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La Borinqueña is the official anthem of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The current official music and words were codified in 1903 and have since been taught in schools and generally adopted by the public. The music was officially adopted by the government in 1952, and the words in 1977. The title refers to the aboriginal Taíno name for the island of Puerto Rico, Boriken or Borinquen.
The music was originally written by Félix Astol Artés in 1867 as an habanera danza, with romantic lyrics. In 1868, Lola Rodríguez de Tió wrote a poem in support of Puerto Rican revolution, which was set to the Astol Artés music. Deemed too subversive for official adoption, a less controversial set of lyrics was written in 1903 by Manuel Fernández Juncos and taught in the public schools. The tune was officially adopted as the Commonwealth's anthem in 1952, and continued to be sung with the Manuel Fernández Juncos words (which, however, were not officially adopted until 1977).
Both versions are given below. The Fernández Juncos version is the most familiar version; it is, for example, sung spontaneously to celebrate Puerto Rican successes in athletic events. As of 2004 the "revolutionary" version is associated with the Puerto Rican Independence movement (see Politics of Puerto Rico) and was sung at the Vieques Navy protests.
Official Anthem of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico
(words by Manuel Fernández Juncos, 1903)
- La tierra de Borinquén
- donde he nacido yo,
- es un jardín florido
- de mágico fulgor.
- [The land of Borinquen, where I was born, is a flower-garden of magical brilliance.]
- Un cielo siempre nítido
- le sirve de dosel
- y dan arrullos plácidos
- las olas a sus pies.
- [An ever-clear sky is its canopy, and the waves sing lullabies at its feet.]
- Cuando a sus playas llegó Colón;
- Exclamó lleno de admiración;
- "Oh!, oh!, oh!, ésta es la linda
- tierra que busco yo".
- [When Columbus reached these beaches, full of awe he exclaimed, "This is the lovely land that I seek."]
- Es Borinquén la hija,
- la hija del mar y el sol,
- del mar y el sol,
- del mar y el sol,
- del mar y el sol,
- del mar y el sol.
- [Borinquén is the daughter of the sea and the sun.]
Original 1868 revolutionary version by Lola Rodríguez de Tió
- ¡Despierta, borinqueño
- que han dado la señal!
- ¡Despierta de ese sueño
- que es hora de luchar!
- [Arise, Puerto Rican! The call to arms has sounded! Awake from this dream, it is time to fight!]
- A ese llamar patriótico
- ¿no arde tu corazón?
- ¡Ven! Nos será simpático
- el ruido del cañón.
- [Doesn't this patriotic call set your heart alight? Come! We are in tune with the roar of the cannon.]
- Mira, ya el cubano
- libre será;
- le dará el machete
- su libertad...
- le dará el machete
- su libertad.
- [Come, the Cuban will soon be free; the machete will give him his liberty.]
- Ya el tambor guerrero
- dice en su son,
- que es la manigua el sitio,
- el sitio de la reunión,
- de la reunión...
- de la reunión.
- [Now the war drum says with its sound, that the jungle is the place of the meeting.]
- El Grito de Lares
- se ha de repetir,
- y entonces sabremos
- vencer o morir.
- [The Cry of Lares must be repeated, and then we will know: victory or death.]
- Bellísima Borinquén,
- a Cuba hay que seguir;
- tú tienes bravos hijos
- que quieren combatir.
- [Beautiful Puerto Rico must follow Cuba; you have brave sons who wish to fight.]
- ya por más tiempo impávido
- no podemos estar,
- ya no queremos, tímidos
- dejarnos subyugar.
- [Now, no longer can we be unmoved; now we do not want timidly to let them subjugate us.]
- Nosotros queremos
- ser libre ya,
- y nuestro machete
- afilado está.
- y nuestro machete
- afilado está.
- [We want to be free now, and our machete has been sharpened.]
- ¿Por qué, entonces, nosotros
- hemos de estar,
- tan dormidos y sordos
- y sordos a esa señal?
- a esa señal, a esa señal?
- [Why then have we been so sleepy and deaf to the call?]
- No hay que temer, riqueños
- al ruido del cañón,
- que salvar a la patria
- es deber del corazón!
- [There is no need to fear, Puerto Ricans, the roar of the cannon; saving the nation is the duty of the heart.]
- ya no queremos déspotas,
- caiga el tirano ya,
- las mujeres indómitas
- también sabrán luchar.
- [We no longer want despots, tyranny shall fall now; the unconquerable women also will know how to fight.]
- Nosotros queremos
- la libertad,
- y nuestros machetes
- nos la darán...
- y nuestro machete
- nos la dará...
- [We want liberty, and our machetes will give it to us.]
- Vámonos, borinqueños,
- vámonos ya,
- que nos espera ansiosa,
- ansiosa la libertad.
- ¡La libertad, la libertad!
- [Come, Puerto Ricans, come now, since freedom awaits us anxiously, freedom, freedom!]