Il Canto degli Italiani

Il Canto degli Italiani (1847)
by Goffredo Mameli

Il Canto degli Italiani (The Song of the Italians) is the Italian national anthem. The anthem is also popularly known, from its first line, as Fratelli d'Italia (Brothers of Italy) and, after its author, as the Inno di Mameli (Mameli's Hymn). In 1946 Italy became a republic, and on October 12, 1946 Il Canto degli Italiani was provisionally chosen as the country's new national anthem. This choice was officialized in law only on November 17, 2005, almost 60 years later.Warning: template has been deprecated.— Excerpted from Il Canto degli Italiani on Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Note: this is the complete text of the original poem written by Goffredo Mameli, however the Italian anthem, as performed in every official occasion, is composed by the first part and the chorus, repeated twice, then ends with a loud "Sì!" ("Yes!"). The rest of the poem refers to relevant episodes of the Italian struggle for unification and independence.

Brothers of Italy,

Italy has arisen,

With Scipio's helmet

binding her head.

Where is Victory?

Let her bow down,

For God has made her

The slave of Rome.

CHORUS

Let us form a cohort,

We are ready to die!

Italy has called!

Let us form a cohort,

We are ready to die!

Italy has called!

We for centuries

Have been downtrodden and derided,

Because we are not a people,

Because we are divided.

May one flag, one hope

Bring us together;

The hour has struck

For us to join forces.

CHORUS

Let us form a cohort,

We are ready to die!

Italy has called!

Let us form a cohort,

We are ready to die!

Italy has called!

Let us unite and love one another;

For union and love

Reveal to peoples

The way of the Lord

Let us swear to free

Our native soil;

If we are united under God,

Who can conquer us?

CHORUS

Let us form a cohort,

We are ready to die!

Italy has called!

Let us form a cohort,

We are ready to die!

Italy has called!

From the Alps to Sicily,

Everywhere it is Legnano;

Every man has the heart

and hand of Ferruccio.

The children of Italy

Are all called Balilla;

Every trumpet blast

Sounds the (Sicilian) Vespers.

CHORUS

Let us form a cohort,

We are ready to die!

Italy has called!

Let us form a cohort,

We are ready to die!

Italy has called!

Mercenary swords

Are feeble reeds,

And the Austrian eagle

Has lost his plumes.

This eagle that drunk the blood

of Italy and Poland,

together with the Cossack,

But this has burned his gut.

CHORUS

Let us form a cohort,

We are ready to die!

Italy has called!

Let us form a cohort,

We are ready to die!

Italy has called!

Il Canto degli Italiani

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