LITHUANIAN NATIONAL ANTHEM

Lithuania, my homeland, land of heroes!
Let your sons draw strength from the past.
Let your chidren follow only the path of virtue,
working for the good of their native land and for all mankind.

Let the sun banish all darkness from Lithuania,
with light and truth always guiding our steps.
Let the love of Lithuania burn in our hearts
And for the sake of our country, let unity blossom.

Translation from Vytis, volume 82: no. 2, February 1996.


NOT HE IS A GREAT MAN

Not he is a great man before whom the millions
In manacled meekness, in fetters bow down
Yet inwardly curse him; it is not the tyrant
Whom thankful descendants with glory will crown.

He only is worthy of genuine homage
Whose life was devoted to serving mankind,
Whom men do not fear, but bow, grateful, before him,
Of whom deeds of valour forever remind.

Not he is almighty whose might finds its outcome
In rivers of tears and in oceans of gore,
Whose power leaves its traces in numberless ruins,
In corpses and wounds, in debris of war.

He truly is mighty who does not need bloodshed
To carry fraternity's light everywhere,
Who, helping the poor to emerge from dejection,
Their burden of woe makes less heavy to bear.

Not he is a brave man who, seizing a sabre
And like a wild predator thirsting for pelf,
Attacks fellow-humans, destroys them and kills them,
Forgetting that he is a human himself.

He only indeed may be honoured for valour
Who selflessly struggles for freedom of thought,
And, never afraid to defend his opinion,
Tells people the truth to their face, as he ought.

Translated by Dorian Rottenberg


LABORA

While young, oh brother, plant crops of grain
And do not neglect the soil! Then, when you feel
How body takes stiffness, your soul now drowsy,
It is late already to work: you cannot sow, you cannot harvest.
 
While in the heart is burning that holy fire,
Which pulls to work and gives so much strength
Because even the feeble and weak can stand as a giant,
Oh work, in order that the fire does not go out.
 
While you still admire your own ideals, brother,
Reach only for those ideals righteous and high
So hurry! Later you... may disavow it
For a bit of gold, and a spoonful of tasty food.
 
Read the book of life, page by page,
Without stopping, because sometimes trapped into laziness
You decay; and do not go into the grave
Without leaving a mark: that a person was here.
 
Oh, if so difficult that work of yours
And strength pines away already, disheartened, disquieted
So take a look at the work of your young friends –
In one glance from new you will be revived.

Translated by Philip Klemka


TO MY COMPATRIOTS

If a tempest arises and causes to fall
One of the pillars supporting your wall,
The house will not topple – don't run off in fright:
Replace it – just find a new pillar, that's all,
    And everything will be all right.

If at the hands of a foe or of fate
Falls one of our best – let your will not abate;
Let another, his comrade-in-arms, his true friend
Step forth and continue his cause so great
    Until its triumphant end.

Lithuania! Invaded by enemies dread
You must be like the hydra, which, losing one head,
At once grew five others instead of just one.
Only so you'll survive and will not fall down dead
    Though the enemy thinks he has won!

Translated by Dorian Rottenberg

Born into a peasant family in the village of Paežeriai, Vincas Kudirka attended secondary school in Marijampolė and studied medicine at Warsaw University. He worked as a doctor in Šakiai and Naumiestis. Joining actively in the struggle for national and democratic rights, from 1889 to 1894 and 1897 to 1899 he edited the illegal underground journal Varpas (The Bell) which was of a liberal trend. He was acknowledged the best journalist, satirist and literary critic of his day. Kudirka began writing verse in 1888. In 1899 he published a volume of poems which enriched Lithuanian lyric poetry with political understanding and intellectual qualities.