"Тих бял Дунав се вълнува" ("Still White Danube Undulates") also known as the Botev March, is a popular Bulgarian patriotic song. The lyrics are based on a poem of the same name by Ivan Vazov. The storyline recounts a historically accurate incident from the Bulgarian struggles against Ottoman rule, which has earned the status of modern myth for Bulgarians, to some degree due to this song. On May 29, 1876 Bugarian revolutionary and poet Hristo Botev at the head of 200-strong company of rebels seized control of the Austro-Hungarian passenger steamship Radetzky by armed force and used it to cross the Danube from Romania to the Bulgarian territories of the Ottoman Empire in order to join the April Uprising. Dagobert Engländer, Captain of the Radetzky, later recounted that he had been deeply moved by Botev's patriotic zeal.
| Bulgarian original | Transliteration | English translation | |
|---|---|---|---|
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Тих бял Дунав се вълнува Тих бял Дунав се вълнува, но кога се там съзирва козлодуйски бряг, Млади български юнаци Горд отпреде им застана - Аз съм български войвода Ний летиме на България |
Tih bjal Dunav se valnuva Tih bjal Dunav se vylnuva, No koga se tam syzira kozlodujski brjag, Mladi bylgarski junaci Gord otprede im zastana -Az sym Bylgarski vojvoda Nij letime za Balgaria |
Placid White Danube Is Excited The placid white Danube is excited But as Kozloduy is sighted Young Bulgarian warriors Proudly there stood before them, ‘I am a Bulgarian voivod, We are speeding to Bulgaria, |
Famous quotes containing the words white and/or danube:
“I said there was a society of men among us, bred up from their youth in the art of proving by words multiplied for the purpose, that white is black, and black is white, according as they are paid. To this society all the rest of the people are as slaves.”
—Jonathan Swift (1667–1745)
“The Danube to the Severn gave
The darken’d heart that beat no more;
They laid him by the pleasant shore,
And in the hearing of the wave.”
—Alfred Tennyson (1809–1892)