Passing Strange

[Occhidiangela]

Allons enfants de la Patrie,
Le jour de gloire est arriv
Contre nous de la tyrannie,
L'tendard sanglant est lev
Entendez-vous dans les campagnes
Mugir ces f roces soldats ?
Ils viennent jusque dans vos bras
Egorger vos fils et vos compagnes !

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

English Translation (If anyone can give me a fine read on the fidelity of the translation, let me know. I know just enough Latin languages and vocabulary, but not enough idiom and grammar, to think this looks pretty close.)



Arise children of the fatherland
The day of glory has arrived
Against us tyranny's
Bloody standard is raised
Listen to the sound in the fields
The howling of these fearsome soldiers
They are coming into your midst
To cut the throats of your sons and consorts

To arms, citizens! Form your battalions!
March, march. Let impure blood
Water our furrows


All jokes about trash talking aside, I'd rather here "O Canada" thanks very much. And I am a bit perplexed what they are doing about the "impure blood" they have been letting across the Med for the past two generations.


Gratuitous French joke, told to me by a Brit ages ago . . .

A Frenchwoman with a parrot on her shoulder walks into a bar. The barman says "That's a real ugly bird you've got there. Where did you get it?"
The parrot says "I got it in France -- there's millions of 'em there!"

Occhi

This post has been brought to you by someone who just spent 7 hours in yet another, bloody, NATO related meeting. If I could just sharpen that pencil I had a second ago, I'd be able to hit my brain and die when I thrust the pencil firmly into my eye. At least then, no more meetings! And I might even have a word with that clever little lad who plugged the dike, about just minding his own business next time.

[Griselda]

I haven't used my French in a while, and learning some Spanish has just made things worse, but I'll take a crack at it.

Most of my comments will probably be obvious, but maybe they will be worthwhile.

First of all, "Ils viennent jusque dans vos bras" sounds much more personal than "they are coming into your midst". The literal translation would be something like "they are coming all the way into your arms", which makes it more clear that the loved ones would be quite literally ripped apart from one another.

I'm not familiar with the word "compagnes". But, my guess is that it would be closer to the Spanish "compañero" than to the English "consort". A compañero would be more like a very close (male) friend instead of a lover. But, I could be way off here. That's just what the word implies to me, from the depths of what French I've forgotten.

Also, "marchons" in in the first person plural, whereas "march, march" is a command. Not much difference, but one implies that the "speaker" wil be marching with the people who are addressed, and the other does not.

That's what I could come up with, anyway. I hope it's useful.

[Lady Vashj]

You want some real translating fun, I can provide you with the lyrics to almost two dozen of Celine Dion's French-language hits.

[smithy]

"You want some real translating fun, I can provide you with the lyrics to almost two dozen of Celine Dion's French-language hits. "

Is that a threat? :)

Smithy

[Jeunemaitre]

To cut the throats of your sons and consorts

It's been quite a few years since I ended my courses in French, so I may certainly be wrong on this one, but I'm not sure that consorts would be the best translation of compagnes. Griselda's comment about a close male friend might be on the right track, but I'm thinking something along the lines of "comrade" in a military sense (comrades at/in arms), rather than a socialist sense.

On a second note, the inversion in the following line indicates a question, rather than a statement:

Entendez-vous dans les campagnes

So, rather than "Listen to the sound in the fields" I think it reads more akin to "Can you hear in/across the fields"

Lastly, and least certainly, I'm not sure of the tense of Ils viennent. I can't remember the conjugation of the verb in the xxxxx (can't remember the name, but it is used for current/ongoing or habitual actions) future and future conditional (I think that's the name of the tense I'm thinking of) tenses, but there may not be a clear spelling difference between "are coming" (xxx as current/ongoing), "will be coming" (future), and "would come" (future conditional). The future conditional seems like it also indicates intent, so it's the difference between:

"You hear those guys?  They're coming to cut your throats.  You're not gonna take that are you?"

and

"You hear those guys?  They want to come cut your throats.  You're not gonna take that are you?")

[Jeunemaitre]

You want some real translating fun, I can provide you with the lyrics to almost two dozen of Celine Dion's French-language hits.

