"" ('When Our Fathers Broke Their Chains') was the unofficial anthem of Haiti from 1893 to 1903. The lyrics were written by Haitian poet Oswald Durand. It was officially replaced by "La Dessalinienne", the current national anthem of Haiti.
History The anthem was originally a poem written by Oswald Durand. In 1893, a visiting German warship set course to the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince to stopover and by protocol that required that a national anthem be performed. At the time, Haiti did not have an anthem, so the composer Occide Jeanty offered to compose music to the patriotic poem and it was completed later that night. It debuted aboard the ship. It remained as an unofficial national anthem until officially became the national anthem commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Haitian Revolution on January 1, 1904. The anthem still remains in use as a presidential salute.National anthems: Haiti (1893-1903)
Lyrics French originalEnglish translationWhen our fathers broke their chains this was not to fold their arms and to let slaves work for them as masters Side by side, till death. Their streams of blood soaked our hills But now our turn came, Yellows and Blacks, onward! Plough the soil of Dessalines: Our wealth is here in our valleys.
Independence is fugitive without the right of equality! To plough this soil with joy we need this strict motto: “God! Labor! Freedom!”
What can there be more beautiful than this children of Africa who, after three hundred years of deepest bondage cast, turned iron, yoke and truncheon against the hostile powers and against old prejudices! See from down there! It is the noble banner, that unites the Blacks, who are ready to die there at the top! But no! The crowds with Lamartinière descend like foaming flood from La Crête-à-Pierrot.
Everything is fugitive without the right of equality! To plough this soil with joy we need this strict motto: “God! Labor! Freedom!”
The proud troops of Rochambeau suspended fire for a moment To salute the hero of Vertières Capois-la-Mort, great as a second god. Towards progress, cries the brave: “Blacks, onward! Onward!” and plough this soil, which is soaked with the sweat of slaves! It is here, what we were hoping for to find it somewhere else.
Without this everything is fugitive: Without order and freedom! To plough this soil with joy we need this strict motto: “God! Labor! Freedom!”
The purple blood of the martyrs foamed over our chains and yokes! Chavanne, Ogé on this horrible road you, old Toussaint, in your prison of Joux, and our fathers, marching ahead, with trembling hearts, they carried the torch. Us, who are now proud and free, they guide us from the ground of their tombs!
Your fortune is fugitive without the right of equality! To plough this soil with joy we need this strict motto: “God! Labor! Freedom!”
Now to work, you descendants of Africa, Brown and Black, children from the same cradle! The old Europe and the young America try again to suppress us from far away. Plough the soil, which, in the year eighteen hundred and four our fathers conquered with strong arm. Now it is our turn to fight, with the cry “Progress or Death!”
Now to labor! Or everything is fugitive! We deserve the right of equality! We plough this soil with even more pride and with this strict motto: “God! Labor! Freedom!”
See also Flag of Haiti "Haïti Chérie" Music of Haiti
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