Wednesday, July 09, 2008

Sun of the homeland

Happy birthday to my friend Amber.
Today is our independence day in Argentina. In our flag we have the "sun of may", it is a symbol of our revolutionary stage back in 1810, our flag colours are white, light blue and the yellow sun, of course.
We have a very complicated time since our last president was elected, a mixture of conventional thinking, pettiness and greed is dragging us down, and I'm too sad about the issue to focus on it right now. I prefer the symbol of the sun, created by one of our fundation fathers, I prefer to remember the 19th century argentinian marines who fought and boarded english ships that were trading slaves to the US, for returning them to Africa (and were treated as pirates by the empire in a very unknown part of our history), I prefer to just shut up about this stressing stage we are going through right now in the country, and just post the complete version of our national anthem, pretty unknown even for ourselves, too used now to the less revolutionary -and comfortable- reduced version.


Mortals! Hear the sacred cry:


Freedom, freedom, freedom!
Hear the noise of broken chains,
see noble Equality enthroned.
Rises to the heights of the Earth
a new and glorious nation,
its head crowned with laurels,
and at her feet lying a Lion.

Chorus:
May the laurels be eternal,
that we knew how to win.
Let us live crowned with glory...
or swear to die gloriously.

From the new Champions their faces
Mars himself seems to encourage
Greatness nestles in their bodies:
at their march they make everything tremble.
The dead Inca are shaken,
and in their bones the ardour revives
which renews their children
of the Motherland the ancient splendour.

Mountain ranges and walls are felt
to resound with horrible din:
the whole country is disturbed by cries
of revenge, of war and rage.
In the fiery tyrants the envy
spit the pestipherous bile;
their bloody standard they rise
provoking the most cruel combat.

Don't you see them over Mexico and Quito
throwing themselves with tenacious viciousness?
And who they cry, bathed in blood,
Potosí, Cochabamba and La Paz?
Don't you see them over sad Caracas
spreading mourning and weeping?
Don't you see them devouring as wild animals
all people who surrender to them?

To you it dares, Argentinians,
the pride of the vile invader;
your fields it steps on, retelling
so many glories as winner.
But the brave ones, that united swore
their merry freedom to sustain,
to those blood-thirsty tigers
bold breasts they will know to oppose.

The valiant Argentinian to arms
runs burning with determination and bravery,
the war bugler, as thunder,
in the fields of the South resounds.
Buenos Ayres opposes, leading
the people of the illustrious Union,
and with robust arms they tear
the arrogant Iberian lion.

San José, San Lorenzo, Suipacha,
both Piedras, Salta and Tucumán,
La Colonia and the same walls
of the tyrant in the Banda Oriental.
They are eternal signboards they say:
here the Argentinian arm found triumph,
here the fierce oppressor of the Motherland
his proud cervix bent.

Victory to the Argentine warrior
covered with its brilliant wings,
and embarrassed at this view the tyrant
with infamy took to flight.
Its flags, its arms surrender
as trophies to freedom,
and above wings of glory the people rise
the worthy throne of their great majesty.

From one pole to the other resounds
the fame of the sonorous bugler,
and of America the name showing
they repeat "Mortals, hear:
The United Provinces of the South
have now displayed their most honorable throne".
And the free people of the world reply:
"We salute the great people of Argentina!"

Chorus:
May the laurels be eternal,
that we knew how to win.
Let us live crowned with glory...
or swear to die gloriously!


Vicente López y Planes, "Argentinian national anthem" (complete version).

8 comments:

Amber said...

Thank you my friend. *Hugs*

Moflo said...

I'm sure you know the history of the laurel leaves - how in Ancient Greece it meant victory, triumph, prosperity, then it was thought to foster prophecy and poetry and became symbolic of the poet, now the laurel generally means peace.

"To die gloriously": what could be more beautiful, victorious or poetic?
(not that I'm trying to be morbid)

Happy Independence Day to you!

runnerfrog said...

@ Amber: :-) To you for the time and kindness you've given me.

@ Megan: Thanks, morbid one. :-P

Stargazer said...

I'm a little late, but Happy Independence day C.!!

Will Doohan said...

pestipherous bile? :-D :-D
Must be an Argie thing... :-P

runnerfrog said...

@ Deborah: Little Late is my preferred timing.

@ Will: "You nailed it, Bro. Thanks for stoppin' by." :-P In fact it ain't any other thing but Argie, we're dragging our pestiferous biles from the cradle to the grave here. ;-)

Will Doohan said...

Hmmm, now that I think of it, I believe it is the substance that oozes out of the mouths of politicians... :-D

(Also, I didn't mean to mock Argentina. Come to think of it, I know virtually nothing about your country, except where it is.)

runnerfrog said...

Oh, please locate the country for me then; because of that substance that oozes out of the politicians mouths we will be soon dragged down to the bottom of the sea ;-)

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