– Kozma Vasili, 1980 –
This folk song dedicated to our National Liberation War preserves many portraits of fighters, starting from the partisan to the commander and commissar. These are portraits given in a powerful dynamic that operates on the battlefield driven by convictions and ideals, of men that do not heed the dangers they face and sacrifice their lives for the Homeland in a way that remains a living example of courage and heroism, a great inspiration for the communist education of the working masses.
Among the ranks of the fighting formations of our National Liberation War were also young comrades, like the 15 year-old from Durrës, Met Hasa, who closed his young life with an act of great courage and heroism. The heroic act and figure of this son of the people inspired the folk bard to give us the portrait of this fighter in his song.
The most striking folk song, dedicated to the Hero of the People, Met Hasa, remains the song titled “He Placed His Chest Against the Machine Gun.” It was sung at the National Folklore Festival of Gjirokastra in 1973, accompanied by the çifteli.
The song says:
Every fifth of May,
a bouquet of flowers,
I take in my hand,
I climb uphill,
on the mountain peak like a crown,
where Met Hasa fell as a martyr.
He interrupted the games by the seaside,
for in his heart Met’s blood flowed,
ignited for the Homeland,
fifteen years old,
a partisan duel.
Through mountains,
through ravines,
Met fights alongside men,
alongside partisan comrades,
he leaps forward like a lion.
And on those days on the peak of the summit,
fighting for the liberation of Puka,
He placed his chest against the machine gun,
In the mountains of Puka,
a brave lad from Durrës,
soaked the land with his blood.
To Met’s comrades we promise,
that we will never forget him,
day and night shines like a star,
the monument there in the forest.
In this song, the respect preserved by the new generation of Albania, the entire Albanian people for the martyrs, is engraved. The song highlights the heroism of this partisan through a beautiful poetic contrast, where on one hand the young age is emphasized “interrupted the games by the seaside” and “fifteen years old, a partisan duel,” while on the other hand the fight at the forefront of the fire alongside the older comrades (partisan men), the fighter who leaps forward like a lion in the partisan attack, the one who charges forward and throws himself into the enemy’s trenches, covering with his chest the barrel of the enemy’s machine gun. This folk song, with perfect poetic imagery, full of movement, sound and rhythm, vividly portrays the heroism of the partisan.
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