English+summaries

**//By Mihai Eminescu //** Drowsy birds at even gliding, Round about their nests alight, In among the branches hiding. Dear, good night! Silence through the forest creeping,  Lullaby the river sighs;  In the garden flowers sleeping. . . Shut your eyes! Glides the swan among the rushes To its rest where moonlight gleams, And the angels' whisper hushes. . . Peaceful dreams! O'er the sky stars without number, On the earth a silver light; All is harmony and slumber. . . Dear, good night!
 * //__Drowsy Birds __//**

The poem “Drowsy birds”/ “Somnoroase pasarele” presents a picture of nature at night. The poem express tranquility and peacefulness. It is like a lullaby written for someone dear, suggested trough the possessive pronoun second person singular “your” in the line “shut your eyes” just like in the addressed wishes “Dear,good night!”.Nature is formed of personified elements, that act anti-article “the forest creeping” and “Lullaby the river sighs; In the garden flowers sleeping”. This is in a full harmony with the animated ones-the swan, the birds, just like with the human elements. The animals are in move (Drowsy birds at even gliding, Round about their nests alight, Glides the swan among the rushes) in or towards the shelter offered by nature(nests). The moon, that watches from the sky over all contributes to the achievement of the sleepy atmosphere “O'er the sky stars without number, On the earth a silver light;” All nature is rounded by the power and the silence of the night, “All is harmony and slumber”.  When it comes to the symbolism of the birds the swan is to be looked at carefully.Out of all the characters of this enchanting painting of the evening only the swan is that passes, moves gracefully. The swan - graceful swan, remarkable for its pure white color of the plumage and the flexible neck length, has a variety of associations, including light, life, grace, purity, love, solitude, poetry, music and sincerity. Because of the rounded body and long neck, swans can represent both masculinity as well as femininity, just like water and fire and uniting these qualities, it symbolizes perfection. In Scandinavian cultures, swan is seen as an epitome of feminine beauty. According to an old tradition, it is believed that the swan sings just before death, and therefore the song portends death, the last work of a poet or composer is swan song. In the Greek/Roman mythology swan the sacred to Apollo was depicted as a swan, god of music, and as a symbol of male virility and of the sun, pulled also Zeus’ carriage ,the one that took the form of a swan to seduce Leda and so it was associated with love. He was also an attribute of Aphrodite, goddess of love, and symbolizes the Virgin Mary. The Celts believed that swans were solar, kindly deities identified by gold and silver chains around their necks. For the native Amerindians, swan expressed the desire of the Great Spirit and bring the four winds. It symbolizes the sun, grace, nobility and courage in Eastern cultures. For Hindus, the swan was the bird Hamsa (mixing Ham and Sain divine mind) and represented the perfect union and breath of the spirit. It was also Brahma's horse and laid the Cosmic Eggs.

**//__The Heralds of Spring __//**

**//By George Cosbuc //**

From sunny countries and skies blue From which last autumn-tide you flew, Return, dear birds, where you belong, Most welcome, you! The woods, bereft of leaf and song, Weep for they have missed you too long. In the eternal dome of azure Did you not dream with longside pleasure Of what you left? Did you not sigh For dear Home's leisure? Or cry when seeing in the sky The clouds that northwardly did hie?

You sang to Nature paeans fraught. With holiness, strangers you taught Our soulful doinas when, at times, Of us you thought. But did you tell them that their rhymes Excel all those of other climes?

Now you come home - and you will see, Again, the wood, the field, the lea, Your nests in groves, so warm and deep; 'Tis summer, verily. I feel I have a mind to leap, To laugh for joy, for joy to weep! You come accompanied by flowers, By gentle winds and sun-warmed showers, And nights so rife with honey-dew, And cheerful hours. You thus take everything with you, And bring back everything anew

