VICTORY DAY
This humble translation of Rosar Briffa's Jum ir-Rebh is dedicated to our newly appointed Scottish consultant in enlightened culture, who being foreign, cannot appreciate its beauty in our native language nor appreciate its significance to our common culture.
A
nd rising to its feet, the rabble bellowed, `I'm Maltese!Damn you all who mock me, damn you all who tease!'
Waking up from slumbers past, when mind and frame did apathy wed
and our lethargic soul lay trollop in a foreign bed,
the crowd intoned in jubilation the anthem of our nation.
And from the gloom of its earthly tomb, the spirit of Vassalli rose
`At last' it cried in vindication, `in peace, I may repose!'
Sincere apologies for any lapses in translation to our very fond memory of the late Rosar Briffa (1906-1963). This unique battle-cry was written on 25 March 1945 when the English National Anthem was played instead of the Maltese Anthem in the football match, Hajduks vs Malta.
Malcolm Caire