qwertz:Hi, is there somebody interested to translate the "nova kanto" into english?

Sure, why not. Note that it won't rhyme or be correctly metered, etc, in English. As erinja says, it comes across as "religious", perhaps unseemly so to some.

•2•-
1905,
France.
The dream
of the boy
from Bialystok*
became reality.
Now,
all
people of the world
can greet
one another.
Here's Esperanto:
a living language!

•1•-Shake awake, (•2•-ye..s,)
Shake awake, (•2•-yes,)
•1•-Shake awake
oh green call!
•1•-Shake awake,
Shake awake, (•2•-yes)
•1•-Shake awake
oh green call!
•1•-Shake awake,
Shake awake, (•2•-yes)
•1•-Shake awake
oh green call……!

•1•-
1859.
[There] arrived
a man in the (•1+2•world)
as if..
he were sent
for a missionary task
of high quality.
On the earth (•1+2•infinite)
Fifteenth
of december was
the date
[for] Bialystok,
a Polish town,
the candidate
to receive the relay-messenger.
The language prophet
Who would change the world
without using a bayonet.
Lazaro Ludoviko Zamenhof
Was the name of the man
who created
an expression to exorcize
language phantom.

•1+2+You!•-E..spe..ranto,
is a new song
mine
and yours.
The Language Internatio..nal.
E..spe..ranto,
is a new song
mine
and yours.
The Language International.

•2•-[So] began,
then,
the revolution
which
would bring only good
to civilization.
Esperanto everywhere
goes without stopping.
Sympathizer
throughout the world it
(•1+2•-acq..uires).
Incredible acceptance.
Perhaps mystical?
Not only [that].
But also effective,
practical, articulate
Because
the speech
flexibly
and gracefully flows
totally free,
it evolves,
truly.
Esperanto is used
[in] prose or poetry
in all relations and other..wise
in interpretation, on the internet
as well: it is useful.
It's easy;
we chat. And
its power,
of course,
is indeed a hit.
•2•-Because of this Esperanto
is very (•1+2•-va..lu..able)
(•1•-So!…)
(•2•-Cut off.) (•1•-So!…)
(•2•-Cut off.) (•1•-So!…)
•2•-Cut off if you
can [the] baobab [tree].**
•2•-Cut off if you can
the dream of the boy
from Bialystok. Crude era.
Full of mockery. The..
provocation, suffocation.
A humiliating blockade.
A paternal shock:
world reciprocity.
A mighty call,
in every place. (•1+2•Yes!!!),
(•1+2•Yes!!!)

•1+2+You!•-E..spe..ranto,
is a new song
mine
and yours.
The Language Internatio..nal.
E..spe..ranto,
is a new song
mine
and yours.
The Language International.

(very fast singer alternation!)

1)
•1•-Sound a new song
•2•-Of the language Esperanto,
•1•-Of the link international,
•2•-Our dream, our love!
•1•-The most marvelous creation
•2•-Truly is it worthy of praise
•1•-From writers, from poets,
•2•-In poems and odes,
•1•-More than [the] thunder of battles,
•2•-More than sweet nightingales,
•1•-More than beautiful actresses,
•2•-More than pipes of machines,
•1•-More than the most brilliant gold,
•2•-More than useless glory,
•1•-More than everyone, more than everything,
•2•-Besides love and God.
•1•-In the coming century,
•2•-Be it known to Esperantists,
•1•-In Europe, the Americas,
•2•-In Asia and Africa,
•1•-Wherever we will travel
•2•-Esperanto we will find,
•1•-On the street, in a wagon,
•2•-In a hotel, in a parlor
•1•-And even in a private house
•2•-It will be spoken by every human:
•1•-Laborer, professor,
•2•-And judge, and doctor,
•1•-And Jew, and Christian,
•2•-And Lithuanian, and Japanese,
•1•-And will perish the complaint:
•2•-“I don't,
•2•-I don't,
•2•-I don't,
•2•-understand you, brother”.
•1•-So that this hour should come -
•2•-Together brothers, to work!
•1•-Here with a song, there with a word,
•2•-Here acting unto death,
•1•-Let us serve this thing,
•2•-The most beautiful on earth,
•1•-Guard it from forgetting
•2•-With speech in the press;
•1•-Go like Apostles
•2•-To preach it to the peoples,
•1•-And sound our call
•2•-On the earth in every place,
•1•-In villages, in towns,
•2•-In schools, in newspapers,
•1•-And serving the truth
•2•-May we be strengthened by the Hope.

•1+2+You!•-E..spe..ranto,
is a new song
mine
and yours.
The Language Internatio..nal.
E..spe..ranto,
is a new song
mine
and yours.
The Language International.

FOOTNOTES:
*Bialystok: a city in (present-day) Poland, birthplace of Zamenhof.
** Baobab tree: A kind of tropical tree. This is probably an allusion to "The Little Prince", who had to cut down baobab trees every day to keep them from overrunning his asteroid.

Wow

Thanks for that

erinja:"Yeah, English! English! You use it to talk to lots of people all over the world! It has metaphors like other languages! Poetry in English! Songs in English! Speak English all over the world! Fly a plane in English - it's the international language of aviation, dudes! Doctors speak English! Lawyers speak English! Rubbish collectors speak English! Even income tax preparation specialists speak English! If we all use English, there will be nothing but peace and love! So all English speakers, preach the gospel of English, the miracle language that you can use everywhere. E - N - G - L - I - S - H, learn English!"

