Friday, March 25, 2016

Not Yet

I have pointed out that to my knowledge, only two or three nationalist movements have employed a negative phrase in their national struggles.

The first is Poland

"Mazurek Dąbrowskiego"...is the national anthem of Poland...[the] English translations of its Polish incipit ("Jeszcze Polska nie zginęła" [ˈjɛʂt͡ʂɛ ˈpɔlska ɲɛ zɡʲiˈnɛwa]) include: "Poland has not yet perished","Poland has not perished yet", "Poland is not lost", "Poland is not lost yet", and "Poland is not yet lost".

and the second is Israel (and there's a third there):

"Hatikvah"...is the national anthem of Israel. Some people compare the first line of the refrain, “Our hope is not yet lost” (“עוד לא אבדה תקוותנו”), to the opening of the Polish national anthem, Poland Is Not Yet Lost (Jeszcze Polska nie zginęła) or the Ukrainian national anthem, Ukraine Has Not Yet Perished (Ще не вмерла Україна; Šče ne vmerla Ukrajina). This line may also be a Biblical allusion to Ezekiel’s "Vision of the Dried Bones" (Ezekiel 37: "…Behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost"), describing the despair of the Jewish people in exile, and God’s promise to redeem them and lead them back to the Land of Israel.

I know have discovered another: Ireland -

[Constance Georgine Markievicz, Countess Markievicz] was jailed for the first time in 1911 for speaking at an Irish Republican Brotherhood demonstration attended by 30,000 people, organised to protest against George V's visit to Ireland. During this protest Markievicz handed out leaflets, erected great masts: Dear land thou art not conquered yet.

I guess my list is not yet final.

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