Haitian National Anthem
La Dessalinienne is the national anthem of Haiti, honoring Jean-Jacques Dessalines. It was written by Justin Lhérisson and composed by Nicolas Geffrard in French and adopted in 1904. The Haitian Creole version was an adaptation by Raymond A. Moise. Ansy Dérose, a Haitian singer, helped popularize it. Although it became widely accepted, the 1987 Haitian Constitution makes no mention of this particular version.
La Dessalinienne (English Translation)
For Haiti, the Country's Ancestors
We must walk hand in hand
There must not be traitors among us
We must be ourselves's unique master.
Let's walk hand in hand
For Haiti can be more beautiful.
Let us put our heads together
To Haiti on behalf of all its ancestors.
For Haiti on the behalf of the Ancestors Let us mow, let us sow Let us sit in the soil's strength It has given us food In stumbled ground sends wheels With joy must provide ground Mow, water, women and men Must we come to live only by our arms' strength.
For Haiti and for the Ancestors We must be courageous People are not born to serve others That is why all mothers and all fathers Need to send children to school To learn to know What Toussaint, Dessalines, Christophe, Petion Made for bouncing Haitians under the white code.
For Haiti on the behalf of the Ancestors Let us raise our head and look above For everyone to ask the Lord To grant us protection For bad angels we diverted For we will march in the right path For liberty be liberty May justice spread over the country!
We have a flag like all people Let us love it, die for it It was not a gift from the whites It was our Ancestors blood that was shed To hold our flag high Let us work together and focus For other countries to respect it This flag is the soul of every Haitian.
Source: [1]
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