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"La Marseillaise" is the national anthem of France. "La Marseillaise" is a song written and composed by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle at Strasbourg on April 25, 1792. Its original name is "Chant de guerre de l'Armée du Rhin" ("Marching Song of the Rhine Army") and it was dedicated to Marshall Nicolas Luckner, a Bavarian-born French officer from Cham. It became the rallying call of the French Revolution and got its name because it was first sung on the streets by troops (fédérés) from Marseille upon their arrival in Paris.

Now the national anthem of France, it was also once the anthem of the international revolutionary movement. Indeed, the words of "The Internationale", written in 1870 by Eugène Pottier were originally set to the tune of "La Marseillaise". During the Paris Commune (1871), that was adopted as an anthem; it was only in 1888 that Pierre Degeyter re-set "The Internationale" to the tune known today.

French lyrics

Couplet I
Allons enfants de la Patrie,
Le jour de gloire est arrivé !
Contre nous de la tyrannie,
L'étendard sanglant est levé, (bis)
Entendez-vous dans les campagnes
Mugir ces féroces soldats ?
Ils viennent jusque dans vos bras (2)
Égorger vos fils, vos compagnes !
Refrain
Aux armes, citoyens,
Formez vos bataillons,
Marchons, marchons !
Qu'un sang impur
Abreuve nos sillons !
Couplet II
Que veut cette horde d'esclaves,
De traîtres, de rois conjurés ?
Pour qui ces ignobles entraves,
Ces fers dès longtemps préparés ? (bis)
Français, pour nous, ah ! quel outrage
Quels transports il doit exciter !
C'est nous qu'on ose méditer
De rendre à l'antique esclavage !
Refrain
Couplet III
Quoi ! des cohortes étrangères
Feraient la loi dans nos foyers !
Quoi ! ces phalanges mercenaires
Terrasseraient nos fiers guerriers ! (bis)
Grand Dieu ! par des mains enchaînées
Nos fronts sous le joug se ploieraient
De vils despotes deviendraient
Les maîtres de nos destinées !
Refrain
Couplet IV
Tremblez, tyrans et vous perfides
L'opprobre de tous les partis,
Tremblez ! vos projets parricides
Vont enfin recevoir leurs prix ! (bis)
Tout est soldat pour vous combattre,
S'ils tombent, nos jeunes héros,
La terre en produit de nouveaux,
Contre vous tout prêts à se battre !
Refrain
Couplet V
Français, en guerriers magnanimes,
Portez ou retenez vos coups !
Épargnez ces tristes victimes,
À regret s'armant contre nous. (bis)
Mais ces despotes sanguinaires,
Mais ces complices de Bouillé,
Tous ces tigres qui, sans pitié,
Déchirent le sein de leur mère !
Refrain
Couplet VI
Amour sacré de la Patrie,
Conduis, soutiens nos bras vengeurs
Liberté, Liberté chérie,
Combats avec tes défenseurs ! (bis)
Sous nos drapeaux que la victoire
Accoure à tes mâles accents,
Que tes ennemis expirants
Voient ton triomphe et notre gloire !
Refrain
Couplet VII (Couplet des enfants)
Nous entrerons dans la carrière
Quand nos aînés n'y seront plus,
Nous y trouverons leur poussière
Et la trace de leurs vertus (bis)
Bien moins jaloux de leur survivre
Que de partager leur cercueil,
Nous aurons le sublime orgueil
De les venger ou de les suivre !
Refrain

English Translation

Verse I
Arise you children of the motherland,
The day of glory has arrived!
Against us tyranny
Has raised its bloodied banner, (1)
Do you hear, in the fields
The howling of these fearsome soldiers?
They are coming into your midst (2)
To slit the throats of your sons and consorts!
Chorus
To arms, citizens!
Form your battalions!
Let us march, let us march!
May impure blood
Soak our fields' furrows!
Verse II
What does this horde of slaves,
Traitors, and plotting kings want?
For whom these vile chains
These long-prepared irons?
Frenchmen, for us, ah! What outrage,
What fury it must arouse!
It is us they dare plan
To return to the old slavery!
Chorus
Verse III
What! These foreign cohorts!
They would make laws in our homes!
What! These mercenary phalanxes
Would cut down our proud warriors!
Good Lord! By chained hands
Our brow would yield under the yoke
The vile despots would become
The masters of our destiny!
Chorus
Verse IV
Tremble, tyrants and traitors
The shame of all good men,
Tremble! Your parricidal schemes
Will receive their just reward,
Against you we are all soldiers
If our young heroes fall,
The earth will bear new ones,
Ready to join the fight against you!
Chorus
Verse V
Frenchmen, as magnanimous warriors
Bear or hold back your blows!
Spare these sad victims
That they may regret taking up arms against us,
But not these bloody despots,
These accomplices of Bouillé,
All these tigers who mercilessly
Ripped out their mothers' breast!
Chorus
Verse VI
Sacred patriotic love
Lead [and] support our avenging arms
Liberty, cherished liberty,
Fight back with your defenders
Under our flags, let victory
Hurry to your manly tone
So that your enemies, in their last breath
See your triumph and our glory!
Chorus
Verse VII (Children's Verse)
We shall enter the career (3)
When our elders will no longer be there,
There we shall find their dust
And the mark of their virtues.
Much less jealous of surviving them
Than of sharing their coffins,
We shall have the sublime pride
Of avenging or following them!
Chorus