Remembrance Sunday

As we are approaching Remembrance Sunday in the UK and Commonwealth, I reproduce a patriotic clip from Youtube which illustrates some of last week's lecture on the UK monarchy. I have been unable to find a suitable short film of the Remembrance Day parade in London's Whitehall. The words to the hymn which is being sung in this clip are from 1921, shortly after the massacre of the first World War (1914-1918). They are by Cecil Spring-Rice and the music is by Gustav Holst. The hymn is especially associated with Remembrance Sunday, when those who died in war are remembered and money is collected, by selling poppy badges, for a charity (the Poppy Fund - http://www.poppy.org.uk ), to help ex-servicemen and their families.

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.