THE HISTORY OF LA MARSEILLAISE
France's national anthem La Marseillaise will be sung by English as well as French fans this evening.
The
song of defiance was composed by Claude-Joseph Rouget de Lisle, a
captain in the French army, in 1792 after Austrian and Prussian troops
invaded France in an attempt to quell the revolution.
Rouget
de Lisle had been asked by the mayor of Strasbourg to write a song that
would rally troops to 'defend their homeland that is under threat', and
it was later sung by soldiers from Marseilles as they approached Paris,
giving the song its nickname.
It
became the French national anthem in 1795, before losing its status
under Napoleon I. The song was reinstated during France's third republic
- the era from 1870 onwards.
The first verse and chorus of the anthem is as follows:
Allons enfants de la Patrie
Le jour de gloire est arrivé!
Contre nous, de la tyrannie
L'étendard sanglant est levé
Entendez-vous dans les campagnes
Mugir ces féroces soldats?
Ils viennent jusque dans nos bras
Égorger nos fils, nos compagnes!
Aux armes, citoyens!
Formez vos bataillons
Marchons, marchons!
Qu'un sang impur
Abreuve nos sillons!
Translated into English, it goes:
Arise, children of the Fatherland
The day of glory has arrived!
Against us tyranny's
Bloody banner is raised
Do you hear, in the countryside
The roar of those ferocious soldiers?
They're coming right into your arms
To cut the throats of your sons, your women!
To arms, citizens!
Form your battalions
Let's march, let's march
Let an impure blood
Water our furrows!
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