Californian Reacts | I Vow To Thee My Country - Festival of Remembrance

"I Vow to Thee, My Country" is a British patriotic hymn, created in 1921, when music by Gustav Holst had a poem by Sir Cecil Spring Rice set to it. The music originated as a wordless melody, which Holst later named "Thaxted", taken from the "Jupiter" movement of Holst's 1917 suite The Planets.

- History:
The origin of the hymn's text is a poem by diplomat Sir Cecil Spring Rice, written in 1908 or 1912, entitled "Urbs Dei" ("The City of God") or "The Two Fatherlands". The poem described how a Christian owes his loyalties to both his homeland and the heavenly kingdom.

In 1908, Spring Rice was posted to the British Embassy in Stockholm. In 1912, he was appointed as Ambassador to the United States of America, where he influenced the administration of Woodrow Wilson to abandon neutrality and join Britain in the war against Germany. After the United States entered the war, he was recalled to Britain. Shortly before his departure from the US in January 1918, he re-wrote and renamed "Urbs Dei", significantly altering the first verse to concentrate on the themes of love and sacrifice rather than "the noise of battle" and "the thunder of her guns", creating a more sombre tone in view of the loss of life suffered in the Great War. The first verse in both versions invoke Britain (in the 1912 version, anthropomorphized as Britannia with sword and shield; in the second version, simply called "my country"); the second verse, the Kingdom of Heaven.

According to Sir Cecil's granddaughter, the rewritten verse of 1918 was never intended to appear alongside the first verse of the original poem but was replacing it; the original first verse is nevertheless sometimes known as the "rarely sung middle verse". The text of the original poem was sent by Spring Rice to William Jennings Bryan in a letter shortly before his death in February 1918.

- Lyrics:
"I vow to thee, my country
All earthly things above
Entire and whole and perfect
The service of my love
The love that asks no questions
The love that stands the test
That lays upon the altar
The dearest and the best
The love that never falters
The love that pays the price
The love that makes undaunted
The final sacrifice
And there's another country
I've heard of long ago
Most dear to them that love her
Most great to them that know
We may (we may not count her armies)
We may (we may not see her King)
Her fortress is a faithful heart
Her pride is suffering
And soul by soul and silently
Her shining bounds increase
And her ways are ways of gentleness
And all her paths are peace"

[californianreacts]

Thank you for the suggestions to listen to the absolutely beautiful 'I Vow To Thee My Country'! From start to finish it was simply stunning.

Please suggest more! Can't wait to listen to more masterpieces I've been missing out on my whole life 🙂

[MichaelSmith-cqtu]

Proud to be British and have served her Majesy the Queen!! RIP X

[Richard]

"I Vow to Thee My Country", "Jerusalem" and also "For Those In Peril On The Sea" all bring me close to a small tear.

[iamthecaptainofmysoul]

Brings me to tears every time. As a Welshman This should be our United Anthem.

[blazednlovinit]

It pulls at my heartstrings to see The Queen and Philip together here.

[t.a.k.palfrey]

This great hymn's current lyrics were written by the UK's Ambassador to Washington DC during the Great War. The tune, Thaxted, was composed by Holst. As a schoolboy, we'd sing this at chapel both on Remembrance Day and at the Trafalgar Day Sea Cadets service.

[loopielou]

As I feel I am kissing my country goodbye I have tears after listening to that. The men that fought and died for my freedom. A tiny tiny country that has made its mark in this world.

[mikdavies]

Thank you, Mr. Californian, for your obvious appreciation of our traditions!

[Dazzc]

I'm song just makes me feel so proud of the fact

[julesmarwell]

DISTANCE may part us. but we English speaking bods. will always be together in order to live in a decent. free and Independent world. God bless America, Australia, New Zealand. Canada, and of course The United Kingdom and all the British Commonwealth of Nations. God save the King

[nigellusby]

There simply is nothing more emotional than the RBL Festival of Remembrance. It is Observed every year, the Saturday before "Remembrance Sunday", which is the nearest Sunday to 11/11 - in 1918 WW1 the guns all fell silent at the 11th hour of the 11th Month. In Britain & throughout the entire Commonwealth we wear poppies in memory of the 888, 246 who died & all those who have died in conflicts since & at 11:00 each country falls silent for 2 mins to remember them:

They shall grow not old
as we who are left grow old
Age shall not weary them
nor the years condemn
at the going down of the sun
and in the morning
we WILL remember them

[blackvulcan]

Guaranteed to bring tears to my eyes. My best friend had this at his funeral, I knew him for over fifty years. We were closer than brothers.

[paulcraig]

This should be the British national anthem ❤

[anthonya]

I am British and proud to say it. This brings a tear to my eye. My father fought in WW2 in the RAF, in the Battle of Britain, Italy and Normandy. God bless all who serve our Country and bless you all.

[oliversherman]

I'm British and I feel extremely patriotic whenever I hear this and other British songs

[emmarich]

This was also Princess Diana’s favourite hymn and was sung at her wedding and her funeral.

[susanashcroft]

Dame Vera Lynn (2.27) known as the forces sweetheart. She sang to the troops in Eygpt, Burma and India as part of the Entertainment National Service Association during WWII. Songs such as The White Cliffs of Dover, We'll meet Again and Berkley Square to name a few of her songs. Her career continued after the war for many decades. She passed away in 2020 aged 103 years old.

[ken-un]

Yes this is at the Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall. This is held on the Saturday, the day before Remembrance Sunday in November each year.

[morgancluderay]

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
God save the King.

[debbiepierce]

Learnt this when i was in school choir aged 9/10. It has always brought a lump to my throat, makes me so proud to be English.