We love you, rocky hills, And your gorges imposing That never came to know The shameful slavery chains. Lovćen is our holy altar, Forever we were faithful to him, We have believed in him, And we were proud of him. Ever since Christmas Eve. Our faith cleansed, Among us peasants, No infidel there was. As long as our Lovćen's thought Our concord gives strength, It shall be proud, it shall be famous Our dear homeland. Freedom's keeper shall be Our hills, our highlands, So long as Earth's warmed by Sun And so long as men are fighting. Rivers of our waves shall, Jumping into two seas Bring the voice to the ocean Eternal be our Montenegro.</poem> |
World War II partisan version
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| lang}}<ref>Listaj goro, cvjetaj cvijeće</ref>
</poem> |
lang}}</poem> |
Popular song
The song survived until today under various names as a popular Montenegrin folk song under the name "O Bright Dawn of May" ("{{#invoke:Lang|lang}}"). This version of the song has been one of the several versions proposed in 1993 during the first discussion on the official state anthem, however, on which there was no consensus because of the disputed melodic value.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
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| lang}}</poem> | lang}}</poem> | <poem>O bright dawn of May blazes forth,
Our mother Montenegro, We are the sons of your gravel And guardians of your candour Lovćen is our holy altar, We pay our respects to him On Lovćen does Njegoš rest the wisest of the World. Durmitor, are you sorry That Lovćen became famous? -No, let it be, let it sing Thankful for that is Njegoš.</poem> |
Controversies
As the president of Montenegro, Filip Vujanović participated on several occasions public debates regarding the disputed parts of the national anthem, which was made official in 2004. On that occasion, the official text of the anthem also included two stanzas (third and fourth) sung by the Montenegrin fascist and war criminal Sekula Drljević.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Controversy over the disputed parts of the anthem in the following years led to open divisions among the citizens of Montenegro,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and Vujanović himself on various occasions publicly criticized the adoption of Drljevic's stanzas, from which he distanced himself, advocating changes to the official text of the anthem.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Vujanović repeatedly pointed out that the adoption of Drljevic's verses was not acceptable because their creator was a fascist or Nazi, and on the same occasion he warned of the danger of strengthening extreme Montenegrin nationalism and chauvinism.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
See also
References
External links
- A midi version of the anthem exists at the official websites of
- Himnuszok - A vocal version of the Anthem, featured in "Himnuszok" website.
- Oj, svijetla majska zoro - Audio of the Montenegro national anthem, with information and lyrics, from NationalAnthems.me (archive link)
- The Songs section of the Italian language website "NewMontenegro.eu" features two alternative versions of the anthem.
- nationalanthems.info - The sheet music and lyrics are featured in the "nationalanthems.info" site.