Talk:I Vow to Thee, My Country

Britain or UK

Currently the word British in the first line redirects to United Kingdom. This should be corrected? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 116.89.224.161 (talk) 02:23, 9 May 2014 (UTC)

Princess Dianas Funeral

At Princess Dianas Funeral, this song was played as it was deemed one of her favourites and chosen by her son, Prince William.

Lyrics will mean lyrics

I copied from the commentary misplaced under Lyrics. I'd recommend omitting it; and I will do so in a little while.Dsnow75 [[User Talk: Dsnow75|Talk]] (talk) 05:22, 24 May 2011 (UTC)

Date Query

In 1921, the music of "Jupiter" from Gustav Holst's Planets Suite was added.

In 1925, Gustav Holst set the words to music,

It can't be both, folks. And do we have a source for Holst being okay with his tune being used? The Wednesday Island 14:43, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

I found a source that says Holst wrote the music in 1921, but it was first performed in 1925. I have amended the article accordingly. Note that the source is not what I would consider particularly credible and we really need to find a better one. Sidefall 19:48, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

The dates reported above are incorrect. Gustav Holst wrote Jupiter in 1914-16 with the first public performance in 1919 , then was commissioned to set "I Vow to Thee, My Country" to music and realised the words fitted part of Jupiter which he had recently penned, hence the 1921 date is the correct date for putting the words to music: the words of "I Vow to Thee, My Country" had been written by Sir Cecil Spring-Rice earlier in 1918. The first performance of the words to the music by Holst was in 1925. Searching Wikipedia for Sir Cecil Spring-Rice, and the public performances of the Planet suite, confirms the dates I list here. AccHistories (talk) 18:48, 26 August 2012 (UTC)

Anachronism: in a recent WW1 documentary, a choir was shown singing the words, set to 'Jupiter', in about 1916. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.159.133.88 (talk) 14:05, 2 September 2014 (UTC)

References

Third Verse

Perhaps there should be a reference to the third verse...?

Can somebody add the text of the third verse? --Maha 00:41, 12 February 2007 (UTC)

I concurr this is necessary. Does anyone have knowledge of it? Graldensblud 00:05, 13 February 2007 (UTC)

Just to add to this, further to the deletion, twice today, of the third verse, and its associated source and content. Just because the third verse is not sung, nor included in hymn books, that is not a valid reason to simply remove the lyrics and also a source in this article and remove additional content. I have though removed the additional wording which had no place on the article that was written in the style of a comment on a talk page. ♦Tangerines♦·Talk 17:06, 6 August 2007 (UTC)

I have tried to google the deleted verse and the only source I've found says it is probably a hoax. I would be minded to remove it from the article unless someone can come up with a verifiable source. Sidefall 19:13, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

Hymn

It would be more appropriately described as a hymn of the Commonwealth nations than of merely England.— Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.28.240.20 (talk) 18 April 2007

The fact remains that it is an English patriotic hymnn even if it is also sung in other countries. It has been added that the hymn is used in Canadian Remembrance Day services. If it is proven that the hymn is also of all "the Commonwealth nations" with sources, then surely that can be included, as well as it being English patriotic hymn, rather than instead of it.♦Tangerines BFC ♦·Talk 17:47, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

For that matter, it's in the current American(-Canadian) Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal (1985), presumably for Canadian use, though it could be sung in any nation that requested death of its citizens; the text has no specific reference to England or the UK. --Haruo 17:19, 2 July 2007 (UTC)

It was never an English patriotic hymn, it was a British hymn initially: it is used regularly in Scotland in Church of Scotland services (possibly that fact being behind the use by Mrs Thatcher in her speech to General Assembly of the Church of Scotland). Indeed, the words were inspired by the huge losses in the First World War of which Scotland (and Wales) carried the brunt of relative to their populations. The song is now used throughout the Commonwealth. The reference to "country" in the song sang in Scotland at least, is widely considered to be reference the heavenly country not a literal country, though that sits very uneasily with the second stanza. AccHistories (talk) 18:59, 26 August 2012 (UTC)

Cecil Spring-Rice - I vow to thee my country

Entries for "Cecil Spring-Rice" and "I vow to thee, my country" don't match. Cecil Spring-Rice died 14th February 1918 - I vow to thee my country written in 1918 after the 1st World War which ended 11th November 1918????211.26.57.186 15:18, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

The words were not written after the First World War, they were written in early 1918 while Spring-Rice was in Washington as British ambassador. 137.73.126.175 16

02, 5 May 2007 (UTC)

That was indeed 'after the First World War' so far as the east was concerned (the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was not signed until March 1918 but there had already been an armistice between the newly created Russian Soviet Socialist Republic and Germany).

