Ivan Benak

pučki pjesnik · folk poet  ·  Sopje 1933. – Valpovo 2015.Sopje 1933 – Valpovo 2015

Domoljubne i zavičajne

Slavonac na Jadranu

Homeland and native region

A Slavonian on the Adriatic

Sa sjevera donio me vjetar,u Karlobag do plavoga mora,da se divim toj velikoj barii da gledam kako sviće zora.

The wind has carried me down from the northto Karlobag, beside the sea so blue,to marvel there at that enormous pondand watch the way the dawn comes breaking through.

Skitao sam po Jadranu plavom,od Rovinja do čuvenog Splita,ali nigdje ja vidio nisam,ljepšeg mora do slavonskog žita.

Along the blue Adriatic I've roamed,from Rovinj down to famous Split, my feethave carried me, but nowhere have I seena fairer sea than our Slavonian wheat.

Poj sirena još odzvanja zrakom,more šumi, vjetar ga talasa,ljepše pjesme nisam nikad čuo,do šuštanja zrelog žitnog klasa.

The sirens' song still echoes on the air,the sea is stirred by wind, the waves resound;a lovelier song I never yet have heardthan ripened wheat-ears rustling all around.

Valpovo, 24. 11. 2010.

Valpovo, November 24, 2010

Translator's note. Karlobag is a small town on the Adriatic coast, Rovinj is in Istria and Split in Dalmatia. The man from the plains jokingly calls the sea a "pond" (bara).