The Epirotes

The Epirotes and Macedonians were not Greek people

-Second and final part-

What we have said of Epirotes, we can support even the ancient Macedonians. It is historically proven that, as the Epirotes, this nation had its own language, different from all the Greek dialects, had a kind of governance that was completely different from that of the Greeks, had its own laws, its customs, its military organization, which had nothing in common with that of Hellas. To demonstrate this thesis we will only turn to history. Let's start with Plutarch, who tells us how Alexander killed his friend Cleitus the heart:

Alexander, drunk with wine and anger, came out of his tent and spoke in Macedonian language to his guard and his soldiers. (Free translation).

According to various authors and historians, the Macedonian language was different from all the other languages ​​that were spoken in Greece. From this it can be seen that Alexander the Great did not use the Greek language because the Macedonians would not have understood. The language they knew and spoke the soldiers of Philip II and Alexander the Great could not be that the language of the ancient Pelasgians, the same that was spoken in Epirus, what he calls shqipe the eagle and which today is spoken everywhere in Albania. In many ancient writings are mentioned the Aetolians who were bordering on Epirus, and they spoke a mixed language, a little 'Greek and a little' pelasga, which was called barbaric. The reason why such a spoke dialect was that they (the Aetolians) on one side bordered with Greece and the other with the Epirus. This detail, which we confirmed by many historians, reinforces our contention that the language of Epirotes was the language of the Pelasgians and that this language, as we have said previously, it was completely different from the dialects spoken in different regions of Greece.

The Greek language was worked into society, in which we studied, as today is studied in some centers of Albania. It is likely that in the court of Philip II and his courtiers Pirro, high officials and rulers would write and speak in greek and cultivate writing and Greek literature. We must also consider that the Greek language was studied only in Epirus and Macedonia, this language was widespread in Asia and Africa, as well as in Rome and throughout Italy. This was because the greek language was advanced, the most appropriate at this time to connect different peoples who had business relations or policies. Then the Greek language was studied as it is now studying French, which has become a universal language *.

Nobody can deny that the Greeks have reached the highest point of glory through the progress of their civilization. Their language became the liturgical language of all. Not only that, their art, their relationships and their knowledge of them had elevated to first place among the ancient civilizations. But we do not believe that all those who spoke the Greek language were Greeks, or their ethnic group. What we have written so far shows that the Epirotes and Macedonians were the people who had a common origin as that of the Aetolians, the Ionians, etc.. Since their appearance on the political scene, they were kept separate from the Greeks and had formed an autonomous their society. They were people with characteristics that had nothing in common with the Greek civilization. They had their own independent political and social life, and never had the causes in common with Greece, or sympathy for his politics.

The only element of affinity were the pagan gods. But these deities were introduced by the Pelasgians and the Greeks that "embraced" their religion. The names of these deities have a clear meaning and convincing in the Albanian language.

Language history

The Epirotes and Macedonians were not Greek people 

-First part-

In 376 BC, Epirus surrendered to Cassander, king of Macedonia, but only three years after the Epirotes made a revolt and defeated him. Despite the many setbacks it suffered the Epirotes in those years, in the third century BC we see the emergence of a great personality Epirus: that of Pyrrhus. He, before going down in Italy, fought against the Macedonians and the Greeks that bordered their status. On this occasion, his soldiers, amazed at the speed that showed in fighting their leader, told him that it seemed to be an eagle. Pirro said to them that this was true, but added that their spears were served by the wings to take flight.

Plutarch, relating this anecdote in his Life of Pyrrhus, he would never have imagined that it is precisely this story that the Epirotes and all those who today call themselves Albanians are the origin of the term Shqiptar (Albanian).

Plutarch, who did not know the Pelasgian language (which was considered since the time of Herodotus a barbaric language), and that she had not seen near Epirus and its people, of course, could not give this etymological explanation, which we consider to leave philologists and scholars. Shqype means eagle (Shqiponja) in Albania. Shqypëri or Shqypëni (Albania in Albanian language) means: sell shqiponjës (the land of eagles). Shqyptar (Albanian) is equal to the bir shqiponjës (son of the eagle).

