Send your comments to comments@marseillaise.orgMy translation of La Marseillaise isn't the only one floating around out there. It seems that the French Presidency have paid some professionals big bucks (or big francs) to come up with a translation of their own. Furthermore, there are now translation bots such as the one at AltaVista which can knock up translations of just about anything you care to throw at them. Read about the bot's translation here.
Bot technology has really come on and it's to the programmers' and linguists' credit that, while the bots rarely produce anything like idiomatic prose and often make appalling blunders, their work can usually be understood enough for a native speaker to be able to rework it into something approaching actual language. Of course, Bots have (and in my opinion always will have) no chance of accurately rendering anything as arty as a national anthem.
I also consider the translation which appears in my bible, National Anthems of the World, 7th ed., carried out by Percy Bysshe Shelley and Mary Elizabeth Shaw. Read about that here.
First up, however, is a new addition to site (March 2002). I have Jean
Migrenne, official translator at the Caen
Memorial for Peace Museum, to thank for this excellent translation which he
carried out in conjunction with Sylvère Monod. The Memorial's
authorities kindly granted permission to to publish Jean's version, subject to
the copyright notice appearing below.
The Marseillaise Copyright laws apply in all countries to reproduction of parts or
totality of this version of La Marseillaise in English, in any possible way
and for whatever purpose, commercial or not. For permission, contact the Mémorial at
memosde@unicaen.fr. Sons of the fatherland, let's stand, Rise up, brave citizens! In battle order march! What do they seek, this horde of slaves, Rise up, etc... What! shall such barbarian swarms Rise up, etc... Tremble, ye tyrants, traitors all, Rise up, etc... French fighters, be magnanimous, Rise up, etc... Sacred love of our fatherland, Rise up, etc... (additional stanza, children singing) We'll enter on the battlefield Rise up, etc... English translation of the official 1887 version, by Jean MIGRENNE and
Sylvère MONOD. © 2001, Le Mémorial de Caen. This was kindly submitted by Linda Reynolds.
Let us go children of the Fatherland With the weapons citizens What wants this horde of slaves What these foreign troops! Tremble, perfidious tyrants and you French, as warriors magnanimes We will enter the career Crowned love of the Fatherland As I said earlier, it's to the programmers of this bot's credit that this makes
some kind of sense. Technically I could have a field day pointing out some of the errors it's
committed but that defeats the object of the exercise. Nonetheless certain mistakes reveal a lack
of vocabulary on behalf of the bot, which is unacceptable really since unlike humans it can't use
the excuse that it forgot some words. mugir - to howl These are all words which should perhaps be known to the bot, although the last is correct
when translated literally. Apart from that I could mention the fact that the bot seems to be ignorant of the extremely
common French practice of forming questions by inverting statements. Thus
entendez-vous? becomes can you hear? and not hear you? In fairness to
the bot, its translation is technically correct if the original text omits the hyphen. Since I
didn't submit the text I don't know... Even so I can't bring myself to forgive the bot for not knowing tous les
partis, here meaning all good men and that la campagne means
the country or fields. Hear you in our campaigns indeed! Equally inexcusable, if not more so, is the translation of Grand Dieu
(Good God or similar) by Large God. However the worst enormity is surely the
rendition of Contre vous tous prêts à se battre by Against
you any loans to be fought. OK, so un prêt (noun) is a
loan but prêt (adjective) means ready and the
line should read All ready to fight against you. There are other quirks of which probably the most notable is that Fatherland as a proper noun
means Germany, and I'm not sure how many Frenchmen would like to be mistaken for Germans! Still, I'd like to re-emphasise my opinion that for a computer to come up with this translation
is damn fine. For the most part it's understandable, and what isn't is at least worth a laugh. Someone should teach the bot the subjunctive nevertheless... The French presidency's web site has commissioned someone to translate La Marseillaise
for them, and to good effect. This translation is very good indeed, clearly the work of several
skilled professionals, and even manages to go in time with the music. Nonetheless if you thought
I was taking a few liberties with my translation, you ain't seen nothin' yet.
Note that these three verses also appear on the
French Embassy in
Fiji's site but they are incorrectly numbered. The site presents them as
verses 1, 3 and 4, not 1, 6 and 7 as here.
