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Marchons ! Marchons !
Jul 26th, 2008 by admin
By: Kenneth D. Gartrell
Does anyone know or think Barack Obama honored the French national Anthem? Did he sing it in French? Here is an English translation to contemplate. It offers quite a bit of political insight. It would be interesting to know what Obama honors about the French. When Bonaparte devised and perfected the manoeuvre sur les derrieres, La Marseillaise had been the French Anthem for only a year. It is sung today by true French with greater love than ever.
Before Obama lectures us again on our Merci Beucoup he ought to show us he knows the Napoleonic innovation is military strategy and not a form of lèche-bottes!
Here it is from http://french.about.com/library/weekly/aa071400ma.htm
For the record I love the French. But, for me it is far more than some fantasy about their chic and language. It is the realpolitik and the character of the French. Does Obama know that no President in US history since Thomas Jefferson knew as much about the French and France than Richard Nixon? Does he also know or care that the WWII greatest generation still has deep seeded concerns about the honor and bravery of the French?
When I gave my dad (who was a coach who worked in physical rehabilitation at Fort Sam Houston for the duration) what I thought was a moving photo of the cross of an unknown soldier at Colville he was unwilling to display it in his home because of the things his many patients had told him about their experiences in France on D-Day and after.
I have a longer view of it all and I love the French as I have confessed, but I have taken the time to understand. I do not speak a lick of French in France, but I love them and they love me back for it. Respect does not involve a language. It is not a matter of talk. It is a matter of character. I suspect over the long run the French would grow to love McCain more than Obama because McCain would have a deeper understanding for what makes the French tick than Obama will.
If you cannot approach the French with understanding of their anthem you will not earn their respect … even if, you can get their attention. They like Mickey Mouse too. They have a taste for the novel. But, that differs from respect.
La Marseillaise
French National Anthem
La Marseillaise was composed by Claude-Joseph Rouget de Lisle in 1792 and was declared the French national anthem in 1795.
The day of glory has arrived!
Against us tyranny’s
Bloody flag is raised! (repeat)
In the countryside, do you hear
The roaring of these fierce soldiers?
They come right to our arms
To slit the throats of our sons, our friends!
Refrain
Grab your weapons, citizens!
Form your batallions!
Let us march! Let us march!
May impure blood
Water our fields!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
This horde of slaves, traitors, plotting kings,
What do they want?
For whom these vile shackles,
These long-prepared irons? (repeat)
Frenchmen, for us, oh! what an insult!
What emotions that must excite!
It is us that they dare to consider
Returning to ancient slavery!
What! These foreign troops
Would make laws in our home!
What! These mercenary phalanxes
Would bring down our proud warriors! (repeat)
Good Lord! By chained hands
Our brows would bend beneath the yoke!
Vile despots would become
The masters of our fate!
Tremble, tyrants! and you, traitors,
The disgrace of all groups,
Tremble! Your parricidal plans
Will finally pay the price! (repeat)
Everyone is a soldier to fight you,
If they fall, our young heros,
France will make more,
Ready to battle you!
Frenchmen, as magnanimous warriors,
Bear or hold back your blows!
Spare these sad victims,
Regretfully arming against us. (repeat)
But not these bloodthirsty despots,
But not these accomplices of Bouillé,
All of these animals who, without pity,
Tear their mother’s breast to pieces!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Sacred love of France,
Lead, support our avenging arms!
Liberty, beloved Liberty,
Fight with your defenders! (repeat)
Under our flags, let victory
Hasten to your manly tones!
May your dying enemies
See your triumph and our glory!
Refrain
We will enter the pit
When our elders are no longer there;
There, we will find their dust
And the traces of their virtues. (repeat)
Much less eager to outlive them
Than to share their casket,
We will have the sublime pride
Of avenging them or following them!
Refrain
Translated by Laura K. Lawless
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