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Souffrance 1
Paris
The lyrics of La Marseillaise, by Rouget de Lisle
Arise, you children of the fatherland
The day of glory has arrived!
Against us, tyranny
Has raised its bloodied banner (repeat)
Do you hear in the fields
The howling of these fearsome soldiers?
They are coming into your midst
To slit the throats of your sons, your wives!
To arms, citizens!
Form your battalions!
Let us march, let us march!
May impure blood
Soak our fields’ furrows!
What does this horde of slaves,
Traitors, and plotting kings want?
For whom these vile chains
These long-prepared irons? (repeat)
Frenchmen, for us, ah! What outrage,
What fury it must arouse!
It is us they dare plan
To return to the old slavery!
To arms, citizens…
What! These foreign cohorts!
They would make laws in our homes!
What! These mercenary phalanxes
Would cut down our proud warriors! (repeat)
Good Lord! By chained hands
Our brow would yield under the yoke
The vile despots would become
The masters of our destinies!
To arms, citizens…
Tremble, tyrants and traitors
The shame of all good men
Tremble! Your parricidal schemes
Will receive their just reward! (repeat)
Against you, we are all soldiers
If our young heroes fall,
The earth will bear new ones,
Ready to join the fight against you!
To arms, citizens…
Frenchmen, as magnanimous warriors,
Bear or hold back your blows!
Spare these sad victims
That they may regret taking up arms against us (repeat)
But not these bloody despots
These accomplices of Bouillé
All these tigers who mercilessly
Ripped out their mothers’ breast!
To arms, citizens…
Sacred patriotic love,
Lead and support our avenging arms
Liberty, cherished liberty,
Fight back with your defenders! (repeat)
Under our flags, let victory
Hurry to your manly tone,
So that your enemies, in their last breath,
See your triumph and our glory!
To arms, citizens…
(Children’s Verse)
We shall enter the career
When our elders will no longer be there
There we shall find their dust
And the mark of their virtues (repeat)
Much less jealous of surviving them
Than of sharing their coffins,
We shall have the sublime pride
Of avenging or following them!
To arms, citizens…
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© Projet E3, Eoesis, November 2015