L'Internationale
Eugène PottierINGLESE / ENGLISH 2 | |
THE INTERNATIONALE Arise ye [1] workers [2] from your slumbers! Arise ye prisoners [3] of want! For reason in revolt now thunders, And a better age shall dawn. [4] Now away with all your superstitions, Servile masses arise! arise! We`ll change forthwith the old conditions And spurn the dust to win the prize. Then come comrades rally! And the last fight let us face. The Internationale unites the human race! Then come comrades rally! And the last fight let us face. The Internationale unites the human race! No saviours from on high deliver, No trust we have in prince or peer; Our own right hand the chains must shiver. Chains of hatred, greed and fear. 'Ere the thieves will out with their booty And to all give a happier lot, Each at his forge must do his duty And strike the iron while it's hot! Then come comrades rally! And the last fight let us face. The Internationale unites the human race! Then come comrades rally! And the last fight let us face. The Internationale unites the human race! We're tricked by laws and regulations, Our wicked masters strip us to the bone. The rich enjoy the wealth of nations, But the poor can't sell their own. Long have we in vile bondage languished, Yet we're equal one and all No rights but duties for the vanquished We claim our rights for duties done. Then come comrades rally! And the last fight let us face. The Internationale unites the human race! Then come comrades rally! And the last fight let us face. The Internationale unites the human race! The kings of mines and ships and railways, Resplendent in their vulgar pride, Have plied their task to exploit always Those whose labor they've 'ere decried. Great the spoil they hold in their coffers, To be spent on themselves alone; Someday we'll seize it in spite of scoffers, And know that we have got our own. Then come comrades rally! And the last fight let us face. The Internationale unites the human race! Then come comrades rally! And the last fight let us face. The Internationale unites the human race! These kings defile us with their powder, We want no war within the land; Let soldiers strike for peace call louder, Lay down arms and join hand in hand. Should these vile monsters still determine. Heroes to make us in despite, They'll know full soon the kind of vermin Our bullets hit in this lost fight. Then come comrades rally! And the last fight let us face. The Internationale unites the human race! Then come comrades rally! And the last fight let us face. The Internationale unites the human race! We peasants, artisans and others Enrollees among the sons of toil Let's claim the earth henceforth for brothers, Drive the indolent from the soil! On our flesh too long has fed the raven, We've too long been the vulture's prey. But now fare well the spirit craven, The dawn brings in a brighter day! Then come comrades rally! And the last fight let us face. The Internationale unites the human race! Then come comrades rally! And the last fight let us face. The Internationale unites the human race! | The Internationale Arise ye pris'ners of starvation Arise ye wretched of the earth For justice thunders condemnation A better world's in birth! No more tradition's chains shall bind us Arise, ye slaves, no more in thrall; The earth shall rise on new foundations We have been naught we shall be all. 'Tis the final conflict Let each stand in his place The International Union [1] shall be the human race. 'Tis the final conflict Let each stand in his place The International Union* shall be the human race. We want no condescending saviors to rule us from their judgement hall We workers ask not for their favors Let us consult for all. To make the theif disgorge his booty To free the spirit from its cell We must ourselves decide our duty We must decide and do it well. 'Tis the final conflict Let each stand in his place The International Union shall be the human race. 'Tis the final conflict Let each stand in his place The International Union shall be the human race. The law oppresses us and tricks us, the wage slave system drains our blood; The rich are free from obligation, The laws the poor delude. Too long we've languished in subjection, Equality has other laws; "No rights," says she "without their duties, No claims on equals without cause." 'Tis the final conflict Let each stand in his place The International Union shall be the human race. 'Tis the final conflict Let each stand in his place The International Union shall be the human race. Behold them seated in their glory The kings of mine and rail and soil! What have you read in all their story, But how they plundered toil? Fruits of the workers' toil are buried In strongholds of the idle few In working for their restitution the men will only claim their due. 'Tis the final conflict Let each stand in his place The International Union shall be the human race. 'Tis the final conflict Let each stand in his place The International Union shall be the human race. We toilers from all fields united Join hand in hand with all who work; The earth belongs to us, the workers, No room here for the shirk. How many on our flesh have fattened! But if the norsome birds of prey Shall vanish from the sky some morning The blessed sunlight then will stay. 'Tis the final conflict Let each stand in his place The International Union shall be the human race. 'Tis the final conflict Let each stand in his place The International Union shall be the human race. *In some versions: The International Soviet. |
[1] An old variant is "The International Soviet". |
[2] Starvelings / Starvers
[3] Criminals
[4] And at last ends the age of cant