Servitude - Poem by Andon Zako Çajupi

Dear motherland of mine,
I love you as you are,
But if I saw you free,
I'd love you even more.

Weep, oh forests, plains and stones,
Weep, oh mountains under snows,
Poor Albania is abandoned,
Never will she see the light,
Veiled forever is the country
In a thick and sombre blight.

Darkness and misfortune on us,
Thunder, lightning all around us,
Do we live with hearts a-frozen,
Dwell in fear, deprived of joy,
None in song do raise their voices,
And the nightingales are grieving.

What disaster, desolation!
In their nests the birds take shelter,
Yet the people flee their own soil,
For a savage law does rule it,
Yes, Albania we yearn for you,
Refugees in states so foreign.

How can you endure such serfdom,
Oh, Albania, wretched country?
You've saved other nations while you
Bear this heavy yoke and burden.
Oh, Albanians, swear an oath that
You will now fight for your homeland.

Dear motherland of mine,
I love you as you are,
But if I saw you free,
I'd love you even more.