This fact, which has escaped both the ancient historians and both modern philologists, deserves the attention of scholars, because it represents incontrovertible evidence - for those of us who defend the thesis that the Epirotes were a different population from the Hellenic - they they had their own language, the language of the ancient Pelasgians. A language that the Greeks did not understand, and we can say with certainty to be the same language that is spoken today in Epirus, Macedonia, Illyricum and in some islands of the Archipelago, as well as in the mountains of Attica. The same language is now called arbëreshe or shqiptare (Albanian). With the intention of providing a secure element to philology to evaluate the importance of this article, we will say that the names Epirus, Macedonia, Albania, etc., are completely unknown to the Albanians, in their own language these words do not exist *. They themselves recognize as original Shqiptar (Albanian), and do not think at all that their country has a different name than what they seek, namely Shypëri or Shqypëni (Albania). The names of Epirus and Macedonia are of foreign origin, Greek, instead Albania is a modern name that Europeans gave the country the shqyptarëve (Albanians), in the fourteenth or fifteenth century. But the Albanians do not know what they are Epirus, Macedonia and Albania: it is unfamiliar names and meaningless in their language. Therefore, starting from Shkodra and to the Bay of Preveza, all the land between these two geographical points, and the sea front, are identified with the name of Shqypëri (Albania), a country that belongs to the Albanians, who have nothing in common with the Greeks. If you try to stop a farmer on the street and ask: Where are you from? He will reply: Jam Shqiptar (Albanian I). This response will be given without a doubt is by the people and by the people of the North and the South of Albania, Muslims, Catholics and Orthodox are. If you hear talk of Epirus or Albania, they would not understand and maybe you feel offended, believing himself to be insulted in some foreign language.

Albanian, the language bore Indo-European languages. Here are some facts that testify.

