How rings each sparkling Spanish brand,
There’s music in its rattle;
And gay, as for a saraband,
We gird us for the battle.
Follow, follow!
To the glorious revelry,
When the sabres bristle,
And the death-shots whistle.
Of rights for which our swords outspring,
Shall Angoulême bereave us?
We’ve plucked a bird of nobler wing—
The eagle could not brave us.
Follow, follow!
Shake the Spanish blade, and sing—
France shall ne’er enslave us:
Tyrants shall not brave us.
Shall yonder rag, the Bourbon’s flag,
White emblem of his liver,
For Spain the proud be Freedom’s shroud?
Oh, never, never, never.
Follow, follow!
Follow to the fight, and sing—
Liberty for ever:
Ever, ever, ever.
Thrice welcome hero of the hilt,
We laugh to see his standard;
Here let his miscreant blood be spilt
Where braver men’s was squandered.
Follow, follow!
If the laureled tricolor
Durst not over-flaunt us,
Shall yon lily daunt us?
No! ere they quell our valour’s veins,
They’ll upward to their fountains
Turn back the rivers on our plains,
And trample flat our mountains.
Follow, follow!
Shake the Spanish blade, and sing—
France shall ne’er enslave us:
Tyrants shall not brave us.