That made me laugh out loud, quite literally

gyrus:

erinja:"Yeah, English! English! You use it to talk to lots of people all over the world! It has metaphors like other languages! Poetry in English! Songs in English! Speak English all over the world! Fly a plane in English - it's the international language of aviation, dudes! Doctors speak English! Lawyers speak English! Rubbish collectors speak English! Even income tax preparation specialists speak English! If we all use English, there will be nothing but peace and love! So all English speakers, preach the gospel of English, the miracle language that you can use everywhere. E - N - G - L - I - S - H, learn English!"

That made me laugh out loud, quite literally

Then probably you got the intention of the esperanto "nova kanto", too. These lyrics also are definitivly exaggerated/troigita.

Btw., I didn't know that you have to speak english as an rubbish collector. Ah, okej I remember you have to put the rubbish in the right recycling container. Paper/plastic/white glas/brown glas/green glas or the normal grey scrap box? That's the big question! Hopefully it is marked with a - ha, ha green point Anyway, somebody told that it will put together againg after collecting will be burned. But, psst. It's a secret.

qwertz:Then probably you got the intention of the esperanto "nova kanto", too. These lyrics also are definitivly exaggerated/troigita.

Maybe Tone intended for the lyrics to be exaggerated but I don't think that outsiders would see it that way. Lots of people already think that Esperanto speakers are a weird cult, and I think that songs like this one reinforce that impression. It doesn't come across as being ironic or exaggerated at all, in the English translation (or in the Esperanto original either, in my opinion).

erinja:

qwertz:Then probably you got the intention of the esperanto "nova kanto", too. These lyrics also are definitivly exaggerated/troigita.

Maybe Tone intended for the lyrics to be exaggerated but I don't think that outsiders would see it that way. Lots of people already think that Esperanto speakers are a weird cult, and I think that songs like this one reinforce that impression. It doesn't come across as being ironic or exaggerated at all, in the English translation (or in the Esperanto original either, in my opinion).

Hhm, that only Antonio/Tone can answer by himself. I only did see like esperanto people did react at some esperanto rekontiĝojn to this song.

erinja:Maybe Tone intended for the lyrics to be exaggerated but I don't think that outsiders would see it that way. Lots of people already think that Esperanto speakers are a weird cult, and I think that songs like this one reinforce that impression. It doesn't come across as being ironic or exaggerated at all, in the English translation (or in the Esperanto original either, in my opinion).

It sounds ironic/humorous to me: "Let us serve Esperanto unto death, preaching it like Apostles, for it is more worthy of praise than anyone or anything except love and God!" Surely that can't have been intended seriously-- and if it was, it just makes it that much funnier to me.

The song reminds me of the Obama hymns taught to school children in the U.S. not too long ago. Those were "serious", yet (unintentionally) hilarious at the same time.

trojo:It sounds ironic/humorous to me: "Let us serve Esperanto unto death, preaching it like Apostles, for it is more worthy of praise than anyone or anything except love and God!" Surely that can't have been intended seriously-- and if it was, it just makes it that much funnier to me.

Funny for you, but not for people who already think we're a cult, and think that they have evidence to prove it!

I took a look at the vikio kantaro again because I was wondering about the " 1) " trojo posted above. Antonio (songwriter of nova kanto) marked the text below as:

1) "...Tiu parto estis verkita de la litova pastro, Aleksandras Dambrauskas Dombrovski (pseŭdonimo: Adomas Jakštas)(1860-1938)..."

Take a look at the regarding vikio kantaro. So, seems to be that there is some historical text inside. So you're right it has some religous background. But in my opinion most song lyrics are kind of interpretation. (For instance the lyrics of the song La Fariseo by Dolchamar. That's another topic but how would you interpreting the La Fariseo song in english?)

•1•-Sound a new song
•2•-Of the language Esperanto,
•1•-Of the link international,
•2•-Our dream, our love!
•1•-The most marvelous creation
•2•-Truly is it worthy of praise
•1•-From writers, from poets,
•2•-In poems and odes,
•1•-More than [the] thunder of battles,
•2•-More than sweet nightingales,
•1•-More than beautiful actresses,
•2•-More than pipes of machines,
•1•-More than the most brilliant gold,

etc.

qwertz:I took a look at the vikio kantaro again because I was wondering about the " 1) " trojo posted above. Antonio (songwriter of nova kanto) marked the text below as:

1) "...Tiu parto estis verkita de la litova pastro, Aleksandras Dambrauskas Dombrovski (pseŭdonimo: Adomas Jakštas)(1860-1938)..."

Take a look at the regarding vikio kantaro. So, seems to be that there is some historical text inside.

So I guess that part was intended seriously. I suppose that "dum venonta centjaro" in the song refers to the twentieth century, and not (as I had assumed) the 21st.

The late 1890s and early 1900s were a different time, full of optimism and hope for the future-- unlike our jaded, cynical era. It is hard to believe today that anyone ever seriously believed that Esperanto would be spoken by ĉiu homo, everywhere one traveled, on the streets and in private homes, etc, but like I say... it was a different time.

I still think Nova kanto is funny though. It's so over the top, I can't help chuckling at it.