"Zdravljica" (English: "A Toast") or "Zdravica", written in 1844 and published with some changes in 1848, is a poem by the Slovene Romantic poet France Prešeren, considered the national poet of Slovenes. On 27 September 1989, it became the national anthem of Slovenia.
"Zdravljica" is a drinking song and a carmen figuratum because the shape of each stanza resembles a wine cup. In it, the poet declares his belief in a free-thinking Slovene and Slavic political awareness. It has been interpreted as a promotion of the idea of a united Slovenia, which the March Revolution in 1848 elevated into a national political programme.
With the act on the national symbols of Slovenia, passed in 1994, the eponymous melody by Stanko Premrl, written after the lyrics of the seventh stanza of the Prešeren's poem, emphasising internationalism, has been defined as the anthem.
Read more about Zdravljica: History, National Anthem, Lyrics