"Pellazgjishtja" in Illyrian and then in English was inherited and preserved of Europe's oldest language.
"Pellazgjishtja" in Illyrian and then in English was inherited and preserved of Europe's oldest language. Is certified with strong arguments that the Albanian language is Indo-European parent language and help to verify the age of the language and history come sciences of linguistics and archeology.
But why not written Albanian language as Latin and Greek? Even this is not true because there are written documents left by burns but are not yet discovered and that the Albanian language is written with the letters "Latin" those "Greek". In ancient literary and clergy were interested in Latin and Greek because they were administrative or official languages. So the scholars of the ancient Greeks and Romans wrote about those events of the time that they could not prove and preserve them for their future generations.
Scientists have made us the language to know the secrets of language because linguistic analysis can follow a written language since its earliest beginnings and discover its ties with other languages ​​and common household source. So language is recognized as one of the basic ethnic features of a nation. The word "Linguistics'' is defined as the study of human discourse. Important part of a linguistic study are: classification of the sounds of spoken language, including gender, root, composition, precise definition of the words, the proper order of words within a sentence, tracing the origin of a sentence in the language the origin, development and change of the word through the years, as well as the transmission of speech from one language to another. In this regard, the historical study of a language in the process of change through the years and choose archeology shedding light on prehistoric culture.
As in archeology in the English language scientific research were foreigners and not the Albanians.  XIX and XX centuries the science of comparative linguistics enabled researchers to determine the origin of the Albanian language and its links with other Indo-European languages. Scientists who made name in this regard are:
Gotfrik Lajbnik (1646-1717) - was a philologist and stated that Albanian derives from Illyrian.
Hans Tunman (1746-1778) - Swedish historian professor at the University of Halles, Germany, was the first scholar who studied scientifically the origin of the Albanian language. He did research on the sources of Greek, Latin, Byzantine and vocabulary studied three Greek-Slavic languages-slip Theodore Kavaliotit the year 1770.
Johan von Hahn (1811-1869) - Austrian graduated in law from the University of Haidelbergut, who served as a judge of the new Greek state, and later as consul in Ioannina. Johani became interested in English language studies with the light Albanian linguist Kostadin Kristoforidhi. Published three volumes 'Albanian Studies on culture, language and history' and concluded that Albanian derives from Illyrian and Illyrian from pellazgjishtja.
Bop Franz (1791-1867) - Berlin University professor and founder of historical comparative Indo-European linguistics. Published in 1854 his work and concluded that the eagle is listed in the Indo-European family and is specific language without another language sister.
Demetrius Kamarda - Italian philologist Albanian origin published work 'A comparative grammar essay about English language' in 1864, confirmed the ancient documents of the Albanian language. As one among the oldest languages ​​in the world.
Gustav Meyer (1850-1900) - Austrian professor at the University of Graz, a member of the Academy of Sciences of Vienna, who were trained in the field of English language study, Greek and Turkish. Published the book 'On the position of the Albanian language in the Indo-European languages ​​district' in 1883, later followed by 8 scientific volumes on the history, language, poetry, folk tales and Albanian Settlements arberesh in Italy and Greece.
Eduard Schneider - a French scholar who served in the Ottoman government of Shkodra, said in his book 'Pelasgians and their descendants' 1894 a detailed technical lecture, where the English language is presented as' the sound cleaner and more faithful language pellazge '.
Holder Pedersen (1867-1953) - Danish who worked 35 years as a professor of comparative Indo-European linguistics at the University of Copenhagen. For 35 years he published a number of scientific works on the English language, providing valuable analysis. Also gathered published Albanian folklore.
Norbert Jokl (1887-1942) - Austrian linguist German-Jewish origin, librarian at the University of Vienna devoted lifelong study of the Albanian language. Before the Second World War, he was invited to teach Albanology Albanian scholars, but his death in a Nazi concentration camp Albania deprived of the services of this great scholar.
Zef Skiroi (1865-1927) - Italian eminent philologist with Albanian origin, Jokl and Dane Pedersen, were rated as three decades of the twentieth century. Professor Skiroi studies brought to light in his book'' The Albanian language'' in Rome in 1932.
After studying foreign scientists about language and history of the Albanians came and the first Albanian scholars in terms of English language as De Rada, Pashko Vasa, Constantine Çekrezi Christo Dako, large and distinguished professor Eqrem Çabej, Androkli Kostallari, Aleks Buda Shaban Demiraj, Mahir Domi, etc..
So after more studies being convinced on a number of arguments, or foreign linguists and scientists brought the conclusion that Albanians Albania and his Albanian people are descended from the Illyrians and Illyrians from prehistoric Pelasgians. Linguistic comparison between Albanian, Greek and Old Latin, proved that Albanian language was formed earlier than these two ancient languages. An undeniable proof for the age of the English language are the names of cities, mountains and rivers that are inherent to date staying long conquest of other peoples as eg; SCUPI-Skopje, Scodra Skadar, Lissus- Copenhagen, DURRACKIUM-DURRΛS, Mathie-measure, river DRINUS-DRINI, mount TOMORRIS-Tomorr etc.. Heritage pellazgjishtja in Illyrian and later in English have and old names are still to label people; HECTOR, Alken, Tomor, DRINI, ILIR, TEUTA, Genti, BARDHYLI etc.. Such names are on the 800, which has gathered researcher Mahir Domi.
If we take a quick look at the map of Europe, will note that many cities and regions have names meaning only in Albanian and English language for example:
- Tuscany in Italy who took the name of its inhabitants, that they were the same Tosk Albanian them.
- Brindisi read in English: horn lit.
- The capital of France is Paris in English: the first or first.
- Marrsiella, France city took its name from the ancient Albanians because he was and is commercial seaside town, then pick up and bring.
If we see the names of ancient Greek cities they have Albanian names meaning, for example, Athens - a saying, Edessa - I loved, Thiva - broken.
Homer also derived from the English word, given that he was blind, they named Pelasgians Ah, Homer. His works Iliad and Odyssey (Track sees) are Pelasgian or Albanian legend, written by Homer and over the centuries it was absorbed by the later Byzantine writers. Iliad, all the heads of the tribes, participating in the battle of Troy and came from places have names meaning in English, for example:
Micenean - friend kena / have king was Agamenoni ..Menelao - la mind, was the king of Sparta, brother of Agamemnon.Mirmidonët - Mirdita had king Aqilean or Achilles, which means as easy.Elena left her mind.Priam - the first I or lead'm the king of Troy.Paridi - the first to know, etc..
At all times the Byzantines had a mania to accommodate non-Greek words in Greek words. This course of action has changed to some extent and manner of pronunciation of words or names. However, if you look at the ancient gods of Olympus where the ancient Greeks believed, will see that they read or understood god only in Albanian language such as:
Zeus - The voice is the most powerful god who was god woman.
Hera - Era. God another Letos - Leton. Zeus later married the goddess Mentis - mind and had Athinanë. Mars was the god of war and many times incite discord among people therefore had received the name from Albanian'' crazy''. Apolon think God has taken its name from the eagle, or-loni, and indeed Apollo was the god of music, poetry and arcs, and what did Apollo! Play music, change the direction arrows. The game had to play for the kids was the arrow. God called Tetis sea, more easily in English T replaced by D.
A look at the day of the week in English language notice that they have a thorough understanding of Albanian and gods where Pelasgians believed. Sunday is the day that represents the sun, because Sunday is the day with the most sun. The moon represents the moon. Tuesday is the day of Mars and is called as the day received. Wednesday is the day of Mercury. The swelling is not yet discovered. Friday is the day of black, cut, cut. Saturday represents Saturn.
Meanwhile, the Byzantine Greeks weekdays label so: Sunday represents the Lord, Monday doubts, Tuesday, is the triad, Wednesday, four, Thursday, is fifth, Friday is the day of Saint Mary, Saturday received from the Jews.
As can be seen weekdays label Albanians are older than the Greeks, which indicates that the Albanians are the oldest people in the Balkans. Pelasgians oath did the head of the mother, father, like swear and Albanians today, the head of the mother and the father. Pelasgians with customs, music, dress and especially the English language, have persisted in their lands.
Many historical data Greek, Latin casually mention any military contact, diplomat, merchant and religious Albanians. Later European travelers, scholar, adventurer writes about the severity mountainous country, proud warriors or characteristic wardrobe. William Shakespeare had not ever visited Albania, but he decided his comedy 'Twelfth Night' in Illyria, so in Albania. Lord Byron remained so cheerful and happy in meeting with the Albanians, that his mother wrote that it would buy an Albanian costume and will wear; unfortunately this dress was adopted by the Greeks and is known today as the Greek national costume (!? )
Fairy tales, legends and Albanian bravery would get up in the Philippines, where the love story somewhere in the kingdom of Albania titled'' FLORANT AT LAURA'' will be written in Tagalog language by Filipinos author Leonard Tugjy. Legend of the national hero Skanderbeg, indicated by the Spanish Jew work Leongfellout titled'' Tales eat roadside''.
In conclusion it should be noted that the overall scientific opinion is that the Albanian people and the Albanian language are modern descendants of the Illyrians and Pelasgians, and Indo-European origins. This makes it even clearer why old Albanian people held firm after its ancient language and culture. Although our homeland is often occupied by the Greeks, Romans, Slavs and Turks, even though we often use trade language, coming from far away, people are now known as Albanians have maintained with determination and success, habits, traditions and our ancient distinction Ilir Pelasgians. But to be saved in the future should the Albanians to care as much for the development of scientific education tejshëm, to build institutions, universities and national guard fanatically secular enemies of the Albanian people.

