page_title: Il Canto degli Italiani
section_title: Lyrics
hierarchical_section_title: Il Canto degli Italiani / Lyrics
caption_attribution_description: English: The Continence of Scipio. Fresco, 1655-1658. Français&#160;: La Continence de Scipion. Fresque, 1655-1658.
context_page_description: "Il Canto degli Italiani" is a canto written by Goffredo Mameli and set to music by Michele Novaro in 1847, and is the current national anthem of Italy. It is best known among Italians as the Inno di Mameli, after the author of the lyrics, or Fratelli d'Italia, from its opening line. The piece, a 4/4 in B-flat major, consists of six strophes and a refrain that is sung at the end of each strophe. The sixth group of verses, which is almost never performed, recalls the text of the first strophe.
  The song was very popular during the unification of Italy and in the following decades, although after the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy the Marcia Reale, the official hymn of the House of Savoy composed in 1831 by order of King Charles Albert of Sardinia, was chosen as the anthem of the Kingdom of Italy. The Il Canto degli Italiani was in fact considered too little conservative with respect to the political situation of the time: Fratelli d'Italia, of clear republican and Jacobin connotation, it was difficult to reconcile with the outcome of the unification of Italy, which was a monarchy.
context_section_description: This is the complete text of the original poem written by Goffredo Mameli. However, the Italian anthem, as commonly performed in official occasions, is composed of the first strophe sung twice, and the chorus, then ends with a loud "Sì!" ("Yes!").
  The first strophe presents the personification of Italy who is ready to go to war to become free, and shall be victorious as Rome was in ancient times, "wearing" the helmet of Scipio Africanus who defeated Hannibal at the final battle of the Second Punic War at Zama; there is also a reference to the ancient Roman custom of slaves who used to cut their hair short as a sign of servitude, hence the Goddess of Victory must cut her hair in order to be slave of Rome (to make Italy victorious).
  In the second strophe the author complains that Italy has been a divided nation for a long time, and calls for unity; in this strophe Goffredo Mameli uses three words taken from the Italian poetic and archaic language: calpesti (modern Italian: calpestati), speme (modern speranza), raccolgaci (modern ci raccolga).
  The third strophe is an invocation to God to protect the loving union of the Italians struggling to unify their nation once and for all. The fourth strophe recalls popular heroic figures and moments of the Italian fight for independence such as the battle of Legnano, the defence of Florence led by Ferruccio during the Italian Wars, the riot started in Genoa by Balilla, and the Sicilian Vespers. The last strophe of the poem refers to the part played by Habsburg Austria and Czarist Russia in the partitions of Poland, linking its quest for independence to the Italian one.
caption: The Continence of Scipio, Giovanni Francesco Romanelli (1610–1662)
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