Pierre-Jean de Béranger (1780-1857) was a French poet and
chansonnier. He worked initially as a typographer and was later
involved in the bankrupcy of his family’s bank. In 1809, he was
hired by the University as a copyist. His anti-governmental poems and
songs caused his dismissal in 1821. However, his works, of popular,
liberal and patriotic inspiration, became rapidly famous. Renowned
writers, such as Stendhal and Merimée considered him as the greatest
poet of the XIXth century. Châteaubriand, Hugo and Dumas honoured
him. Béranger refused titles and dignities, including a membership
in the French Academy. In 1848, he was elected Deputee in Paris without
having been candidate and resigned. This caused a great disappointment
among his supporters and the “modern” writers, such as
Baudelaire and Flaubert denounced his literary opportunism. Béranger
was rediscovered by the French nationalists in the beginning of the XXth
century.
A main inspiration source for Béranger’s poems was the
Napoleonic epic. In 1820, he wrote a song called Le Vieux Drapeau
(The Old Flag). The song can be found in Béranger’s Complete
Works, published in 1850 by the Librairie Encyclopédique de
Périchon in Brussels. I use here the online version (with a few
typos corrected) from a
Napoleonic
website.
The song is made of six stanzas of eight octosyllabs each. In fact,
each stanza is made of two independent quatrains, each with
“embraced” rhymes, that is an "abba" rhyme scheme. The last
two octosyllabs are common to the first five stanza and come back like a
rant:
Quand secouerai-je la poussière
Qui ternit tes nobles couleurs?
(«When shall I shake off the dust / Which tarnishes your noble
coulors?») In the last stanza, minor changes give all its sense to
the poem:
Oui je secoueria la poussière
Qui ternit tes nobles couleurs
(«Yes I shall shake off the dust / Which tarnishes your noble
colours»)
The poem is full of hints which would have been clearly understood by
a reader in 1820. It is a rant by an old veteran of the Napoleonic wars,
who kept a [Tricolor] flag in his poor house and
regrets the glorious Napoleonic times. He calls several symbols of the
Revolution and the Empire, such as the eagle, the Liberty, the Victory,
the Gauls’ roaster, which were more or less banned during the
Restoration. The «noble colours» are associated with
the men of common birth who made the Napoleonic glory, The Bourbons are
presented as the “oppressors” and the «dust
which tarnished the noble colours» can also be associated to them.
As said above, the end of the poem is a call to
“counter-restoration” and reestablishment of the
Tricolor flag.
The violence hidden in the poem and its popularity shows once again
how clueless the Bourbons were when they suppressed the
Tricolore flag. Initially considered as an
insurgent’s flag, the Tricolore had progressively gained more
respectability, especially via the Napoleonic epic, and was widely
accepted. Having spent all that time in exile preparing their return and
revenge, the Bourbons could not have understood the political and social
changes which had taken place in France from 1789
to 1814.
De mes vieux compagnons de gloire
Je viens de me voir entouré :
Nos souvenirs m’ont enivré,
Le vin m’a rendu la mémoire.
Fier de mes exploits et des leurs,
J’ai mon drapeau dans ma chaumièere.
Quand secouerai-je la poussière
Qui ternit ses nobles couleurs?
I was just surrounded
By my old companions in glory:
Our memories intoxicated me,
Wine triggered my memory.
Proud of my exploits and their,
I kept my flag in my cottage.
When shall I shake off the dust
Which tarnishes its noble colours?
Il est caché sous l’humble paille
Où je dors pauvre et mutilé,
Lui qui, sûr de vaincre, a volé
Vingt ans de bataille en bataille!
Chargé de lauriers et de fleurs,
Il brilla sur l’Europe entière.
Quand secouerai-je la poussière
Qui ternit ses nobles couleurs?
It is hidden under the humble straw
Where I sleep, poor and disabled,
Him which, sure of the victory, flew
For twenty years from battle to battle
Laden with laurels and flowers,
He shone over the whole Europe.
When shall I shake off the dust
Which tarnishes its noble colours?
Ce drapeau payait à la France
Tout le sang qu’il nous a coûté.
Sur le sein de la liberté
Nos fils jouaient avec sa lance.