For people who like to learn Albanian online with native teacher you can visit: www.learnalbanianlanguage.com

Why learn Albanian?

Because today many people learn Albanian? Despite the political and economic importance of other languages, the number of people studying Albanian continuously is increasing. The motivation is the most common cultural enrichment, followed by the need to study, work, and tourism or for sentimental reasons.
Albanian is a language of culture is the language of Ismail Kadare. And the language of great artists, painters, poets and writers. The Albanian language is a language of music, open, diverse and redundant, so it is easier to understand in Albanian and in other languages ​​and is even more enjoyable.
But the Albanian is also the language that accompanies the Made-in-Albania is the language of fashion and food. All this is synonymous with quality and style.
Albanian is an important part of the Albania full of art treasures and landscapes, also the Albanians are a people creative, friendly and warm.
Speak Albanian is an asset to grow in terms of human, cultural, and professional.

Nexhat Hakiu

Albanian version:


C'ËSHTË DASHURIA
Nexhat Hakiu

Ti nga gazi, nga mërzia
Pyet ç'është dashuria
Por ajo nuk fytyrë,
Nuk ka tingull, nuk ka ngjyrë!

Ajo s'sndihet as me fjalë,
Vjen e fshehur dhe ngadalë,
Vjen një herë'e prap s'enjeh
Brenda zemrës ti se sheh!

Po t' ish lule, fshehur barit,
Do këputesh, do të thahesh,
Po t'ish përl, fij e arit
Do rrëmbehesh, do të ndahesh;

Po t'ish zog, do të vajtonte
Brenda zemrës në kuvli,
Ta liroje, do këndonte
Larg nga ty, nga çdo njeri!

S'është lule për në fushë,
S' është përl për në gushë,
S'është as zog për në kuvli:
Ajo zemrën ka shtëpi....

Ja se ç'është dashuria!
Ësht' a s'është nuk e di,
Por un' di se lumturia:
Nuk është vetëm dashuri!
______________________________

English version:

WHAT LOVE IS
by Nexhat Hakiu

translated by Anthony Weir

The happy or the bored
may ask what love is -
but it doesn't have descriptiveness.
Its qualities are wordless.

You feel it secretly and slowly.
It's there and you don't realise
it's living in your heart.

A flower may be plucked,
a pearl or cloth of gold
be snatched and fought over.

The caged bird sings its heart out
and if you freed it, it would also sing
far from you and everyone.

