Posted on 03/13/2005 3:20:54 PM PST by NCjim
As a call to arms, few national hymns are as bloody as La Marseillaise. Originally entitled the War Song of the Army of the Rhine, it exhorts citizens of France to take up arms: “Form in batallions, March, march! Let impure blood water our furrows!''
Now, after a 10-year battle, French schoolchildren are to be made to learn the words after a vote by French MPs. The idea is to “transmit to each and every pupil the history of a people united around the values of liberty, equality and fraternity — the history of a people who have never stopped fighting for freedom”, according to the politician behind the proposal.
Jerome Riviere, from the ruling right-of-centre UMP Party, said he wanted to build on a decision two years ago that made insulting the national hymn an offence punishable by a fine of €7 500.
The new measure was passed by the French National Assembly as an amendment to education reforms that have brought mass student demonstrations across France.
La Marseillaise was composed in 1792 by Claude-Joseph Rouget de Lisle, a captain of the Engineers in the Rhine army. France had just declared war on Austria and Prussia and its army was preparing to march on Paris. It became so popular with volunteer army units from Marseilles that it was named after them.
It's actually a great song, a really rousing tune. I can't imagine the childen haven't been learning the words, how do they sing the song? Or do they just listen to the tune?
1. My country,' tis of thee,
sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing;
land where my fathers died,
land of the pilgrims' pride,
from every mountainside let freedom ring!
2. My native country, thee,
land of the noble free, thy name I love;
I love thy rocks and rills,
thy woods and templed hills;
my heart with rapture thrills, like that above.
3. Let music swell the breeze,
and ring from all the trees sweet freedom's song;
let mortal tongues awake;
let all that breathe partake;
let rocks their silence break, the sound prolong.
4. Our fathers' God, to thee,
author of liberty, to thee we sing;
long may our land be bright
with freedom's holy light;
protect us by thy might, great God, our King.
O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!
O beautiful for pilgrim feet
Whose stern impassion'd stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness.
America! America!
God mend thine ev'ry flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law.
O beautiful for heroes prov'd
In liberating strife,
Who more than self their country loved,
And mercy more than life.
America! America!
May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness,
And ev'ry gain divine.
O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears.
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea.
My thoughts exactly.
Oh, how the mighty have fallen...
Chorus:
Advance the flag of Dixie!
Hurrah! Hurrah!
For Dixie's land we'll take our stand
to live or die for Dixie!
To arms! To arms!
And conquer peace for Dixie!
How the south's great heart rejoices
at your cannons' ringing voices!
To arms! To arms! To arms! In Dixie!
For faith betrayed and pledges broken,
wrongs inflicted, insults spoken.
To arms! To arms! To arms! In Dixie!
If the loved ones weep in sadness,
victory shall bring them gladness;
to arms! To arms! To arms! In Dixie!
Exultant pride soon banish sorrow;
smiles chase tears away to-morrow.
To arms! To arms! To arms! In Dixie!
""1. often Fascism
1. A system of government marked by centralization of authority under a dictator, stringent socioeconomic controls, suppression of the opposition through terror and censorship, and typically a policy of belligerent nationalism and racism.
2. A political philosophy or movement based on or advocating such a system of government.
2. Oppressive, dictatorial control.""
From Dictionary.com.
Let's see, France is socialist. Chirac is a socialist. Oh! France is antisemetic.
Sounds like the roots of Fascism. It's alright to be patriotic, but COME ON, it's France. Anti semetism runs rampant, Chirac and his cronies have limited the power of the people, it's socialist, the government bans certain news stations. Fascism.
"Actually, when the song was writen, they were fighting Spain, England, Prussia, Austria, and Russia...at the same time. And they won."
However, the French gene pool has never quite recovered from the loses France suffered in those wars.
Both those songs were from the archives.
French answer to convert french cowards over to become Muslim cowards with a taste for BLOOD.. innocent blood.. so they can pick the stupider ones to blow themselves up.. for freedom from freedom.. All very logical to the French mind..
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