Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika
From Wikisource
| Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika by |
Contents |
[edit] The official anthem
The official South African anthem combines Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika, Die Stem and The Call of South Africa
- Nkosi sikelel' iAfrika
- Maluphakanyisw' uphondo lwayo,
- Yizwa imithandazo yethu,
- Nkosi sikelela, thina lusapho lwayo.
- Morena boloka setjhaba sa heso,
- O fedise dintwa la matshwenyeho,
- O se boloke, O se boloke setjhaba sa heso,
- Setjhaba sa South Afrika - South Afrika.
- Uit die blou van onse hemel,
- Uit die diepte van ons see,
- Oor ons ewige gebergtes,
- Waar die kranse antwoord gee,
- Sounds the call to come together,
- And united we shall stand,
- Let us live and strive for freedom,
- In South Africa our land.
[edit] Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika
The following is from a South African government website [1].
- Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika was composed in 1897 by Enoch Sontonga, a teacher at a Methodist mission school in Johannesburg. It was one of many songs he composed, and he was apparently a keen singer who composed the songs for his pupils.
- The words of the first stanza were originally written in Xhosa as a hymn. In 1927 seven additional Xhosa stanzas were later added by Samuel Mqhayi, a poet.
- Most of Sontonga's songs were sad, witnessing the suffering of African people in Johannesburg, but they were popular and after his death in 1905 choirs used to borrow them from his wife.
- Solomon Plaatje, one of South Africa's greatest writers and a founding member of the ANC, was the first to have the song recorded. This was in London in 1923. A Sesotho version was published in 1942 by Moses Mphahlele.
- The Rev J L Dube's Ohlange Zulu Choir popularised Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika at concerts in Johannesburg, and it became a popular church hymn that was also adopted as the anthem at political meetings.
- For decades Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika was regarded as the national anthem of South Afrika by the oppressed and it was always sung as an act of defiance against the apartheid regime. A proclamation issued by the State President on 20 April 1994 stipulated that both Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika and Die Stem (the Call of South Africa) would be the national anthems of South Africa. In 1996 a shortened, combined version of the two anthems was released as the new National Anthem.
- There are no standard versions or translations of Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika so the words vary from place to place and from occasion to occasion. Generally the first stanza is sung in Xhosa or Zulu, followed by the Sesotho version.
The classical Xhosa version is as follows.
- Nkosi, sikelel' iAfrika;
- Malupakam'upondo lwayo;
- Yiva imitandazo yetu
- Usisikelele.
- Chorus
- Yihla Moya, Yihla Moya,
- Yihla Moya Oyingcwele
- Sikelela iNkosi zetu;
- Zimkumbule umDali wazo;
- Zimoyike zezimhlonele,
- Azisikelele.
- Sikelel' amadod' esizwe,
- Sikelela kwa nomlisela
- Ulitwal'ilizwe ngomonde,
- Uwusikelele.
- Sikelel'amakosikazi;
- Nawo onk'amanenekazi;
- Pakamisa wonk'umtinjana
- Uwusikelele.
- Sikelela abafundisi
- Bemvaba zonke zelilizwe;
- Ubatwese ngoMoya Wako
- Ubasikelele.
- Sikelel'ulimo nemfuyo;
- Gxota zonk'indlala nezifo;
- Zalisa ilizwe ngempilo
- Ulisikelele
- Sikelel'amalinge etu
- Awomanyano nokuzaka,
- Awemfundo nemvisiswano
- Uwasikelele.
- Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika;
- Cima bonk' ubugwenxa bayo
- Nezigqito, nezono zayo
- Uyisikelele.
[edit] Die Stem
The following is the Afrikaans national anthem that was used during the apartheid years in South Africa. Die Stem literally means The Voice. The first two verses were typically sung.
- Uit die blou van onse hemel, uit die diepte van ons see,
- Oor ons ewige gebergtes waar die kranse antwoord gee.
- Deur ons ver-verlate vlaktes met die kreun van ossewa -
- Ruis die stem van ons geliefde, van ons land Suid-Afrika.
- Ons sal antwoord op jou roepstem, ons sal offer wat jy vra:
- Ons sal lewe, ons sal sterwe - ons vir jou, Suid-Afrika
- In die merg van ons gebeente, in ons hart en siel en gees,
- In ons roem op ons verlede, in ons hoop of wat sal wees,
- In ons wil en werk en wandel, van ons wieg tot aan ons graf -
- Deel geen ander land ons liefde, trek geen ander trou ons af.
- Vaderland! ons sal die adel van jou naam met ere dra:
- Waar en trou as Afrikaners - kinders van Suid-Afrika.
- In die songloed van ons somer, in ons winternag se kou,
- In die lente van ons liefde, in die lanfer van ons rou,
- By die klink van huweliksklokkies, by die kluitklap op die kis -
- Streel jou stem ons nooit verniet nie, weet jy waar jou kinders is.
- Op jou roep sê ons nooit nee nie, sê ons altyd, altyd ja:
- Om te lewe, om te sterwe - ja, ons kom Suid-Afrika.
- Op U Almag vas vertrouend het ons vadere gebou:
- Skenk ook ons die krag, o Here! om te handhaaf en te hou -
- Dat die erwe van ons vad're vir ons kinders erwe bly:
- Knegte van die Allerhoogste, teen die hele wêreld vry.
- Soos ons vadere vertrou het, leer ook ons vertrou, o Heer -
- Met ons land en met ons nasie sal dit wel wees, God regeer.
[edit] The Call of South Africa
The following is the English national anthem that was used during the apartheid years in South Africa. It is essentially a translation of the Afrikaans anthem, Die Stem.
- Ringing out from our blue heavens, from our deep seas breaking round;
- Over everlasting mountains where the echoing crags resound;
- From our plains where creaking wagons cut their trails into the earth -
- Calls the spirit of our Country, of the land that gave us birth.
- At thy call we shall not falter, firm and steadfast we shall stand,
- At thy will to live or perish, O South Africa, dear land.
- In our body and our spirit, in our inmost heart held fast;
- in the promise of our future and the glory of our past;
- In our will, our work, our striving, from the cradle to the grave -
- There's no land that shares our loving, and no bond that can enslave.
- Thou hast borne us and we know thee. May our deeds to all proclaim
- Our enduring love and service to thy honour and thy name.
- In the golden warmth of summer, in the chill of winter's air,
- in the surging life of springtime, in the autumn of despair;
- When the wedding bells are chiming or when those we love do depart;
- Thou dost know us for thy children and dost take us to thy heart.
- Loudly peals the answering chorus; We are thine, and we shall stand,
- Be it life or death, to answer to thy call, beloved land.
- In thy power, Almighty, trusting, did our fathers build of old;
- Strengthen then, O Lord, their children to defend, to love, to hold -
- That the heritage they gave us for our children yet may be;
- Bondsmen only of the Highest and before the whole world free.
- As our fathers trusted humbly, teach us, Lord, to trust Thee still;
- Guard our land and guide our people in Thy way to do Thy will.
