The lyrics were composed by Andrei Mureşanu. It was written and published during the 1848 revolution, initially with the name "Un răsunet" ("An echo").

The full version:

Wake up, Romanian, from your deadly sleep
Into which you've been sunk by the barbaric tyrants
Now, or never, your fate renew,
To which your enemies will bow to.

2
Now or never let's give proof to the world
That in these veins still flows a Roman blood,
That in our chests we still maintain our pride in a name
The victor in his battles, the name of Trajan![4]

3
Raise your broad forehead and look around you
Like fir trees, hundreds of thousands of heroes are standing firm;
A voice they still wait for, to jump like wolves among the sheep,
Elders, men, youths, boys, from mountains to the plains.

4
Watch on, shadows of highnesses, Mihai, Stefan, Corvinus,
The Romanian Nation, your great grandchildren,
With weapons in their arms, with your fire in their veins,
"Life in freedom or death!" shout all.

5
You were vanquished by the evils of your envy
And by your blind disunity, at Milcov and the Carpathians
But we, whose souls were pierced by holy liberty,
Swear that for ever in brotherhood will join.

6
A widowed mother from the time of Michael the Great[5]
Claims from her sons today a helping hand,
Casting curses, with tears in her eyes, on whosoever,
In such great peril, a traitor would become.

7
Of thunder and of brimstone should they perish
Those who flee our glorious endeavor
When our land or our mother with tears in her heart,
Will ask us to cross through swords and blazing fire.

8
Didn't we have enough of the yatagan of the barbaric crescent
Whose fatal wounds even today we still feel?
Now the knout[6] is intruding our ancestral homes,
But we give witness before the Lord that alive, we do not accept it

9
Didn't we have enough of the blinded despotism
Whose yoke, like cattle, for centuries we've carried?
Now let the cruel ones try, in their blind arrogance,
To take away our language, we'll give it only if we're dead!

10
Romanians from the four corners, now or never
Unite in thought, unite in feeling
Proclaim to the wide world that the Danube is stolen
Through intrigue and coercion, sly machinations.

11
Priests, lead with your crucifixes! Because our army is Christian,
The motto is Liberty and its goal is holy,
Better to die in battle, in full glory,
Than to once again be slaves upon our ancient ground!

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