Love is not flower
nor pearl
nor caged bird
but a formless dweller in the heart.

That's what love is:
less than happiness.

Albanian language

Albanian language (Gjuha shqipe pronounced [ˈɟuha ˈʃcipɛ]) is an Indo-European language spoken by nearly 6 million people, primarily in Albania and Kosovo, but also in other areas of the Balkans in which there is an Albanian population, including the west of Macedonia, Montenegro, and southern Serbia. Albanian is also spoken by communities in Greece, along the eastern coast of southern Italy, and on the island of Sicily. Additionally, speakers of Albanian can be found elsewhere throughout the latter two countries resulting from a modern diaspora, originating from the Balkans, that also includes Scandinavia, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Low Countries, Turkey and the United States.

Classification

Albanian was proved to be an Indo-European language in 1854 by the German philologist Franz Bopp. The Albanian language constitutes its own branch of the Indo-European language family.

Some scholars believe that Albanian derives from Illyrian while others, claim that it derives from Daco-Thracian. (Illyrian and Daco-Thracian, however, may have formed a sprachbund, see Thraco-Illyrian.)

Establishing longer relations, Albanian is often compared to Balto-Slavic on the one hand and Germanic on the other, both of which share a number of isoglosses with Albanian. Moreover, Albanian has undergone a vowel shift in which stressed, long o has fallen to a, much like in the former and opposite the latter. Likewise, Albanian has taken the old relative jos and innovatively used it exclusively to qualify adjectives, much in the way Balto-Slavic has used this word to provide the definite ending of adjectives.

Dialects

Albanian can be divided into two main dialects, Gheg and Tosk.

The Shkumbin river is roughly the dividing line, with Gheg spoken north of the Shkumbin and Tosk south of it. The Gheg literary language has been documented since 1462. Until the Communists took power in Albania, the standard was based on Gheg. Although the literary versions of Tosk and Gheg are mutually intelligible, many of the regional dialects are not. Tosk is divided into many sub-dialects. The main groups are Northern Tosk (Berat, Pojan, Vlorë, Struga) and Labërisht (Labëria). In Greece, the Çam and the Arvanites speak different Tosk sub-dialects. The sub-dialect of the Arvanites is only partially intelligible with other Tosk sub-dialects, such that it can be regarded as a separate language, Arvanitika. A distinct Tosk sub-dialect has been preserved in the Albanian-founded village of Mandritsa in southern Bulgaria. Tosk sub-dialects related to Arvanitika and called Arbërisht are spoken by the Arbëreshë, descendants of 15th and 16th century immigrants in southeastern Italy, in small communities in the regions of Sicily, Calabria, Basilicata, Campania, Molise, Abruzzi, and Puglia. Tosk sub-dialects are spoken by most members of the large Albanian immigrant communities of Ukraine, Turkey, Egypt, and the United States.

Gheg is spoken in Northern Albania, Macedonia, Kosovo, and in parts of Montenegro. Each area of Northern Albania has its own sub-dialect: Tiranë, Durrës, Elbasan and Kavaja; Kruja and Laçi; Mati, Dibra and Mirdita; Lezhë, Shkodër, Krajë, Ulqin; etc. Malësia e Madhe, Rugova, and villages scattered alongside the Adriatic Coast form the northmost sub-dialect of Albania today. There are many other sub-dialects in the region of Kosovo and in parts of southern Montenegro, and in Republic of Macedonia. The sub-dialects of Malsia e Madhe and Dukagjini near Shkodra are being lost because the younger generations prefer to speak the sub-dialect of Shkodra.

