September--La Marseillaise

Allons enfants de la Patrie
Le jour de gloire est arrivé.
Contre nous, de la tyrannie,
L'étandard sanglant est levé,
l'étandard sanglant est levé,
Entendez-vous, dans la compagnes.
Mugir ces farouches soldats
Ils viennent jusque dans nos bras
Egorger vos fils,
vos compagnes.

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

Amour sacré de la Patrie,
Conduis, soutiens nos bras vengeurs,
Liberté, liberté cherie,
Combats avec tes defénseurs;
Combats avec tes défenseurs.
Sous drapeaux, que la victoire
Acoure à tes mâles accents;
Que tes ennemis expirants
Voient ton triomphe et notre gloire!

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

by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle

This anthem reminds me of the dolphin slaughter focused in Taiji, Japan. There, thousands of dolphins are slaughtered violently every year for no apparent reason as these animals are too heavily laced with mercury to be consumed. There is rhyme splattered throughout the anthem. The lyrics are not at all subtle. The direct, frank, brutish ideas explicitly used make the anthem much more forceful. Because this song was used during the wartime, everything in it can be taken very literally: the bloody banners, ferocious soldiers roaring. However, there are metaphors involved such as the English translation of "All these tigers who, mercilessly; Rip their mother's breast!": a description of the immoral enemy. In September, the Japanese temporarily suspended their hunt after the movie "The Cove" made the little town of Taiji infamous.