music(Afrikaans)
Uit die blou van onse hemel,
Uit die diepte van ons see.
Oor ons ewige gebergtes waar
Die kranse antwoord gee,
Deur ons ver-verlate vlaktes
Met die kreun van ossewa
Ruis die stem van ons geliefde,
Van ons land Suid-Afrika.
Ons sal antwoord op jou roepstem,
Ons sal offer wat jy vra:
Ons sal lewe, ons sal sterwe
Ons vir jou, Suid-Afrika.
Ringing out from out blue heavens,
From our deep seas breaking round;
Over everlasting mountains
Where the echoing crags resound;
From our plains where creaking wagons
Cut their trails into the earth
Calls the spirit of our Country,
Of the land that gave us birth.
At thy call we shall not falter,
Firm and steadfast we shall stand.
At thy will to live or perish,
O South Africa, dear land.
Die "Stem van Suid-Afrika" is a poem written by CJ Langenhoven in May 1918. The music was composed by the Reverend Marthinus Lourens de Villiers in 1921. It was sung for the first time publicly in 1928, and was made the official anthem by the South African government in 1957. Although Langenhoven's poem has more verses, usually only this verse was sung at public events.
