"Zdravljica" (; English: "A Toast") is a ''

carmen figuratum ''Carmen figuratum'' (plural: ''carmina figurata'') is a poem that has a certain shape or pattern formed either by all the words it contains or just by certain ones therein. An example is France Prešeren's "Zdravljica", where the shape of each ...

poem Poetry (derived from the Greek '' poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meaning ...

by the 19th-century Romantic

Slovene poet Slovene literature is the literature written in Slovene. It spans across all literary genres with historically the Slovene historical fiction as the most widespread Slovene fiction genre. The Romantic 19th-century epic poetry written by the ...

France Prešeren France Prešeren () (2 or 3 December 1800 – 8 February 1849) was a 19th-century Romantic Slovene poet whose poems have been translated into many languages.

, inspired by the ideals of ''

Liberté, égalité, fraternité ''Liberté, égalité, fraternité'' (), French for "liberty, equality, fraternity", is the national motto of France and the Republic of Haiti, and is an example of a tripartite motto. Although it finds its origins in the French Revolution, i ...

''. It was written in 1844 and published with some changes in 1848. Four years after it was written, Slovenes living within

Habsburg Empire The Habsburg monarchy (german: Habsburgermonarchie, ), also known as the Danubian monarchy (german: Donaumonarchie, ), or Habsburg Empire (german: Habsburgerreich, ), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities ...

interpreted the poem in spirit of the 1848 March Revolution as political promotion of the idea of a

united Slovenia United Slovenia ( sl, Zedinjena Slovenija or ) is the name originally given to an unrealized political programme of the Slovene national movement, formulated during the Spring of Nations in 1848. The programme demanded (a) unification of all th ...

. In it, the poet also declares his belief in a free-thinking Slovene and Slavic political awareness. In 1989, it was adopted as the anthem of Slovenia, becoming the national anthem upon independence in 1991.

History

The integral version of the poem was first published only after the March Revolution when

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...

censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...

was abolished, since the censorship did not allow for the poem to be printed earlier because of its political message. On 26 April 1848, it was published by the Slovene newspaper ''

Kmetijske in rokodelske novice {{Unreferenced, date=July 2015 ''Kmetijske in rokodelske novice'' ( en, Agricultural and Artisan News), frequently referred to simply as ''Novice'' (''News''), was a Slovene-language newspaper in the 19th century, which had an influential role i ...

'', that was edited by the Slovene

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

political leader Janez Bleiweis. Žive naj vsi narodi Prešeren Schuman

Before the censorship was abolished, Prešeren omitted the third stanza ("''V sovražnike 'z oblakov / rodú naj naš'ga treši gróm''") because he intended to include the poem in his ''Poezije'' collection (''Poems''), however the censor (fellow-Slovene

Franz Miklosich Franz Miklosich (german: Franz Ritter von Miklosich, also known in Slovene as ; 20 November 1813 – 7 March 1891) was a Slovene philologist. Early life Miklosich was born in the small village of Radomerščak near the Lower Styrian town of Lju ...

in Austrian service) saw in the fourth stanza ("''Edinost, sreča, sprava / k nam naj nazaj se vrnejo''") an expression of pan-Slavic sentiment and therefore did not allow its publication either. Prešeren believed the poem would be mutilated without both the third and the fourth stanza and decided against including it in the ''Poezije''. "Zdravljica" was first set to music in the 1860s by

Benjamin Ipavec Benjamin Ipavec (24 December 1829 – 20 December 1908) was one of the foremost Slovene Romantic composers. A native of Šentjur, he lived in that town for much of his life. He was a physician in his professional life; as a composer he wrote ma ...

and

Davorin Jenko Davorin Jenko (born Martin Jenko; 9 November 1835 – 25 November 1914) was a Slovene composer. He is sometimes considered the father of Slovenian national Romantic music. Among other songs, he composed the melody for the Serbian national anthem " ...

, but their versions didn't go well with the public, probably because the stanzas that they chose were not enough nationally awakening. In 1905, the Slovene composer

Stanko Premrl Stanko Premrl (28 September 1880 – 14 March 1965) was a Slovene Roman Catholic priest, composer, and music teacher. He is best known as the composer of the music for the Slovene national anthem, "Zdravljica". Premrl was born in the village ...

wrote a

choral A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which s ...

composition. It was first performed only on 18 November 1917 by ("Slovene Music Centre") in the

Grand Hotel Union The Grand Hotel Union ( sl, Grand hotel Union) is a four-star hotel near the centre of the city of Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. Built about a block from the city's central Prešeren Square between 1903 and 1905, it is notable for havi ...

, Ljubljana. It became an immediate success.

Text

The following provides the original Slovene text of ''Zdravljica'' and its English translation by Janko Lavrin. <-->

Notes

References

External links

* {{France Prešeren 1844 poems Poetry by France Prešeren Anthems of Slovenia European anthems National anthem compositions in B-flat major