1. It is a victory that came after victory
And so is the horizon, star after star

2. Continuing until the dawn rises
When it is time for it to shine brightly

3. Such is the way of every wicked transgressor
Who planted evil and reaped evil

4. Corsica, the home of lions, refuses
To see dens for foxes within it

5. The fortunes of individuals are like the fortunes of nations
Now suffering, now prospering

6. It did not increase their certainty beyond certainty
For with it, before it happened, they were most knowing

7. Rather, it brought them a banner of victory
After it had come to them secretly and openly

8. And if the beginning was a clear conquest
Then the ending is even more deserving

9. Evil befell them, for they thought it
Would be a palace for them, but found it a grave

10. The secret of life is obscure, so the youth
Does not know life's secret until he lives it secretly

11. How many glorious ones walk quickly
Yet are dragged to ruin and decay

12. They surrounded them there with a host of captives
Who had planted fangs and claws in the wolves

13. They resolved while hungry, but
Were fed bitterness, poison, and patience

14. A base suitor does no harm to the beautiful one
If her spirit remains aloof from him afterwards

15. They sought her back as a dwelling place
So she lent them her belly as a dwelling place

16. As consolation for their defeat, consolation
May God magnify your reward in victory

17. They veiled the sky from them with an army
Raining thunderbolts down upon them

18. Then they closed upon them every door
To hoped-for salvation, by land and sea

19. And came to them as if in peace
Have you seen a pigeon sight a falcon?

20. So a prisoner was no use to a casualty
And a casualty did not avail them a prisoner

21. They glared at them and cried, "Surrender!"
"And know that from your destruction there is no escape"

22. It is a victory that came to prove
What the people of resolve said openly

23. They did not live above it except briefly
In the end they thought it an age