Is this not relevant? Of course it is, and extremely so, at least in my own opinion - for I believe that what is ultimately in question is the political character of the new Republic under the flag 'workers of the world unite' and the statements relating to the military character of the west both by socialists within the west itself and by Lenin in published literature earlier as from the beginning of the war ('imperialism is the highest form of capitalism', and so on). Furthermore, I remember having read somewhere that the poem was actually written by Spring-Rice on a visit to Russia at the time of the revolution, but unfortunately I cannot quote for the time being at least the source of this information.

I wish to suggest that this matter relates also to the extraordinary character of the war memorials in both east and west as erected after the war.

Are we ever ladies and gentlemen going to sort these matters out? It is a shame that none of these things have, it seems, ever, at least in any generally known or accepted form, been analyzed (presumably as a result of division between east and west without any very evident attempt to try and understand how at the time they may have been connected in the minds of people on both sides of Europe and incidentally quite clearly on the basis of this poem in that of Cecil Spring-Rice, something hardly surprising in view of what amounted to similar revolutions in Austria, Germany, France and the UK, and possibly elsewhere, all of which proved of course unsuccessful). There is one simple fact that has never been denied, namely that without the Russian Empire and later the USSR neither the First nor the Second World War would have been won in the West. I repeat that this seems alas to be disregarded and the text in question has a few years ago (2004) been described as 'contrary to religion' by a bishop of the Church of England Ban this racist hymn (by Spring-Rice), says bishop as cited within this article itself, s.v. 'Contemporary Use' (Note 4), this relating, it seems, to some sort of national discussion and also including the use by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in Scotland in 1988 when addressing the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.

In conclusion I hope it will be in order if (some ninety years later and in a purely personal fashion) I suggest that the most immediate and historical references so far as the First World War is concerned and with regard to both architecture and the ceremonies relating to memorials after the war is the use of the 1921 hymn at the unveiling of the Goscombe memorial entitled ‘The Response 1914’ adjacent to a church with, on one side, another First World War memorial and next to the road a South African War memorial. It (the hymn) has been repeated here at ceremonies held at this memorial unveiled by the Prince of Wales in 1923 ever since. The words of the poem are nowhere indicated within the memorial but it shows a parade representing the departure of volunteers from the town in 1915 proceeding towards the north when in fact it was to the south that they marched on their way to the railway station and the western front. This, together with other architectural elements, may be said to relate to Lorimer’s 1927 Scottish National War Memorial, also unveiled by the Prince of Wales four years later, with an inscription above the frieze round the entire Shrine reading (in capitals) ’’The souls of the righteous are in the hand of God. There shall no evil happen to them. They are in peace.’, together with a statue by Pilkington Jackson above the entrance door to the Hall entitled ’Reveille’, shown on a postcard available from within Edinburgh Castle in which it is described as representing ’’The Cross Triumphant and the End of War, against a background of Sun, Sea, Earth and Sky’’.

It will I hope be understood (in particular if they happen to read this page by those immediately concerned within the British government so far as 'listed buildings' are concerned!) that this is at least in my own purely personal opinion only one element in tracing the possible connection between this 1921 hymn, the poem upon which it is based, and the First World War memorials that were at the time in the process of construction and dedication within the British Empire, the only significant element so far as the time at which it was written by Spring-Rice is concerned being, as is now suggested, its modification by himself subsequent to the 1917 October Revolution in Russia likewise dedicated to ‘peace’ as well as to political objectives, this particular time in history being in this respect extremely significantly distinct from the previous revolution in February and also relating to memorials within St Petersburg on the Field of Mars but as these were significantly modified, the government of Russia not having previously entered into peace negotiations with Germany or passed legislation said to relate to peace even if these subjects had as a matter of historical record been matters of debate in the east, in particular since 1916 and the suggestions in that year to all the allies, west and east, of peace agreements by Austria and Germany, agreed upon by most Russians, but not by the government given the treaty previously entered into by the Russian Empire with the allies (not at that time and until 1917 including the United States), the persons of the Russian government not therefore feeling themselves entitled to consider that possibility notwithstanding the completely devastating effects of the war on their own country and Empire - it is surely equally clear that this was the apparently deciding factor (presumably in human history as distinct from eternalism) referred to by Adolf Hitler ('Only One can Win') and this will, I assume for my own part, never be forgotten in the east (cf. 'East Meets West in Russia'). Peter Judge