Arshi PIPA

BIOGRAPHY

Writer and scholar, Arshi Pipa (1920-1997) was born in Shkodra where he attended school until 1938. His first poetry, composed in the late 1930s in Shkodra, was collected in the volume Lundërtarë, Tirana 1944 (Sailors). Pipa studied philosophy at the University of Florence, where he received the degree of "dottore in filosofia" in 1942 with a dissertation on Henri Bergson (1859-1941). He thereafter worked as a teacher in Shkodra and Tirana. In 1944, he was editor of the short-lived Tirana literary monthly Kritika (Criticism). Unwilling to conform after the radical transition of power at the end of the war, he was arrested in April 1946 and imprisoned for ten years. After his release in 1956, he escaped to Yugoslavia and emigrated to the United States two years later. He held teaching posts at various American universities and until his retirement was professor of Italian at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. Pipa digested his ten years of horror in the prisons and labor camps of Durrës, Vloçisht, Gjirokastra and Burrel in Libri i burgut, Rome 1959 (The Prison Book), a 246-page collection of verse. He has published two other volumes of poetry in Gheg dialect: Rusha, Munich 1968 (Rusha), and Meridiana, Munich 1969 (Meridiana), the latter being a collection in the romantic and nostalgic vein of Giacomo Leopardi.
Of greater impact were Pipa's scholarly publications, in particular his literary criticism. Among such works are the three-volume literary study Trilogia albanica, Munich 1978, and a monograph on Montale and Dante, Minneapolis 1968. He also published a controversial sociolinguistic study on the formation of standard Albanian (gjuha letrare) as the official language of Albania, entitled The Politics of Language in Socialist Albania, New York 1989; a collection of fifteen political essays entitled Albanian Stalinism: Ideo-political Aspects, New York 1990; and a study on the Albanian literature of the socialist realist period, Contemporary Albanian literature, New York 1991. In later years, he edited the short-lived periodical Albanica in Washington, D.C., where he lived with his sister in retirement.

POETRY

The First Night

A kitchen, not in use for ages,
Over the sink with its porcelain tiles,
An oil lamp coughs black smoke,
The door locked, the windows sealed.

A cluster of shadows low along the wall,
A chamber pot behind the door, near it some old
Onion skins, a rat gnawing on crumbs of bread,
Someone gulping from a flask.

The shadows shift, curious eyes and faces
Emerge from cloaks and shawls,
A heavy step shakes the stairs. Silence.

A clank of deadbolts, a scream near the office,
Another howl, frightening and long, followed
By demeaning curses. Then the bolts again... and steps...

[Natë e parë, from the volume Libri i burgut, Rome: Apice, 1959, p. 27. Translated from the Albanian by Robert Elsie]



Dawn

The dawns cannot be seen,
Can only be heard.
Slumber, anguish, waking
In horror... a jumble

Of snoring guards, sweat
And fumes of gas,
With cries, with clamour,
And the stench of decay.

And now from the other side,
A beckoning voice,
A long whisper.

Whistling, chirping,
The birds in the pines
Bid goodbye to the night.

[Agim, from the volume Libri i burgut, Rome: Apice, 1959, p. 28. Translated from the Albanian by Robert Elsie]



The Lamp

I entreat you, do not close the window,
Oh, unknown woman,
I dream of your movements,
Of your voice evoking spring!

I beg you, do not snuff out the lamp,
I crave it tonight,
My hope in the gloom,
Like a sail untouched by the wind.

[Llampa, from the volume Libri i burgut, Rome: Apice, 1959, p. 28. Translated from the Albanian by Robert Elsie]



The Canal

Thunder near Korça. The rain courses
Down tarpaulins onto heads, upon the hay,
The prisoners huddle, cower in their covers,
A heap of putrid flesh and rags.

Evening has come. Blood streams from a mouth,
A gypsy lad sings oblivious his song,
Some scuffle over a water drop drunk by a comrade,
Others curse for a bit of stolen bread. A guard enters,

Kicking and thrashing, cries, a whistle blows.
Then calm. All are exhausted,
Try to catch some sleep if they can.

Groans and sighs from the first-aid barracks.
In the morn, the canal and the marsh will be biding,
Except for those awaited by a barren grave.

[Kanali, from the volume Libri i burgut, Rome: Apice, 1959, p. 63. Translated from the Albanian by Robert Elsie]



Farewell

Come and say farewell, my sisters,
Smile and give no sign of grief,
At the doorway in high spirits
Come and wave a handkerchief.

With a head scarf dry your eyes now,
Wipe them near a burning tallow,
Fling it to the wind, my sisters,
Watch as it becomes a swallow.

'mongst the thousands on their way to
Foreign lands beyond the sea
I'll behold it when you cast it
There wherever I may be.

(1939)

[Lamtumirë, from the volume Poezi, vepra poetike, Peja: Dukagjini 1998, p. 104. Translated from the Albanian by Robert Elsie]



The Pine Tree

Dawns that cannot be seen
Must be conjured by the senses.
When direful dreams take flight
To the snoring of guards,
To the stench of urine mixed
With sweat and kerosene.

And then, from beyond,
A bustling beckons,
A rustling echoes,
A twittering and chirping.
The birds in the pine tree
Proclaim the coming day.

(1946)

[Lamtumirë, from the volume Poezi, vepra poetike, Peja: Dukagjini 1998, p. 131. Translated from the Albanian by Robert Elsie]