Actually, if a bunch of really in-the-know francophone folks get onto this thread, maybe I can find out the modern translation of a piece of music written in French c. 1450-55. Finally answer a question I have...
Hmm. We'll see

[Chaerophon]

Here's your translation and a link:

English Translation

Arise children of the fatherland
The day of glory has arrived
Against us tyranny's
Bloody standard is raised
Listen to the sound in the fields
The howling of these fearsome soldiers
They are coming into your midst
To cut the throats of your sons and consorts
Chorus
To arms, citizens!
Form your battalions!
March, march
Let impure blood
Water our furrows
What do they want this horde of slaves
Of traitors and conspiratorial kings?
For whom these vile chains
These long-prepared irons?
Frenchmen, for us, ah! What outrage
What methods must be taken?
It is us they dare plan
To return to the old slavery!
Chorus
What! These foreign cohorts!
They would make laws in our courts!
What! These mercenary phalanxes
Would cut down our warrior sons
Good Lord! By chained hands
Our brow would yield under the yoke
The vile despots would have themselves be
The masters of destiny
Chorus
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 they fall, our young heroes
France will bear new ones
Ready to join the fight against you
Chorus
Frenchmen, as magnanimous warriors
Bear or hold back your blows
Spare these sad victims
That they regret taking up arms against us
But not these bloody despots
These accomplices of Bouillé
All these tigers who pitilessly
Ripped out their mothers' wombs
Chorus
We shall enter into the career
When our elders will no longer be there
There we shall find their ashes
And the mark of their virtues
We are much less jealous of surviving them
Than of sharing their coffins
We shall have the sublime pride
Of avenging or joining them
Chorus
Drive on sacred patriotism
Support our avenging arms
Liberty, cherished liberty
Join the struggle with your defenders
Under our flags, let victory
Hurry to your manly tone
So that in death your enemies
See your triumph and our glory!
Chorus

This one's somewhat less benign from North of the 49... ;)

In Days of yore,
From Britain's shore,
Wolfe the dauntless hero came
And planted firm Britannia's flag
On Canada's fair domain.
Here may it wave,
Our boast, our pride,
And join in love together,
The thistle, shamrock, rose entwined,
The Maple Leaf Forever
.
[CHORUS]
.
The Maple Leaf
Our Emblem Dear,
The Maple Leaf Forever.
God save our Queen and heaven bless,
The Maple Leaf Forever.
At Queenston Heights and Lundy's Lane
Our brave fathers side by side
For freedom's home and loved ones dear,
Firmly stood and nobly died.
And so their rights which they maintained,
We swear to yield them never.
Our watchword ever more shall be:
The Maple Leaf Forever!
.
[CHORUS]
.
Our fair Dominion now extends
From Cape Race to Nootka Sound
May peace forever be our lot
And plenty a store abound
And may those ties of love be ours
Which discord cannot sever
And flourish green for freedom's home
The Maple Leaf Forever.
.
[CHORUS]

[ShadowHM]

I somehow managed to avoid ever hearing The Maple Leaf Forever before, and I did not know the lyrics.

Quite the interesting take on our history, eh?

[Chaerophon]

Well, if they ever leave, I think we should go back to the old one ;)

j/k, I love the Quebecers.

Kidding aside, it really is hard to believe the changes in our identity over the last forty years. That song is proof.

EDIT: Yay! MIDI!

[Minionman]

I think it's a straight up "They're coming blah blah...", from what I remember "Ils viennent: is either the regular present tense or the subjunctive, and I can't remember what the subjunctive is used for. The other tenses would be I think "ils venaient (something with aient on the end)" (had been coming), "ils viendront" (will come), and "ils viendraient" (would come). Of course, someone who actually speaks french would be really helpful here.

[Occhidiangela]

Know all of the verses? Our Star Spangled Banner has multiple verses, however, most folks only know the first.

Thanks to all who are better at the French than I.

Marchon, Marchon rolls to "We March, We March." That seems to me to fit the spirit of a song being sung by a crowd of revolutionary sorts who, together, wish to water the furrows of the fields with blood.

It also makes more sense to me that sons and friends fits better than sons and consorts. Or was there, at the time of the penning of the Marseilles, a revolt agsint marriage as an institution, and thus a feeling among the liberte egalite fraternite crowd that a was the better form of womanly companion? Given the infamous French attitude toward mistresses and wives, perhaps so.


Occhi

[Jeunemaitre]

You're probably right. I just have a hard time remembering what verbs are irregular vs. -ir, and the conjugation thereof. I think subjunctive is the name of the tense I was thinking of for current/ongoing or habitual actions. Then again, I could be completely wrong.

[Lady Vashj]

Actually, if a bunch of really in-the-know francophone folks get onto this thread, maybe I can find out the modern translation of a piece of music written in French c. 1450-55.  Finally answer a question I have...
Hmm.  We'll see

Bring it. I'm not that rusty yet.

[Minionman]

And that's fine. Those different types of conjugations are really easy to mix up. I know them, but can't remember when to use what in a lot of situations. Hopefully I don't need much foreign language in college and/or have good teachers.