Ode to Newfoundland
Provincial anthem of | |
Lyrics | Sir Cavendish Boyle, 1902 |
---|---|
Music | Sir Hubert Parry |
Adopted | 1980 |
"Ode to Newfoundland" is the official provincial anthem of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. It was composed by Governor Sir Cavendish Boyle in 1902[1] as a four-verse poem entitled Newfoundland. On December 22, 1902 it was sung by Frances Daisy Foster at the Casino Theatre of St. John's during the closing of the play Mamzelle.[1] The original score was set to the music of E. R. Krippner, a German bandmaster living in St. John's but Boyle desired a more dignified score. It was then set to the music of British composer Sir Hubert Parry, a personal friend of Boyle, who composed two settings. On May 20, 1904 it was chosen as Newfoundland's official national anthem (national being understood as a self-governing Dominion of the British Empire on par with Canada, South Africa, Australia and other former British colonies).[1] This distinction was dropped when Newfoundland joined the Canadian Confederation in 1949. Three decades later, in 1980, the province re-adopted the song as an official provincial anthem, the first province to do so. The "Ode to Newfoundland" is still sung at public events to this day as a tradition.
Lyrics
1. | When sun rays crown thy pine clad hills, And summer spreads her hand, We love thee, we love thee, |
2. | When spreads thy cloak of shimmering white, At winter's stern command, We love thee, we love thee |
3. | When blinding storm gusts fret thy shore, And wild waves lash thy strand, We love thee, we love thee |
4. | As loved our fathers, so we love, Where once they stood, we stand; God guard thee, God guard thee, |
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Volume four, p. 168, Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador, ISBN 0-9693422-1-7.