The poem “Heralds of Spring” is a poetic monologue addressed to migrating birds. The poet calls the birds back to the country reminding them to the fact that spring has arrived and they should return to their homes. From the opening lines of the poem is revealed the fact that the lyrical ego is missing the migrating birds. The migrating birds are viewed in a subjective way being seen by the author as belonging to the aboriginals, our lands, their leaving by the time of winter to other warmer places, representing, in fact, a detachment from their true home. All nature is personified in its waiting for the birds, whose return equals a new life. This is the reason why spring is the season of rebirth. The return of the migrating birds symbolizes hope, fertility and the renewal of life.  The poem are emphasized the feelings of the lyrical ego towards the nature, the migrating birds and the love for his native country. The lyrical ego is directly addressing to the birds as if they were some lovely human beings that he would like to hug. The reunion produces a true state of bliss and boundless happiness. The migrating birds are personified in the entire text, the lyrical ego is addressing directly to highlight the happiness of the reunion. Birds here are the symbol of not only of rebirth but as well of patriotism, dearly loving your birthplace and returning to it no matter from how far.

**//__The Majestic Bird __//** **// By Petre Ispirescu //** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Petre Ispirescu was a Romanian editor, folklorist, storyteller, writer and typographer. He is known especially for his activity of gathering Romanian folk fairytales which he twice-told with a remarkable gift. “Pasărea maiastră” is one of the most known fairytales written by the author which is centered around the symbol of the bird. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">The subject of the fairytale is a specific one: an emperor with 3 sons wanted to build a monastery as beautiful as possible which he decorated with various precious decorations. But the monastery couldn’t stay beautiful without the nest of the Majestic Bird on the top of it because that’s what one of his dreams showed him. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">He sends his 3 sons to search for the bird. The first 2 are turned to stone by a fox. The little brother, though, succeeds to avoid getting turned to stone by the fox because he was merciful with him. The fox turned out to actually be a man cursed to be a fox until it would be shown mercy. The fox rewarded the little brother with his company on his way to search the Majestic Bird. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> At the dragon gate they meet a very beautiful girl who wants to join them. She helps them fight with the dragons and get the Majestic Bird. When the little brother find out what happened to his brothers he asks the fox to revive them. On their way home the older brothers trick the little one and while he drinks water cut his legs so he would not be able to follow them and get home as well. They were envious because he was the one to find the Majestic Bird. A blind man helps the little brother recover his legs with scorpion blood and after other adventures he eventually gets back to his father’s court and tells him the truth. After hearing it the story, the emperor calls all his sons to be judged by God. Each one throws a rock in the air, the older brothers die and the little one stays alive because his rock has not fallen on his head. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">The Majestic Bird is a symbolic bird from the Romanian mythology. It has a royal rank and it is helped when needed by the other birds, too. The Majestic Bird is a supernatural, unearthly entity from “The Other Land”. It is of distinct beauty, full of celestial light. This bird is also considered the queen of the birds and the messenger of the fairies. It is said that her song, which only blasts when alone could make any listener grow young. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">The end is specific to fairytales: the hero is rewarded with the throne of his father and the hand in marriage of his beloved girl.

**//__<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 16pt;">The Story of „Harap-Alb” __//** **//<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 16pt;"> by Ion Creanga //** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">The Story of „Harap-Alb” by Ion Creanga is one of the most beautiful fairy-tales in Romanian literature. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">The hero is an ordinary young man who crosses the road of maturisation and falls in love with a young witch, the daughter of an emperor, who can transform into a bird at night and escape from the castle. This symbolizes the limited freedom of the princess, because she could only escape from the castle when she changed from her human form into a bird. The princess also has a dove that helps her in to find different miraculous objects. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Mainly, the dove symbolizes peace in Christianity and other cultures, but it can also be associated with other things. According to a Slavonic tradition, the soul transforms into a dove after death. This is present in other religions as well, like Hinduism, the dove representing the soul. The Holy Spirit of Christianity is sometimes depicted as a dove, like the apostles. In Greco-Roman mythology, the dove was sacred to Athens, signifying the renewal of life for Zeus, who was hurt by doves, and a symbol of love for Aphrodite. The Egyptians considered it as a representative of innocence. In Islamism, the dove is seen as the protector of Mohamed. While the dove symbolizes longevity and tranquillity in China, in Japan it is associated with the „Bird God” which the Jewish people accepted as a sacrifice in order to purify the mother after the birth of her child. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">The birds are an important literary motif present from the first folkloric literary creations, being adopted later in the cultural creations, as is the case with this fairy-tale written by Ion Creanga.