I Vow to Thee, My Country

I Vow to Thee, My Country is an English patriotic song and Anglican hymn, 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 loyalities 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 England and the sacrifice of those who died during the First World War. The second 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."

In 1921, the music from a section of "Jupiter" from Gustav Holst's Planets Suite (1914–16) was added by Holst to create a hymn. The music was extended slightly to fit the final two lines of the first verse. In hymnals, this melody is usually referred to as Thaxted (named after the village where Holst lived for many years). Holst was most likely influenced by his daughter who had attended the same school, St Paul's Girls' School in London, as Spring Rice's daughter. The hymn was first performed in 1925 and became a common element at Armistice memorial ceremonies at this time.

The tune has led to a small number of other hymns, including Michael Perry's "O God, Beyond All Praising", being written with the unusual 13.13.13.13.13.13 metre to be sung to Thaxted.

Lyrics

These are the lyrics as found in hymn books, which omit the deleted middle verse.

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.

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.

Deleted Verse

The hymn was originally written with three verses; the second verse was not considered suitable for modern use, and is not included in hymn books.

The deleted lyrics are as follows:

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.

Contemporary religious use

The hymn is popular at weddings and is also associated with Remembrance Day services in the UK and in Canada.

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 famously quoted by Margaret Thatcher in 1988 in her Sermon on the Mound to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, although the hymn was not included in the Scottish hymnals of the time.

In August 2004, the Rt Revd Stephen Lowe, Bishop of Hulme, called for the first verse of the hymn to be removed from Church of England services, calling it "totally heretical". He believed it placed national loyalties above religious ones and encouraged racism and an unquestioning support of governments. His words sparked a debate on the wider implications of the hymn.

Commercial uses

• Sarah Brightman has recorded a song "Running" in 2007 which is based on the same composition by Holst ("The Planets: Jupiter"), but has entirely different lyrics. It was the theme song for the IAAF Championships; Sarah performed it at the opening ceremony in Osaka.
• An instrumental version of the song appears in an episode of the satirical television show The Day Today to accompany a 'patriotic' video.
• A variation of the tune entitled "World in Union", with its own lyrics by Charlie Skarbek, is a theme for the Rugby World Cup.
• The song appears in Voice of an Angel, the debut album of Charlotte Church. It also appears in the album G4 & Friends by the X Factor group G4. It also features on Libera's 2003 album Free.
• Maddy Prior includes the tune in two pieces of her 2003 album Lionhearts.
• After winning the 2005 Ashes the English cricket team did backing vocals for the song, sung by Keedie, as a B-side to the cricketing favourite Jerusalem.
• The song is also featured in the Katherine Jenkins album Living a Dream the UK version.
• The music appears in the British mini-series To Play the King (1993)
• The song is frequently used in the BBC show Top Gear as a soundtrack to the appearance of some British cars.
• The second verse is a possible source for the title to both the play and the film Another Country, where the hymn is sung.
• An instrumental version of the song is featured in the 1995 film adaptation of Jane Austen's Persuasion.
• The music also featured in the 2003 movie Mona Lisa Smile.
• The music was used in 2007 for a television advertisement by the Safaricom mobile network in Kenya
• The music was used in 2006 for a television advertisement by the Siam Commercial Bank in Thailand for their 100 years celebration.
• The music was used in 2008 at the European Cup final in Moscow when Manchester United collected the trophy for a 3rd time.

External links

• I Vow to Thee, My Country at the "Cyber Hymnal".
• Easybyte - free easy piano sheet music for I Vow to Thee / Thaxted
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