By Rudyard Kipling
God of our fathers, known of old—
Lord of our far-flung battle line—
Beneath whose awful hand we hold
Dominion over palm and pine—
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget—lest we forget!
The tumult and the shouting dies—
The Captains and the Kings depart—
Still stands Thine ancient sacrifice,
An humble and a contrite heart.
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget—lest we forget!
Far-called our navies melt away—
On dune and headland sinks the fire—
Lo, all our pomp of yesterday
Is one with Nineveh and Tyre!
Judge of the Nations, spare us yet,
Lest we forget—lest we forget!
If, drunk with sight of power, we loose
Wild tongues that have not Thee in awe—
Such boastings as the Gentiles use,
Or lesser breeds without the Law—
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget—lest we forget!
For heathen heart that puts her trust
In reeking tube and iron shard—
All valiant dust that builds on dust,
And guarding calls not Thee to guard.
For frantic boast and foolish word,
Thy Mercy on Thy People, Lord!
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I've posted that poem before, but it was written for Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee and I spent Sunday with Delta and Lin belatedly celebrating Queen Elizabath's Diamond Jubilee, since this was the first day we could all get together. I had a box of goodies from Marks & Spencer that my friend Veronica sent me, including shortbread, chocolate, confetti, biscuits, tea, and fairy cake wrappers, so Paul indulged us and made fairy cakes to go in the latter, plus a big English breakfast (and we also had crackers, salt-and-vinegar crisps, lollies and more). Obviously a proper celebration required screenings of The King's Speech and The Queen around bits of Katie Couric's special.
Tiaras and scepters for all of us
Souvenir boxes
Me, Delta and Lin in our regalia
Lin with Pooh dressed for the Palace
Breakfast involving eggs, bacon, marmalade and tea
Diamond Jubilee Walkers shortbread tin
Queen Rosie
Princess Cinnamon
Princess Daisy
We had rarebit for dinner since it went with the theme for the day, then we watched the Tony Awards. I have no true opinion on anything since I have not seen any of the shows -- my strongest biases were about Best Revival, since Porgy and Bess is an utter masterpiece and only LuPone-Patinkin-level performers should revive Evita -- but it was a huge pleasure to see so many actors I adore, from Stockard Channing and James Earl Jones to Candice Bergen and Frank Langella to Audra McDonald and Hugh Jackman (and Hugh Jackman's awesome wife). Plus the aforementioned LuPone and Patinkin. And NPH ("Fifty Shades of Gay"). So it's all good.
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