Original version

At that time, the first verse glorified warfare in a manner common to the bellicose patriotism at the beginning of the Great War. if anyone has these words, could they please add them to this article - it would be very interesting to see what they say. Sidefall 17:37, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

O God, Beyond All Praising

Please check this out as well. It has the same melody, but different words I think. This should be included in the article as it is another rendition of I Vow to Thee my country.

the youtube link below is from the United States, sung in a church in Tennessee. it's towards the end of the clip.

[1]

ApsbaMd2 (talk) 15:30, 26 February 2008 (UTC)

Yes, this hymn is listed in the Oremus Hymnal as being sung to Thaxted, as is another hymn called "Let streams of living justice". It's pretty common for multiple hymns to use the same tune, and indeed for multiple tunes to be used for the same hymn, with hymns with popular metres (such as Common Metre, 8.6.8.6) often swapping tunes freely. On the other hand, as Thaxted is, to my knowledge, the only hymn tune with metre 13.13.13.13.13.13, and I Vow To Thee My Country led to the adaptation of that tune as a hymn tune, it might be worth noting that the hymn effectively created a new metre. TSP (talk) 15:49, 26 February 2008 (UTC)

Incorrect Categorisation

Surely this should not be in the English Patriotic songs category, as it is a British song!ARBAY (talk) 22:00, 6 July 2008 (UTC)

Nonsense. The country in the title can't be Britain, since that's not a country, but instead refers to England. Therefore, it is an English song, and the categorization is correct. ddawson (talk) 18:17, 9 July 2008 (UTC)

Then why is it in the Navbox under United kingdom Patriotic Songs ??

Things from the UK are usually called British and the UK is often taken as a country. I still Think as there is no explicit (or implicit) reference to England it should be placed in British Patriotic songs Category . ARBAY (talk) 18:39, 9 July 2008 (UTC)

Good point. Silly me, I was thinking of Britain (the island), as opposed to the UK. I suppose UK would be a better category. In fact, I just changed it myself. ddawson (talk) 00:55, 10 July 2008 (UTC)

I think it ought to be pointed out that there is no country that is actually named in the lyric. Though the UK might be implied, I feel it is not beyond the bounds of possibility that the verse refers not to any particular country but instead to the homeland of the person singing; in other words, that it celebrates the general human sentiment of the love of one's own country. I expressly prevent myself here from using the tainted and somewhat grubby word patriotism, particularly in the light of the poem's revision after the slaughter of the Great War; and when one considers the elevated tone of the concluding verse, which steers the listener away from crude nationalism, toward the universal and eternal.

Nuttyskin (talk) 19:10, 29 November 2011 (UTC)

This is not an English patriotic song. It is mostly associated with the British armed forces. Please remove the link to the English patriotic songs category. Thank you. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 151.230.23.6 (talk) 04:58, 29 June 2013 (UTC)

Revision

I think the revision by XLinkBot was wrong is there a wiki policy which does not allow for links to youtube???

Written after son's death?

I'm sure I heard somewhere (BBC radio 4 programme?) that Spring-Rice rewrote the poem/lyric after his own son's death in the first world war? This would be important to add if true.122.176.218.248 (talk) 17:21, 23 July 2010 (UTC)

Contemporary Use vs Commercal Uses?

Sorry, how is the distinction drawn between the sections Contemporary Use vs Commercal Uses? I meant to add its use near the end of the TV Movie "Page Eight"(2011) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1797469/combined but couldn't tell which of these sections to use. Jojoba2 (talk) 06:02, 26 July 2014 (UTC)

British or English?

