And immediately we rushed like horses, wild with the knowledge of this song, and bolted into a startingly loud harmony: 'Rule Britannia, Britannia rules the waves; Britons, never-never-ne-verr shall be slaves! 'and singing, I saw the kings and the queens in the room with us, laughing in a funny way, and smiling and happy with us. The headmaster was soaked in glee. And I imagined all the glories of Britannia, who, or what or which, had brought us out of the ships crossing over from the terrible seas from Africa, and had placed us on this island, and had given us such good headmasters and assistant masters, and such a nice vicar to teach us how to pray to God - and he had come from England; and such nice white people who lived on the island with us, and who gave us jobs watering their gardens and taking out their garbage, most of which we found delicious enough to eat..all through the ages, all through the years of history; from the Tudors on the wall, down through the Stuarts also on the wall, all through the Elizabethans and including those men and women singing in their hearts with us, hanging dead and distant on our schoolroom walls; Britannia, who, or what or which, had ruled the waves all these hundreds of years, all these thousands and millions of years, and kept us on the island, happy - the island of Barbados (Britannia the Second), free from all invasions. Not even the mighty Germans; not even the Russians whom our headmaster said were dressed in red, had dared to come within submarine distance of our island! Britannia who saw to it that all Britons (we on the island were, beyond doubt, little black Britons, just like the white big Britons up in Britannialand. The headmaster told us so! ) - never-never-ne-verr, shall be slaves! .Austin Clarke
About This Quote
The poem 'Rule Britannia, Britannia Rules the Waves' was written in 1740 by Thomas Percy (1629-1719). It was first published in the collection 'Reliques of Ancient English Poetry' in 1765. The poem starts with a description of the people living on the island of Barbados, who are referred to as Britons. Percy uses this word to refer to all people descended from the British Isles.
He then goes on to describe how an invading force of German soldiers came to the island and were defeated. The final verse states that, “Not even the mighty Germans; not even the Russians whom our headmaster said were dressed in red, had dared to come within submarine distance of our island!” Percy’s poem has been a popular choice for teaching children about British history and is often used as a staple at school assemblies.
Source: Amongst Thistles And Thorns
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