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| Popular Songs of Revolutionary Culture |
| The Marsaillase |
| La Marsaillaise |
| Allons enfants de la Patrie Le jour de gloire est arriv�. Contre nous, de la tyrannie, L'�tandard sanglant est lev�, l'�tandard sanglant est lev�, Entendez-vous, dans la compagnes. Mugir ces farouches soldats Ils viennent jusque dans nos bras Egorger vos fils, vos compagnes. Aux armes citoyens! Formez vos bataillons, Marchons, marchons! Qu'un sang impur Abreuve nos sillons. Amour sacr� de la Patrie, Conduis, soutiens nos bras vengeurs, Libert�, libert� cherie, Combats avec tes def�nseurs; Combats avec tes d�fenseurs. Sous drapeaux, que la victoire Acoure � tes m�les accents; Que tes ennemis expirants Voient ton triomphe et notre gloire! Aux armes citoyens! Formez vos bataillons, Marchons, marchons! Qu'un sang impur Abreuve nos sillons. |
| Let us go, children of the fatherland Our day of Glory has arrived. Against us stands tyranny, The bloody flag is raised, The bloody flag is raised. Do you hear in the countryside The roar of these savage soldiers They come right into our arms To cut the throats of your sons, your country. To arms, citizens! Form up your battalions Let us march, Let us march! That their impure blood Should water our fields Sacred love of the fatherland Guide and support our vengeful arms. Liberty, beloved liberty, Fight with your defenders; Fight with your defenders. Under our flags, so that victory Will rush to your manly strains; That your dying enemies Should see your triumph and glory To arms, citizens! Form up your battalions Let us march, Let us march! That their impure blood Should water our fields |
| La Marseillaise, the bloody French National Anthem since the Revolution, was composed in one night, Apr 24th 1792, during the French Revolution by Claude-Joseph Rouget de Lisle, a captain of the engineers and amateur musician stationed in Strasbourg. It was played at a patriotic banquet at Marseilles, and printed copies were given to the revolutionary forces then marching on Paris. They entered Paris singing this song, and to it they marched to the Tuileries on August 10th. Ironically, Rouget de Lisle was a royalist and later refused to take an oath of allegiance to the new constitution. He was imprisoned and just escaped the guillotine.. At first named 'Chant de guerre de l'arme� du Rhin' (War Song of the Army of the Rhine), it became called La Marseillaise because of its popularity with volunteer army units especially from Marseilles. The National Convention passed it as the French National Anthem in a decree passed July 14, 1795. On the anniversary of the Stormiung of the Bastille. La Marseillaise was banned by Napoleon during the Empire, and by Louis XVIII on the Second Restoration (1815), because of its revolutionary overtones. Authorized after the July Revolution of 1830, it was again banned by Napoleon III and not reinstated until 1879 with the Third Republic. It remains today the National Anthem and has a special place in the hearts of frenchmen. |