In the opening line the hymn is described as 'British'. However as a Briton I have never heard it outside of England, and it is often used as an English national anthem; in the Commonwealth Games for instance. User:WatermillockCommon claims it is sung in Scottish schools, but in my own school in West Lothian I never once heard it. Zacwill16 (talk) 15:59, 2 August 2014 (UTC)

The hymn has certainly been sung many times at Gordonstoun, and this link from Fettes College Twitter account show that is sung there as well (possible regularly?)... I have also seen the hymn sung at numerous Remembrance Day services across the Commonwealth, so it is certainly sung not only outside England, but outside the British Isles. The writer, Spring Rice, viewed himself as a 'Briton', with close ancestral links to Ireland as well as England. Certainly, the hymn does have arguably the closest connection to England, but I don't think this means it cannot be regarded as a 'British hymn'. (WatermillockCommon (talk) 13:57, 4 August 2014 (UTC))

Furthermore, today the song is closely associated with the British Armed Forces, which draws its members from across the United Kingdom, not only England... (WatermillockCommon (talk) 14:00, 4 August 2014 (UTC))

Perhaps we can have a compromise? Something along the lines of 'although the hymm is sung across the United Kingdom, it is most closely associated with England, and is sometimes regarded as England's national anthem'. Zacwill16 (talk) 11:55, 6 August 2014 (UTC)

2nd verse, please correct it.

I just found that someone delete most of the 2nd verse and duplicate the 1st verse instead. I think the 2nd verse should be there and just mention aside that it wont be sung anymore, not to omit it at all. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2A02:8109:A140:F14:C957:3F77:57F6:9F41 (talk) 02:11, 9 December 2014 (UTC)

Lyrics

The text of the "second verse" was added by an anonymous editor back in 2007[2]. No reference was given. Almost nine years later, still no reference. Google books gives me ten previewable hits on the lyrics, all of which are published after 2007. This is not a good sign. Fortunately, I get one single snippet view dated 1929 which appear to confirm the lyrics are indeed by Spring-Rice[3] (The Letters and Friendships of Sir Cecil Spring Rice p. 433). It would seem that this is a snippet from a letter by Spring-Rice, but I cannot verify when or if he ever published the text in this form.

Referenced information on the publication history of the text, especially on the chronology of this supposed censorship of a "second verse", is badly needed here. --dab (𒁳) 16:34, 29 June 2016 (UTC)

It turns out the "second verse" never was part of the hymn. Spring-Rice replaced it before the poem was ever set to music. This is why it is necessary to cite sources (and tag or remove claims that fail to do so) -- you avoid filling the internet with complaints that "the second verse was censored" just because "Wikipedia says so" (viz. because a random IP editor claimed as much back in 2007). --dab (𒁳) 06:37, 4 July 2016 (UTC)

The current text says "The original first verse of Spring-Rice's poem Urbs Dei / The Two Father Lands (1908-1912), never set to music, was as follows:" ... actually, in Beck Goldsmith's version (which, besides being used in the trailer for the Village, was released as a purchasable track) the first two lines of the original first verse are included in the arrangement, in a new third verse. I'd suggest, rather than "never set to music", this para reads as ", not included in Holst's original arrangement or subsequent religious arrangements, was as follows:" (or something like that).

Goldsmith's third verse reads as follows:

"I heard my country calling, away across the sea,
Across the waste of waters, she calls and calls to me.
Her love that asks no question, her love that stands the test,
That lays upon the altar the dearest and the best;
I vow to thee, my country, all earthly things above,
Entire and whole and perfect, the service of my love."

You can hear it here: http://www.beckgoldsmith.co.uk/music/ (scroll down; btw I don't know BG nor do I have any commercial interest in her or any other version of the song). Shady18n (talk) 13:33, 13 February 2017 (UTC)

Original version /

The earlier version had the single title "Urbs Dei", only in the later version did the title "The Two Father Lands" appear. Question: What sense did the title "Urbs Dei" make in the first version? A snippet I came across claims it was simply a heraldic motto of Spring-Rice's ancestors. The german Wikipedia entry claims that in performances until fairly recently, the earlier version was inserted as second verse, the second verse of the later version becoming the third verse (thereby creating a mongrel of the peaceful later version and the bellicose early version). Can anybody give proof of this by sources? --Quinbus Flestrin (talk) 10:53, 17 July 2018 (UTC)

Prince Philip's funeral

The song was played at Prince Philip's funeral in 2020. I think it should be added to the "Contemporary use" section. — Preceding unsigned comment added by AfwasSysteem (talk • contribs) 19:57, 25 April 2021 (UTC)

Move discussion in progress

There is a move discussion in progress on Talk:Hark! The Herald Angels Sing which affects this page. Please participate on that page and not in this talk page section. Thank you. —RMCD bot 21:46, 22 June 2023 (UTC)