Arise you children of our motherland To arms, oh citizens! Into the fight we too shall enter Supreme devotion to our Motherland Consider the lines Nous entrerons dans la carrière which the official site translates by Into the fight we too shall enter Leaving aside a slight difference of opinion - I think carrière
should be translated as pit and not fight, as the image is clearly one of
returning to the site of a former battle, or even to a mass grave, and laying plans for the next
war - since I'm not a professional and maybe they're right, let's take a look at the English
structure of the lines. It rhymes, it's dynamic, it goes with the music and it translates the
idea behind the words, not the words themselves - the first rule of translation. Yet it's as far
from the original text as you can get without talking about sheep shearing on a remote Australian
farm. The whole translation is like that. It's up to you to decide whether or not this is a good thing. Personally I admire
them for doing it, although I think they're wrong. Indeed because I think they're wrong. Such
extreme liberties shouldn't be taken with translations of official documents etcetera, but I
believe they're just right for a national anthem. Percy Bysshe Shelley and Mary Elizabeth Shaw's work appears in National Anthems of the
World, seventh edition. I don't know if Shelley, who died in 1822 at the age of 30, or
Shaw, of whom no details are given, translated the whole song or not. The book credits Shelley
for the first verse and Shaw for the second, adding that Shelley originally wrote
See their tears... in the first first and that Shaw suggested
Behold... I've written Behold as I think it
better fits the melody.
Ye sons of France, awake to glory To arms, to arms, ye brave! O sacred love of France undying Wow. What a stirring text. Full of all the blood and thunder and never-say-die spirit that
the Marseillaise epitomises. There can be no doubt of the song's meaning. As far as
the linguistic quality is concerned, all I can say is excellent. Like the Élysée's
professional translation, the English is dynamic, vibrant and stirring.
The words also go in time with the music and rhyme nicely, as do those from the Presidency's site.
It's inspiring stuff. It's good stuff. But is it a translation? Well, no. Not really. I've already said that you shouldn't translate texts on a word-for-word basis. Depending on
the situation, you could argue for and against translating on a line-by-line basis. But, hell,
this doesn't even agree paragraph for paragraph. Let's take the chorus, for example. Where in
the "translation" does formez vos battaillons occur? Where in
the original can you find anything bearing even the slightest resemblance to
th'avenging sword unsheathe? The answer is nowhere. Make no mistake, Shaw and Shelley's prose makes for a fine literary work. I haven't got a bad
word to say about it. Yet it shouldn't pretend to be a translation. Let it call itself an original
work inspired by La Marseillaise or whatever. Just don't let it
call itself a translation because it isn't one. Disclaimer: yes, yes, I know. I myself did once say that when
doing translations I take the texts to translation as inspiration for an original piece. Hey,
everyone's allowed to be hypocritical... And besides, I didn't say it to you. This site carries a brief comment on the anthem and the same two verses as
appear in National Anthems of the World. The translation is there as
well but the second of the verses presented in English is definitely not a
translation of the second French verse. Either that or they're really taking
the word liberal to extremes. Unfortunately they give no credit for
the translation. I'd guess it was either Shelley or Shaw and that whoever it
was decided to do a sort of "metatranslation," rolling up all the
ideas of the whole song to create this original work.
Ye sons of France, awake to glory This is very good. But, like the previous work, it isn't a translation.
The style is similar so I'd be very surprised if Shaw or Shelley hadn't
written it but I don't know. Perhaps someone could shed some light on who the
author is? I'll be adding more to this section shortly... PS the site linked above seems to break Linux versions of Netscape. After
visiting it I found Netscape unable to render anything at all and had to
Here's a translation sent to me by a gentleman named Jim Jessop. Jim tells
me he came to this site looking for the words to the Marseillaise because he'd
learnt them at school but had since forgotten all except the first few lines.
He was disappointed because my translation was different from the one he'd been
taught all those years ago. I told Jim that if he ever did come across the
version he knew, I'd love to hear it. Only a few days later Jim turned up this.
Soldiers of France the day is breaking I think you can see why I was hoping so much that Jim would find this for
me. This is great; another interpretation that really captures the spirit of
the revolutionaries marching to victory, and it fits the tune very well. Of course (and you must be getting tired of my saying it by now) it isn't a
translation any more than the others are but it's a rip-roaring war song if
ever there was one.By Jean Migrenne and
Sylvère Monod
'The War Song of the Rhine Army' was originally written in Strasbourg by
Claude-Joseph Rouget de Lisle, a French officer, in 1792. Sung by volunteers
from Marseilles and soon known as 'La Marseillaise', it was first adopted as
national anthem in 1795 and officially reinstated in 1879.
The day of glory has arrived!
Of Tyranny now against us
The blood-stained standard has been raised! (repeat)
O hear across our countryside
Those raging cut-throat soldiers come
To slaughter our children, our wives,
Whom they wrench from our loving arms!
Let's march! Let's march! May our land with tainted blood be soaked!
This gang of traitors and of kings?
Who do they mean to keep in chains,
Clap in irons so long-prepared? (repeat)
Frenchmen, the outrage is for us,
And our wrath it shall stir up,
For we are those they would reduce
To bondage abject and long gone!
Impose their rule upon our homes?
What! shall hirelings of foreign powers
Bring down our proud warlike sons? (repeat)
Great God! Why should their shackled hands
Our foreheads bend beneath their yoke,
For these vile despots to become
The masters of our destiny?
Who would bring shame to every side!
Now may your parricidal schemes
At last receive their just reward! (repeat)
Everyone to fight you will rise,
And if our young heroes should fall,
France shall beget more combatants,
Just as eager to take up arms!
