Quand nos Aïeux brisèrent leurs entraves

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The song Quand nos Aïeux brisèrent leurs entraves ("When our ancestors shook off their chains") fulfilled the function of a Haitian national anthem from 1893 to 1903, although it was not officially designated as one. However, the song is still in use today as a Haitian presidential salute in the style of the US Hail to the Chief .

The text is from Oswald Durand. The melody and the use of the text as the national anthem was born out of necessity when a German warship docked on a visit to the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince in 1893 and the then non-existent Haitian national anthem had to be played for protocol reasons. The patriotic poem was set to music by Occide Jeanty one night and played as scheduled the next morning.

The song lost its function as a national anthem at the end of 1903, when the song La Dessalinienne was officially declared the national anthem on the centenary of Haitian independence on January 1, 1904 .

The “yellows” mentioned in the lyrics next to the blacks are the lighter-skinned mulattos , one of the population groups of Haiti.

Quand nos Aïeux brisèrent leurs entraves
Ce n'était pas pour se croiser les bras
Pour travailler en maîtres les esclaves
Ont embrassé corps à corps le trépas.
Leur sang à flots engraissa nos collines,
A notre tour, jaunes et noirs, allons!
Creusons le sol légué par Dessalines:
Notre fortune est là dans nos vallons.
When our ancestors shook off their chains
It wasn't done to put your hands on your lap
To be slaves for them as slave drivers
To work side by side until death.
Your blood has riveted our hills
Now it's up to us, blacks and yellows, let's go!
Plows the soil left by Dessalines,
Our happiness lies there in our valleys.
Refrain :
L'indépendance est éphémère
Sans le droit à l'égalité!
Pour fouler, heureux, cette terre
Il nous faut la devise austère:
Dieu! Le Travail! La Liberté!
Refrain :
Freedom is a short-lived good
Without the right to equality!
To happily set foot on this earth
Our strict slogan is needed:
God! Job! Freedom!

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See also