I chose his song Jeřabiny (Rowanberries) for my very first blogpost, because I simply cannot get enough of Kryl's masterful poetry. Today's song will be a little more complex, so that you can get the gist of why he's praised not only by casual listeners, but also by literature scholars. Dvacet may not be among his most well-known songs, but it is definitely one of my favourites. Kryl wrote it for the 20th anniversary of the invasion, in exile. In his later songs, Kryl tends to play with words and implement very subtle barbs at the Czechoslovak regime. He also criticized the people for not taking action and being compliant with the regime. However, at the same time, he was trying to inspire them to do something, and to give them hope.
Complete vocabulary of this song
Dvacet
Ztichly
fell silent, grew quiet
louky
meadows
i
[both] and
bor,
pinewood
mrtvé
dead
vrcholy
peaks, tops
hor,
[of] mountains
1
Both the meadows and the pine wood have fallen silent, dead mountaintops,
padl
fell
žal
sorrow, grief
na
on, upon, onto
večer
evening, night
srpnový.
August (adj.)
Grief has fallen upon an August night,
V prachu
in [the] dust
dvaceti
[of] twenty (gen.)
let
[of] years (gen.pl.)
zmizel
disappeared, vanished
oheň
fire
i
[both] and
led,
ice
2
In the dust of twenty years, both the fire and ice have vanished,
zbyly
remained, were left
jen
just, only
carovy
tzar's
proslovy.
speeches, orations
All that's left are the tzar's speeches.
Z
from, out of
větví
[from] branches (gen.pl.)
rezavých
[of] rusty, russet (gen.pl.)
lesů
[of] woods, forrests (gen.pl.)
3
hřmí
thunders, rumbles (3rd p.sg.)
ticho
silence
děsu,
[of] terror, fright (gen.sg.)
From the branches of russet woods, the silece of terror rumbles,
slepí
the blind (noun, nom.pl.)
a
and
hluší
the deaf (noun, nom.pl.)
dál
[carry on doing something]
kulmují
tong (3rd p.pl.)
uši
ears
4
The blind and the deaf continue to tong the ears
králi
[to, for] king (dat.sg.)
Midasovi.
of King Midas.
Krví
[with] blood (instr.sg.)
značena je
is marked
dlažba
pavement, cobbles (nom.sg)
u
near, by
Dunaje,5
Pavement by the Danube is marked with blood,
hroby
graves
padlých
[of] the fallen (gen.pl.)
jsou
are (3rd p.pl.)
bezejmenné.
nameless
Graves of the fallen are nameless,
Heslo
slogan
o
about, on
vítězství
victory (loc.sg.)
cizím
[with] other's, another's
peřím
feathers, plumage (instr.sg.)
se skví,
glitters, sparkles (3rd p.sg.)
6
The slogan about victory is decked in borrowed plumes,
dávno
long ago
krev
blood (nom.sg)
vsákla
seeped
do kamene.
into stone (gen.sg.)
Long ago the blood seeped into stone,
Barva
colour (nom.sg.)
rubínu
[of] ruby (gen.sg.)
z žezla
from sceptre (gen.sg.)
7
v záhnědu
into a smoky quartz (acc.sg.)
zrezla,
rusted
The colour of the ruby in the sceptre has rusted into a smoky quartz
zavřeni
locked, closed
v
in, inside
kleci
[in] cage (loc.sg.)
jsme
we are
otroky
slaves (instr.pl.)
věcí,
[of] things (gen.pl.)
Locked in a cage, we are slaves of things,
nikdo
nobody
nevzpomene.
won't remember (double negative)
No-one remembers.
Nad
above
zemi
country, land (acc.sg.)
prodanou
sold, bartered
větry
winds
až
when (into furture)
přivanou
bring (by blowing)
oblaka
clouds (acc.pl.)
zelená
green
z žíravin,
from, of corrosives (gen.pl.)
When the winds bring green clouds of acids above the bartered land,
vlasy
hair (acc.pl.)
tvé
your
havraní
raven
uchopím
[I] will take, grasp
do
into
dlaní,
palms (gen.pl.)
I will take your raven hair in my hands
z
from
prstenu
ring (gen.sg.)
zaplane
[will] flare up, sparkle
vltavín,
moldavite
A moldavite will sparkle from the ring,
snítka
twig, spring spray
nachových
crimson (gen.pl.)
plodů
fruits
rozčeří
[will] ripple
vodu,
water (acc.sg.)
A spray of crimson fruits will ripple the water,
navzdory
out of spite, in spite
posté
for the hundredth time
zas
again
na břehu
on the bank (loc.sg.)
vzroste
[will] grow (up)
rudý
red, ruby
trs
bunch, tuft, clump
jeřabin...
[of] rowanberries (gen.pl.)
Out of spite, for the hundredth time, a ruby bunch of rowanberries will grow on the bank again.
2. Possible reference to Jan Palach, definitely a metaphor for the rage of being occupied that disappeared in the wake of day-to-day business↩
3. There was little concern for the environment during the Communists' rule, and devastation of nature is a common theme in Kryl's songs↩
4. Reference to collaborants with the regime↩
5. Reference to the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, which was similar, though much more bloody than the 1968 invasion in Czechoslovakia↩
6. During commuinsm, it was not allowed to mention the fact that part of Czechoslovakia was liberated by the American army↩
7. Reference to the Bohemian Crown Jewels, one of the official symbols of Czech statehood, and a symbol of Czech independence↩
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