Strike hard but let your blows be fair!
Spare the lives of those sad victims
Reluctantly opposing us! (repeat)
But those despots who shed our blood,
Those accomplices of Bouillé (an émigré general)
Tigers all, who, so pitiless,
Leap up to tear their mother's breast!?
Sustain and guide our vengeful arms!
O Liberty, dear Liberty,
Join us, fight with thy defenders! (repeat)
Under our colours victory
Will rally to thy manly strains!
And may thy dying enemies
See thy triumph and thy glory!
To find our elders there no more;
On their glorious dust we'll tread
And their virtues will chart our course. (repeat)
Much less eager to outlive them
Than we will be to share their graves,
Our pride will truly be sublime
When we avenge or follow them!AltaVista on-line translator
The day of glory arrived!
Against us of tyranny
The bloody standard is raised
Hear you in our campaigns
Mugir these wild soldiers?
They come until in your arms.
To cut the throat of your sons, your partners!
Form your battalions
Let us go, go
That an impure blood
Water our furrows
Traitors, kings entreated?
For which these wretched obstacles
These irons as of prepared a long time?
French, for us, ah! which insult
Which transport it has to excite?
It is us whom one dares to contemplate
To return to the antique slavery!
Would make the law in our homes!
What! these phalanges mercenaries
Would embank our warlike sons!
Large God! by connected hands
Our faces under the yoke are ploieraient
Cheap despots would become
Masters of the destinies.
Opprobrium of all the parties
Tremble! your parricidal projects
Finally will receive their prices!
All is soldier to fight you
If they fall, our young heroes
France in product the new ones,
Against you any loans to be fought
Carry or retain your blows!
Save these sad victims
With regret being armed against us
But these sanguinary despots
But these accomplices of Bouillé
All these tigers which, without pity
Tear the centre of their mother!
When our elder is not there any more
We will find their dust there
And traces it their virtues
Well less jealous to survive to them
To share their coffin
We will have sublimates it pride
To avenge them or to follow them!
Lead, supports our arms avengers
Freedom, Most cherished liberty
Engagements with your defenders!
Under our flags, that victory
Runs to your males accents
That your expiring enemies
See your triumph and our glory!
ployer - to yield
mâles accents - manly toneLa Marseillaise as translated for www.elysee.fr
Verse 1
Oh now is here our glorious day!
Over us the bloodstained banner
Of tyranny holds sway!
Oh, do you hear there in our fields
The roar of those fierce fighting men ?
Who came right here into our midst
To slaughter sons, wives and kin.
Form up in serried ranks!
March on, march on!
And drench our fields
With their tainted blood!Verse 6
When our fathers are dead and gone
We shall find their bones laid down to rest
With the fame of their glories won!
Oh, to survive them care we not
Glad are we to share their grave
Great honor is to be our lot
To follow or to venge our brave.Verse 7
Guides and sustains avenging hands.
Liberty, oh dearest Liberty
Come fight with your shielding bands!
Beneath our banner come, oh Victory
Run at your soul-stirring cry.
Oh come, come see your foes now die
Witness your pride and our glory.
Quand nos aînés n'y seront plus
Nous y trouverons leur poussière
Et la trace de leurs vertus
When our fathers are dead and gone
We shall find their bones laid down to rest
With the fame of their glories wonTranslation appearing in National Anthems of the
World
Verse 1 Percy Bysshe Shelley
Hark, hark, what myriads bid you rise!
Your children, wives and grandsires hoary
Behold their tears and hear their cries!
Shall hateful tyrants mischief breeding
With hireling hosts, a ruffian band
Affright and desolate the land
While peace and liberty lie bleeding?
Th'avenging sword unsheathe!
March on! march on!
All hearts resolved
On victory or death.Verse 7 Mary Elizabeth Shaw
Th'avenging arm uphold and guide
Thy defenders, death defying
Fight with Freedom at their side.
Soon thy sons shall be victorious
When the banner high is raised;
And thy dying enemies, amazed
Shall behold thy triumph, great and glorious.Translation appearing at frenchculture.miningco.com
Oh liberty can man resign thee,
Once having felt thy gen'rous flame?
Can dungeons, bolts and bar confie thee?
Or whips they noble spirit tame?
Too long the world has wept bewailing
That falshood's dagger tyrants wield,
But freedom is our sword and shield
And all their arts are unavailing.kill -9 it. Whether this bug is Linux-specific, X11-specific
or Netscape-specific remains to be seen.As remembered by Jim Jessop
The day of glory dawns at last
See the tyrants' banner shaking
As it basely streams in the blast
As it basely streams in the blast
The field of battle lies before you
Fierce fowmen advance on their prey
It matters little how you die
Whether on the battle field or the scaffold high
To arms and hence away
To arms this glorious day
March on march on
Brave sons of France
To fame and victory