Qu’il prouve encore aux oppresseurs
Combien la gloire est roturière.
Quand secouerai-je la poussière
Qui ternit ses nobles couleurs?
This flag paid to France
All the blood it costed us.
On the bosom of liberty
Our sons played with its spear.
May it still prove to the oppressors
How glory is of common birth.
When shall I shake off the dust
Which tarnishes its noble colours?
Son aigle est resté dans la poudre,
Fatigué de lointains exploits.
Rendons-lui le coq des Gaulois:
Il sut aussi lancer la foudre.
La France, oubliant ses douleurs,
Le rebe’nira, libre et fière.
Quand secouerai-je la poussière
Qui ternit ses nobles couleurs?
Its eagle remained in the dust,
Tired of its far-off exploits.
Give him back the Gauls’ roaster:
It also knew how to throw the thunderbolt.
France, forgetting its pains,
Shall bless it again, free and proud.
When shall I shake off the dust
Which tarnishes its noble colours?
Las d’errer avec la Victoire,
Des lois il deviendra l’appui.
Chaque soldat fut, grâace à lui,
Citoyen au bord de la Loire.
Seul il peut voiler nos malheurs;
Déployons-le sur la frontière.
Quand secouerai-je la poussière
Qui ternit ses nobles couleurs?
Weary of wander with Victory,
it shall become the support of the laws.
Every soldier was, thanks to it,
A citizen on the shore of the Loire.
Only it can veil our misfortunes;
Let us unfurl it on the border.
When shall I shake off the dust
Which tarnishes its noble colours?
Mais il est là près de mes armes ;
Un instant osons l’entrevoir.
Viens, mon drapeau, viens, mon espoir!
C’est à toi d’essuyer mes larmes.
D’un guerrier qui verse des pleurs
Le ciel entendra la prière:
Oui, je secouerai la poussière
Qui ternit tes nobles couleurs.
But it lies here close to my arms;
Let us make it out for a whilte.
Come, my flag, comme, my hope!
You shall dry my tears.
Heaven shall hear the prayer
From a warrior who shed a tear:
Yes, I shall shake off the dust
Which tarnishes your noble colours.
The following is, I believe, the list of the flags mentioned (in
order of appearance) on the American Life video by Madonna.
Most nations are represented including Greenland and Palestine…
Here is the text of the Alsatian flag song,
written by Emil Woerth in 1911. Note that the text is written in German.
Although Alsatian and German are different languages, the written form of
Alsatian is German. Source of the original text (music also available) at
Elsassnet. Ivan Sache, 21 Jun 2003
1. Sei gegrüsst, du unsres Landes Zeichen
Elsass Fahne flatternd froh im Wind
Deine Farben, lieblich ohnen Gleichen
Leuchten stets, wo wir versammelt sind
Ref:
Weiss un rot,
Die Fahne sehen wir schweben
Bis zum Tod,
Sind treu wir ihr ergeben
(bis)
2. Echt und recht, wie unsre Väter waren
Wollen wir in Tat und Worten sein
Unsre Art, wir wollen sie bewahren
Auch in Zukunft makellos und rein
3. Und ob Glück, ob Leid das Zeitgetriebe
Jemals bringe unserm Elsassland
Immer stehn wir in unentwegter Liebe
Freudig wir zu ihm mit Herz und Hand
4. Lasst uns drum auf unsre Fahne schwören
Brüder ihr vom Wasgau bis zum Rhein
Niemals soll uns im fremder Hand betören
Treu dem Elsass wollen stets wir sein
1. Be saluted, you, the emblem of our country,
The Alsatian flag joyously flying in the wind.
Your colours, graciously peerless,
Shall shine for ever where we get together.
Chorus:
White and red,
We shall see the flag flying,
Until death,
We shall be faithfully devoted to him.
(Twice)
2. Genuine and right, like our fathers,
That is how we want to be in our acts and talks
We want to preserve our manners
Also in the future, unblemished and pure.
3. And if time brings either luck or misfortune
To our Alsatian land,
We shall keep love for ever
To it with heart and hand.
4. Let us therefore swear on our flag,
Brothers from Wasgau to the Rhine
We shall never be placed in foreign hands
We want to remain faithful to Alsace forever.
