Quisqueyanos valientes

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Quisqueyanos valientes ("Valiant Sons of Quisqueya") is the national anthem of the Dominican Republic. "Quisqueya" is a native American word for the island of Hispaniola. Its music was composed by Jose Rufino Reyes Siancas (1835-1905), and its lyrics were written by Emilio Prud'homme (1856-1932). The first public performance of Quisqueyanos valientes took place on August 17, 1883 at the Masonic Lodge "Esperanza No.9" ("Esperanza" means "Hope" in Spanish).

The music was an instant success, but the original lyrics were questioned by several Dominican scholars, due to factual errors in the words. In 1897 Prud'homme submitted a corrected version, which stands today.

With the new lyrics approved by most everybody, the Dominican Congress adopted Quisqueyanos valientes as the official national anthem, after heated debates, on June 7, 1897. President Ulises Heureaux (1846-1899) vetoed the act, however, because Prud'homme was an opponent of his government. Heureaux was murdered in 1899 and the political disorders of the following years prevented the officialization of the anthem.

Quisqueyanos valientes was finally adopted as the national anthem of the Dominican Republic on May 30, 1934.

It should be noted that the term 'Dominican' never appears in the anthem. Prud'homme consistently uses the taíno term Quisqueyano.

[edit] Spanish lyrics

I

Quisqueyanos valientes, alcemos

Nuestro canto con viva emoción,

Y del mundo a la faz ostentemos

Nuestro invicto glorioso pendón.

¡Salve el pueblo que intrépido y fuerte,

A la guerra a morir se lanzó

Cuando en bélico reto de muerte

Sus cadenas de esclavo rompió.

Ningun pueblo ser libre merece

Si es esclavo indolente y servil;

Si en su pecho la llama no crece

Que templó el heroismo viril.

Mas Quisqueya la indómita y brava

Siempre altiva la frente alzará:

Que si fuere mil veces esclava

Otras tantas ser libre sabrá.

II

Que si dolo y ardid la expusieron

de un intruso señor al desdén,

¡Las Carreras ! ¡Beller!... campos fueron

que cubiertos de gloria se ven.

Que en la cima de heroíco baluarte,

de los libres el verbo encarnó,

donde el genio de Sánchez y Duarte

a ser libre o morir enseñó.

Y si pudo inconsulto caudillo

de esas glorias el brillo empañar,

de la guerra se vió en Capotillo

la bandera de fuego ondear.

Y el incendio que atónito deja

de Castilla al soberbio león,

de las playas gloriosas le aleja

donde flota el cruzado pendón.

III

Compatriotas, mostremos erguida

nuestra frente, orgullosos de hoy más;

que Quisqueya será destruida

pero sierva de nuevo, jamás.

Que es santuario de amor cada pecho

do la patria se siente vivir;

Y es su escudo invencible, el derecho;

Y es su lema: ser libre o morir.

Libertad que aún se yergue serena

La victoria en su carro triunfal.

Y el clarín de la guerra aún resuena

Pregonando su gloria inmortal.

¡Libertad! Que los ecos se agiten

Mientras llenos de noble ansiedad

Nuestros campos de gloria repiten

¡Libertad! ¡Libertad! ¡Libertad!

[edit] English translation

I

Valient sons of Quisqueya, let's loudly sing

Our song with a fiery passion

And let's show to the face of the world

Our undefeated, glorious flag.

Hail, the people who strong and intrepid,

Into war launched itself unto death!

When in warfare challenge of death,

Her slavery chains she broke.

None people deserves to be free

If he is slave, indolent and servile;

If in his heart the flame is not burning,

Which was sparked by heroic manliness.

But Quisqueya, the indomitable and brave,

Her head will always lift up high,

For if she were enslaved a thousand times,

Many more times shall she know how to be free.

II

If it will be exposed to ruse and deceit

Unto contempt of a real imposer,

On to Las Carreras! Beler! ...it were places

Where the traces of glory are found.

Where on the top of the heroic bastion,

The word of the libarated became flesh,

Where the genius of Sánchez and Duarte

Taught to be free or to die.

And if an unattended leader the splendor

Of these glorious events could ignore,

One has seen in Capotillo in the war

The flag of fire wave.

And the fire that lets the proud lion

Of Castilla become stupefied,

Removes him from the glorious beaches

Where the crossed banner waves.

III

Compatriots, let us proudly

Show our face, from today prouder than ever;

Quisqueya may be destroyed

But a slave again, never!

It is a sanctuary of love that every character

Of the fatherland feels alive!

And it is his coat of arms, the right;

And it is his device: be free or die.

Freedom that still rises cool-bloodedly

The victory in her triumphal car.

And the clarion of war re-echoes

Proclaiming his immortal glory.

Freedom! That the echo's touch

While they're full of noble tension

Our fields of glory repeat

Freedom! Freedom! Freedom!

[edit] External link

• MIDI file