God Save the Queen
God save our gracious Queen,
Long live our noble Queen,
God save the Queen:
Send her victorious,
Happy and glorious,
Long to reign over us:
God save the Queen.
O Lord, our God, arise,
Scatter her enemies,
And make them fall.
Confound their politics,
Frustrate their knavish tricks,
On Thee our hopes we fix,
God save us all.
Thy choicest gifts in store,
On her be pleased to pour;
Long may she reign:
May she defend our laws,
And ever give us cause
To sing with heart and voice
God save the Queen.
I invite you to click here to join in a public “sing-along” at which several members of the royal family were present. The second verse with the lines “Confound their politics / Frustrate their knavish tricks” was omitted on this occasion, possibly in deference to the members of the House of Commons. You may stand if you like, although standing in the privacy of one’s own home is always optional.
Inexplicably, Her Majesty wore clothes that caused her to blend into the crowd like one of her common subjects. More often, she tends to dress like this:
Day Vear:
Evening Vear:
Svim Vear:
Here is the queen appearing before legions of her adoring public on the occasion of her Golden Jubilee in 2002.
Let it be noted that in America such adulation is seen only at concerts by the Jonas Brothers or sightings of Angelina Jolie. To quote again from that omitted second verse, God save us all.
I apologize to those of you who were hoping for a post about St. Swithin’s Day.
Now thát's a national anthem. Nice and short too.
ReplyDeleteLOL about your fashion comments. Swimwear! Haha. If she'd wear that to go swimming, someone actually would have to jump in to 'save the Queen'. Can God swim?
One of my English-learning students, took advantage of his weakness on pronunciation, often confusing similar-sounding consonants and vowels, to say "Good Shave The Queen" .... never found out if he was being serious?
ReplyDeleteAs a Brit, I can promise you that nobody in the British Isles knows more than the first verse of our dreary anthem. I think I prefer "O Canada" in Inuit.
ReplyDeleteYou're right about the Queen's dress sense.
As for St Swithin's Day, it's my birthday. And the rhyme is "St Swithin's Day, if thou dost rain, for forty days it shall remain." I suspect you know this already. In Britain it always comes true. Sighh.
That tiara looks just like one I noticed recently in the movie Young Victoria. I wonder if the tiara dates back to Vicky's reign.
ReplyDelete