Thursday, July 14, 2016

À Bastille!

Today is the French National Day.



A version that is more familiar to American audiences:



Allons enfants de la Patrie
Le jour de gloire est arrivé !
Contre nous de la tyrannie
L'étendard sanglant est levé
Entendez-vous dans nos campagnes
Mugir ces féroces soldats?
Ils viennent jusque dans vos bras.
Égorger vos fils, vos compagnes!

Aux armes citoyens
Formez vos bataillons
Marchons, marchons
Qu'un sang impur
Abreuve nos sillons

(Full translation, which makes The Star-Spangled Banner look pacifistic.)

The Bastille was torn down very soon afterwards. Very little of it survives. The key to the fortress was given by Marquis de Lafayette to President Washington.

4 comments:

  1. Our ship was in Toulon for the 4th of July. The French authorities wouldn't let the ships company enjoy a picnic on the wharf with 2 beers per man. Because French. They sent a Frog midshipman to tell the Old Man this, and this kid was snooty about it. Then they kicked us out of port so the Clemenceau could dock where we were in time for Bastille Day. Presumably that ship's complement could do what they want on that pier. (We were there in that spot because we were a pretty big vessel. AFS.)

    The Captain had enough steam coming out of his ears we didn't need to light the boilers. Just reroute the piping to his chair on the wing.

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  2. I was on a ship in Djibouti for Bastille Day. "Shithole" doesn't even scratch the surface.

    ReplyDelete
  3. "(Full translation, which makes The Star-Spangled Banner look pacifistic.)"

    Actually, it just looks that way because we wimped out on everything past the first verse. "Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution" stands rightly alongside "Water our fields with their tainted blood"...;-)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Of course, our very own oligarchs seem to be intent upon creating the very same conditions that led to the French oligarchs having their heads stretched in the 1700's.... grannies with guillotines in the middle of Wall Street, anyone?

    ReplyDelete

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