***
England is the land of my birth, and the land where I hope to end my days. The land of my fathers and mothers, and the land where I too will raise my children. The land from which I have sometimes travelled far, yet always longed to return to whenever I have left its shores. The land where I have enjoyed all my happiest moments, from the childhood summers in Sussex by the sea, to the Lakeland mountain walking holidays of the middle years. The land of music as varied yet as quintessentially English as Elgar and Vaughan Williams, Genesis and The Smiths. A land of beer drinkers and pub culture, of bar-room camaraderie and foaming pints beside roaring log fires. A land of temperate sunshine and richly varying seasons whose weather is reflected in its politics, free from harsh extremes. A land rich in history, symbolised by the continuity of a royal line stretching back fifteen centuries, and by the more ordinary human stories which bear out the truth of TS Eliot’s beautiful verse: “A people without history is not redeemed from time...History is now and England.” A land which people have fought and died to save, and a land which, in my grandparents’ generation, stood alone against the most atrocious tyranny the world has ever seen. A land where the words of its greatest leader Winston Churchill forever bear witness to its indomitable spirit: “We will defend our island, whatever the cost may be...we will never surrender.”
I hope to dwell in this land all my days and enjoy its safe pasture, and to bring up my children to love it as I have done.
November 2007
5 comments:
Sounds like a Garden of Eden (without the serpent). Quite flawless. Where is this place?
I'm filling up.
I find this a bit of a perplexing post to be honest.
A man of the left citing the monarchy as one of the most appealing things about his country?
Temperate sunshine?
The reference to "pasture" seems a bit romanticised - it's 2007, not 1648.
But then I am a Scot!
Agree 100 per cent with the Churchill stuff though - some of those old speeches never fail to send shivers down the spine.
Mark
My support for the Monarchy is well known. I fail to see why this should be incompatible with a liberal-left worldview.
The phrase "safe pasture" is a rererence to Psalm 37, vv3-4. "Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart."
Thanks for responding Paul.
I wasn't aware it was a biblical reference, fair play. As a heathen and a Scot I'm possibly not the target audience for this post so I should have perhaps kept my mouth shut!
Didn't know you were a fan of the royals. I don't wish them any harm personally, but can't quite abide their anachronistic nature - even if I am as much a sucker for historical pomp and ceremony done properly (such as today's opening of parliament) as the next man.
Keep up the good work on the blog.
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