SPANISH LYRICS

CHORUS:
Tu bandera, tu bandera
Es un lampo de cielo
Por un bloque, por un bloque
De nieve cruzado;
Y se ven en su fondo sagrado
Cinco estrellas de pálido azul;
En tu emblema que mar rumoroso
Con sus ondas bravías escuda,
De un volcán, de un volcán
Tras la cima desnuda
Hay un astro, hay un astro
De nítida luz.

1. India, virgen y hermosa dormías
De tus mares al canto sonoro,
Cuando echada en tus cuencas de oro
El audaz navegante te halló;
Y al mirar tu belleza extasiado
Al influjo ideal de tu encanto,
La orla azul de tu espléndido manto
Con su beso de amor consagró.

CHORUS

2. De un país donde el sol se levanta,
Mas allá del Atlante azulado,
Aquel hombre que te había soñado
Y en tu busca a la mar se lanzó.
Cuando erguiste la pálida frente,
En la viva ansiedad de tu anhelo,
Bajo el dombo gentil de tu cielo
Ya flotaba un extraño pendón.

CHORUS

3. Era inutil que el indio tu amado
Se aprestara a la lucha con ira,
Porque envuelto en su sangre Lempira,
En la noche profunda se hundió;
Y de la épica hazaña, en memoria,
La leyenda tan sólo ha guardado
De un sepulcro el lugar ignorado
Y el severo perfil de un peñón.

CHORUS

4. Por tres siglos tus hijos oyeron
El mandato imperioso del amo;
Por tres siglos tu inútil reclamo
En la atmosfera azul se perdió;
Pero un día gloria tu oído
Percibió, poderoso y distante,
Que allá lejos, por sobre el Atlante,
Indignado rugía un León.

CHORUS

5. Era Francia, la libre, la heroica,
Que en su sueño de siglos dormida
Despertaba iracunda a la vida
Al reclamo viril de Dantón:
Era Francia, que enviaba a la muerte
La cabeza del Rey consagrado,
Y que alzaba soberbia a su lado,
El Altar de la Diosa razón.

CHORUS

6. Tú también, ¡oh mi patria!, te alzaste
De tu sueño servil y profundo;
Tú también enseñastes al mundo
Destrozado el infame eslabón.
Y en tu suelo bendito, tras la alta
Cabellera de monte salvaje,
Como un ave de negro plumaje,
La colonia fugaz se perdió

CHORUS

7. Por guardar ese emblema divino,
Marcharemos Oh Patria a la muerte,
Generosa será nuestra suerte,
Si morimos pensando en tu amor.
Defendiendo tu santa bandera
Y en tus pliegues gloriosos cubiertos,
Serán muchos, Oh Honduras tus muertos,
Pero todos caerán con honor.
 
CHORUS

---
ENGLISH TRANSLATION
 
CHORUS:
Your flag is a splendour of sky
Crossed with a band of snow;
And there can be seen, in its sacred depths,
Five pale blue stars.
In your emblem, which a rough sea
With its wild waves protects,
Behind the bare summit of a volcano,
A star brightly shines.

1. Like an Indian maiden you have been sleeping,
Lulled by the resonant song of your seas,
When, set in your golden valleys,
The bold navigator found you;
And on seeing, enraptured, your beauty,
And feeling your enchantment,
He dedicated a kiss of love to the blue hem
of your splendid mantle.

CHORUS
 
7. To guard this sacred emblem
We shall march, oh fatherland, to our death;
Our death will be honoured
If we die thinking of your love.
Having defended your holy flag,
And shrouded in its glorious folds,
Many, Honduras, shall die for you,
But shall fall in honour.

CHORUS


-------------------------

Honduras
"Tu bandera es un lampo de cielo" (Your Flag Is A Heavenly Light)

Words by:Augusto Constancio Coello
Music by:Carlos Hartling
Adopted:1915

The Honduras anthem is like many others in Latin America in that the music has
an operatic, "epic" feel to it (the composer was born in Germany), and has many
verses (in this case, seven), which schoolchildren are expected to memorize in
its entirety, even though the chorus and the last verse are usually only used
on official occassions. As such, it can be classified as a "Latin_American_epic
anthem".

A unique aspect of the Honduran anthem, however, is that it chronicles the
history of the country in its seven verses. The first verse describes the
country as Christopher Columbus, the first European to land in Honduras, would
have seen it. The second tells of how men "from a country where the sun rises"
dreamt of Honduras and go out to seek it. Upon arrival, they find that a flag
(Spain's) has been placed there. The third verse chronicles the native
population's attempted resistance against the Spanish. The fourth speaks of the
three centuries under Spanish rule, and how requests for change from the
colonies, like Honduras, were unheeded; until one day when news of revolution
in Europe reached the Americas. Verse 5 continues this thought, stating how the
French revolution was a model for those in Honduras seeking redress from Spain.
The next verse (verse six) chronicles the revolutions that occurred in the
Spanish colonies in America, as one by one they gained liberation from Spain,
including Honduras (as part of the Central American federation, at first.) The
final verse is a cry to all Hondurans to defend the nation, even in death if
necessary.

The chorus, sung after each verse and at the start of the anthem (if all verses
are sung), or at the start and end of the anthem, with the last verse
sandwiched between them (as is performed at official occassions) is a
description of the flag and coat of arms of Honduras.

MUSIC
