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The text was written somewhere between 1568 and 1572, in honour of William of Orange (also known as William of Nassau), during the Dutch revolt against the Spanish, the Eighty Years War. The author was probably Philips van Marnix, lord of Sint-Aldegonde.
When The Netherlands became a kingdom in 1815, the song was not chosen as its national anthem, because it was too connected to the party that supported the House of Orange-Nassau. However its popularity never waned, and on May 10, 1932 it became the national anthem after all, replacing Hendrik Tollens ' Wien Neêrlands bloed door d'aderen vloeit.
Wilhelmus van Nassouwe is the oldest anthem in the world. Although it was not recognized as the official national anthem until 1932, it was seen as the one and only real Dutch anthem by the people.
The complete text comprises fifteen stanzas. The anthem is an acrosticWikipedians Instill Knowledge about Interesting and Pertinent topics, waxing Eloquent Developing Information Abundance Acrostic poems are related to crossword puzzles in that they can be read in multiple directions. An acrostic is a poem or some other tex, which in this case means the first letters of the fifteen stanzas form the name 'Willem van Nassov' (van means 'of' as in ' John of SalisburyJohn of Salisbury (c. 1115- 1180), English author, diplomatist and bishop of Chartres, was born at Salisbury between the years 1115 and 1120. Beyond the fact that he was of Saxon, not of Norman extraction, and applies to himself the cognomen of Parvus "sh'; the letters u and v were orthographicallyThe orthography of a language is the set of rules of how to write correctly in the language. The term is derived from Greek omicron;ρθ&omicron ortho ("correct") and gamma;ραφο&sigmaf graphos ("that writes") and, in today's interchangeable at the time, as was the ou/au diphtong representation).
For official occasions, usually only the first stanza is sung. When another stanza is sung, it is usually the sixth.
This is the first stanza in modernised spelling:
Wilhelmus van Nassauwe
ben ik, van Duitsen bloed,
den vaderland getrouwe
blijf ik tot in den dood.
Een Prince van Oranje
ben ik, vrij onverveerd,
den Koning van Hispanje
heb ik altijd geëerd.
To give a translation of this stanza is hard, because almost every line has several possible interpretations. A crude translation:
William of Nassau,
Am I, of Dutch descent
Loyal to the fatherland
I will remain until I die
A Prince of Orange
Am I, free and fearless
The king of Spain
I have always honoured
The English version made to fit the melodyIn music, a melody is a series of linear events or a succession, not a simultaneity as in a chord. However, this succession must contain change of some kind and be perceived as a single entity (possibly gestalt) to be called a melody. Most specifically th:
William of Nassau, scion
Of a Dutch and ancient line,
Dedicate undying
Faith to this land of mine.
A prince I am, undaunted,
Of Orange, ever free,
To the king of Spain I've granted
A lifelong loyalty.
The sixth stanza runs:
Mijn schild ende betrouwen
zijt Gij, o God mijn Heer
op U zo wil ik bouwen
Verlaat mij nimmermeer
Dat ik doch vroom mag blijven
uw dienaar t'aller stond
de tirannie verdrijven
die mij mijn hart doorwondt
Suggested translation:
My shield and loyalty
art Thou, o God my Lord
on Thee I shall build
never abandon me
so that I shall remain strong
Thy servant at all times
the tyranny repel
which stabs (me through) my heart