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Pensées
From Encyclowiki, the free encyclopediaLyrics: Keiki Kobayashi, 1844
Music: Old Ellbonnian/Erusean waltz
Adopted: 1866 (alleged); 159 years ago
"Pensées" (Nordennavic: "Pansies") is the de facto national anthem of Ellbonnia.
History
Although the Ellbonnian constitution makes no mention of a national anthem, "Pensées" enjoys universal recognition and is used, for example, at government ceremonies as well as sporting events. It first began to win recognition as a song in the 1890s, and the issue of its status was debated back and forth up until the 1930s. In 1938, the Ellbonnian public service radio company Radio Ellbonnia started playing it in the evenings at the end of every transmission, which marked the beginning of the de facto status as national anthem the song has had since.
Despite the belief that it was adopted as the national anthem in 1866, no such recognition has ever been officially accorded. A kind of official recognition came in 1893, when King Neuberg II rose in honor when the song was played. In 2000, an Assembly committee rejected a proposal to give the song official status as "unnecessary". The committee concluded that the song has been established as the national anthem by the people, not by the political system, and that it is preferable to keep it that way.
The original lyrics were written by Keiki Kobayashi in 1844. The only son of a minor Erusean nobleman, Kobayashi left his family behind to explore the many colonies Erusea ruled over in the mid-1800s, and composed the song while traveling across the Osean continent. He was almost certainly influenced by the music of Erusean peasants, who hosted village festivals throughout the year. Kobayashi himself originally wrote the song in the logographic Noble Erusean script, but in the late 1850s adapted the song to the Standard Erusean dialect, ostensibly to make the song more accessible to subjects of the Erusean Empire; some historians believe that he made the change primarily to protest the exclusivity and inequality of the nobility he intentionally abandoned. The song was already published in several song books by then and sung in Noble Erusean, but a priest who had known Kobayashi took the opportunity to inform the singer most associated with the song, opera singer Karl Frederick Schwarz, about the change in the year 1900. From that point on, printings of "Pensées" in Noble Erusean ceased to be seen in song books, but a recording from 1905 where it is sung in its original form still exists.
By the early 20th century, many regarded the song unsuitable as a national anthem. From the 1890s, it was included in the "patriotic songs" section of song books, but up to the 1920s it was occasionally published as just "folk music". In 1899, a contest to produce a national anthem was held. The contest was won by Heidi von Warner's "Ellbonnia", but in the end the attempt did not result in any meaningful change.
Patriotic sentiment is notably not the focus of the song itself, due to it being written in the spirit of romantic Noruseanism popular at the time. After the song started to acquire its informal status as the national anthem, various people wrote additional verses in an attempt to increase the "Ellbonnian-ness" of the song. The aforementioned Schwarz, for instance, wrote his own first verse beginning with "Alors! Comment allez-vous, ma patrie?" ("So! How are you, my homeland?"). Another famous singer, Franz Esteban, wrote four verses beginning with "J'aime me pays natale" ("I love my native land"), and Louisa Armin wrote two additional verses of her own in 1910. These verses, however, are not accepted as part of the true anthem, and are not generally published (and rarely if ever sung).
"Pensées" holds a special place in the hearts of both Ellbonnians and Eruseans, as well as other Erusean-occupied nations such as Voslage. During the Lighthouse War of 2019, Ellbonnian resistance fighters regularly hummed the melody of the song while taking shelter from Erusean bombing raids to keep their spirits up, even if they did not understand the lyrics. Conversely, Erusean refugees on Tyler Island sang the song while accompanied by their princess Rosa Cossette D'Elise, while under heavy fire from rogue Erusean forces during Operation: No Return. The group of defenseless civilians were saved at the last minute by the Osean Long-Range Strategic Strike Group, and the song thereafter became even more famous as a symbol of hope in the most desperate of times for multiple countries.
Due to the origin of the garden pansy's Erusean name, the song's title can also be considered a play on words, with "pensées" also meaning "thoughts" in Standard Erusean. Some composers have tried to subtly alter the lyrics of the song to accommodate this alternate translation, with varying levels of success.
this specific breed of flower
that inspired the song.
For the purposes of reference, this is the unedited Standard Erusean version as conceived by Keiki Kobayashi in the late 1850s.
the revised Standard
Erusean lyrics between
1858-1859.
Standard Erusean | Literal translation (Nordennavic) |
Tu te souviens de nos fleurs préférées, Qui chantaient tout près de nous? Du jour de ta déclaration d’amour, Les mains pleines de pensées. Plus ma main dans ton dos pleureur, Et plus tu as pleuré dans mes bras, Et un moment de silence puis bouffait nous tous les deux... | Do you remember our favorite flowers, Who were singing close to us? That day of your declaration of love, Your hands full of pansies. Plus my hand on your weeping back, And the more you cried in my arms, And a moment of silence then consumed us both... |
Je n’ai pas oublié, Les pensées nous souriaient, En se balançant, dormait dans le berceau au vent vert. En ce moment-là, j’ignorais le parent pour nous, Mais sûrement les pensées se donnaient la main l’une à l’autre. | I have not forgotten, The pansies were smiling on us, Swaying, we slept in the cradle in the emerald wind. In this moment, I ignored the parent for us, But surely the pansies were holding hands with each other. |
Pendant le sommeil profond, Nous les peignons sur le mur, Nous étions bien sûrs De notre trouvaille en faisant ces vœux. Ainsi que le passé, Elle le savait, tu crois pas? Et le temps s’écoulant m’a rappelé loin d’une pensée là... | During that profound slumber, We paint them on the wall, We were so sure Of our find by making these wishes. As well as the past, She knew it, don't you think? And the passing of time reminded me far from a thought there... |
Maman me disait, Quand on me cachait la lumière: « Essaie de faire un pas en avant, on est capable de tout. » Maintenant j’ai décidé de partir braver mon destin d’enfance, Pour ramasser des lumières dans mes bras. | Mother used to say to me, When they hid the light from me: "Try to take a step forward, we are capable of anything." Now I have decided to go brave my childhood fate, To pick up those lights in my arms. |
Tu siles dans mes bras ma pauvre, Quand on est passé en cours, C’est le même parfum Qui en bleu tel l’infini par me tourner. Tu sais si on dira un jour, Quand les passés scintilleront, Véritable parfum, qu’on a jamais perdu, qu’on garde au fond. | You were still in my arms my poor dear, When we went to class, It is the same perfume That in blue like infinity turns me. You know if we will say one day, When the pasts sparkle, True perfume, that we never lost, that we keep in our hearts. |
See also
- Flag of Ellbonnia
- National Day of Ellbonnia
- Public holidays in Ellbonnia
