I Vow to Thee, My Country

I Vow to Thee, My Country is a British patriotic song created in 1921 when a poem by Cecil Spring-Rice was set to music by Gustav Holst.

History

The origin of the lyrics is a poem by diplomat Cecil Spring-Rice which he wrote in 1908 whilst posted to the British Embassy in Stockholm. Then called Urbs Dei or The Two Fatherlands, the poem described how a Christian owes his loyalties to both his homeland and the heavenly kingdom. The first verse, as then written, had a direct and heated patriotism of a kind which has become less popular since the First World War.

In 1912, Spring-Rice was sent to Washington, D.C. as Ambassador to the United States of America where he worked to influence the administration of Woodrow Wilson to abandon neutrality and join Britain and her Empire in the war against Germany. After the Americans 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 huge losses suffered by British soldiers during the intervening years.

The first verse is a reference to the UK, and particularly to the sacrifice of those who died during the First World War. The last verse, starting "And there's another country", is a reference to heaven. The final line is based on Proverbs 3:17, which reads in the King James Bible, "Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace."

Tune Thaxted

Main article: Thaxted (tune)

In 1921 Gustav Holst adapted the music from a section of Jupiter from his suite The Planets to create a setting for the poem. The music was extended slightly to fit the final two lines of the first verse; the resulting hymn tune is usually referred to as Thaxted (named after the village where Holst lived for many years). This was first performed in 1925 and became a common element at Armistice memorial ceremonies.

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 question, 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.

I heard my country calling, away across the sea,

Across the waste of waters she calls and calls to me.

Her sword is girded at her side, her helmet on her head,

And round her feet are lying the dying and the dead.

I hear the noise of battle, the thunder of her guns,

I haste to thee my mother, a son among thy sons.

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 not count her armies, 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.

The lyrics as usually sung omit the middle verse as not being suitable for modern use.

Contemporary and/or religious use

• It is associated with Remembrance Day services all over the Commonwealth of Nations.
• Diana, Princess of Wales, requested that this hymn be sung at her wedding in 1981, saying that it had "always been a favourite since schooldays". It was also sung at her funeral in 1997 and her ten-year memorial thanksgiving service in 2007.
• It was quoted by Margaret Thatcher in 1988 in her Sermon on the Mound to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.
• In August 2004, the Rt Revd Stephen Lowe, Bishop of Hulme, called for it not to be used in Church of England services, calling it "totally heretical". His view that it placed national loyalties above religious ones, and encouraged racism and an unquestioning support of governments, opened a debate on its wider implications.
• Various internet bloggers have suggested that the song should be the official national anthem of England, because it is stirring and patriotic but does not make overt references to religion or monarchy and therefore would be suitable for a multi-cultural, multi-faith nation.

Commercial uses

• Charlotte Church – debut album Voice of an Angel.
• G4 – album G4 & Friends.
• Libera – 2003 album Free.
• English cricket team – backing vocals for Keedie (as B-side to Jerusalem).
• Katherine Jenkins – album Living a Dream.

The third verse is a possible source for the title to both the play and the film Another Country, where the hymn is sung.

External links

• I Vow to Thee, My Country at the "Cyber Hymnal".
• I Vow to Thee, My Country at anthem4england.co.uk