View source for Song of Marko Boçari

{{Albanians}}
The '''Song of Marko Boçari from Suli''' ({{langx|sq|Kënga e Marko Boçarit nga Suli}}) is an [[Albania|Albanian]] [[Polyphonic song of Epirus|polyphonic]] song of the early 19th century, narrating the death of [[Markos Botsaris]], a [[Souliot]] leader.
== History ==
Markos Botsaris was a leader of the [[Souliotes]]. After the beginning of [[Greek War of Independence]] he became one of its central figures. He [[Battle of Karpenisi|died in Karpenisi]], modern western [[Greece]] in 1823 during a battle between [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] and Souliot forces.
== Song ==
The Song of Marko Boçari from Suli is a [[narrative]] and lament of his death. It contains more than 70 [[octosyllabic]] lines and was published about fifty years after the event by [[Thimi Mitko]], an Albanian folklorist in his book ''Bleta Shqipëtare'' ({{langx|sq|The Albanian Bee}}).<ref name="am">{{cite book |author=American Folklore Society|title=Memoirs of the American Folklore Society|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8m07AAAAIAAJ&q=song+Bocari|volume=44|year=1954|publisher=University of Texas Press|page=173|quote=In "The Song of Marko Boçari from Suli" (Mitko, ed. Pekmezi, pp.141-143), containing more than seventy octosyllabic lines, only six end in y, all the other lines have as a rhyme or assonance i.}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Pllana |first=Shefqet  |year=1972 |title=Studies|journal=Gjurmime Albanologjike:Folklor Dhe Etnologji (Albanological Research: Folklore and Ethnology) |volume=15 |page=41 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O5biAAAAMAAJ&q=kenga+e+Marko+Bo%C3%A7arit+thimi+mitko |access-date=2010-06-08 }}</ref>
== Lyrics ==
Part of the lyrics:<ref name="Ruches">{{cite book | last=Ruches | first=P.J. | title=Albanian Historical Folksongs, 1716-1943: A Survey of Oral Epic Poetry from Southern Albania, with Original Texts | publisher=Argonaut | series=Chicago essays on world history and politics | year=1967 | page=50}}</ref>
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!Albanian||English
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Një harap me karabinë<br>
u ngulë e shtroi synë<br>
Goditi bajrakn' e mirë<br>
Marko Boçari shahinë!
Erdhi Kosta vet i tretë<br>
"More shokë, gjithë erdhët<br>
S'prit të vinja edhe unë,<br>
Vriti, shokë, Shqipëtarë,<br>
biru qënet, se më vrane<br>
Mermëni sa jam i gjallë<br>
më muarë plumbi ndë ballë<br>
|
A moor with a carbine<br>
kneeled and took aim,<br>
He struck the goodly banner,<br>
Marko Boçari the falcon!
Kosta himself came with two others.<br>
"Hey, comrades, have you all come?<br>
Didn't you wait for me as well?<br>
Kill them, oh Albanian comrades<br>
Shoot the dogs, cause they have slain me.<br>
Take me while I am alive,<br>
The shot has struck my forehead!<br>
|}
== Sources ==
{{Reflist}}
== See also ==
*[[Music of Albania]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Song of Marko Bocari}}
[[Category:Albanian folk songs]]
[[Category:Albanian folklore]]
[[Category:Year of song unknown]]