Bible Songs — Temperance Songs

International Temperance Hymn

Brittannia, rouse thee! queen Isle of the Ocean,

No. 1388
Tune INTERNATIONAL TEMPERANCE HYMN.
Words Rev. Dwight Williams.
Music W. A. Ogden.
Key C major
Singing key B♭ major
Time 2/2
4 stanzas

Words

Brittannia, rouse thee! queen Isle of the Ocean,And strike for the millions that boast of thy fame;Columbia, answer with heart of devotion,And march to the strife in the Conqueror's name.Old land of the brave,Thy flag on the wave,O long may it ride o'er thy enemy's grave!

Columbia, fresh as the glow of the morning,And strong in the race of the nations to run;—A tyrant is rising, look well to the warning,And honor the name of thine own Washington;Young land of the free,Let all the world seeThe rapture of freedom still dwelling in thee!

And thou, Young Dominion! crowned in earth's story,And bathed in the light of the Temperance Star,Dost shine as a bride in her coronal glory,Our sister-land, greeted and praised from afar;Shout back o'er the sea,To the Queen of the Free,Victorious splendor still lingers o'er thee.

Brittannia, hasten! Columbia, speed thee!The wide world is waiting a new, holy song;Be brave in the struggle, and onward God lead thee!Till jubilee cometh, exultant and long;The waves of the seaShall chime with the free,—To God in the heaven's the glory shall be.

About this hymn

As printed As printed: hymn number «1388» (large, left), title «INTERNATIONAL TEMPERANCE HYMN.» centred (condensed capitals and small capitals, «International Temperance Hymn.»); under it, centred, the epigraph «"Righteousness exalteth a nation : but sin is a reproach to any people."—Prov. 14 : 34.» (old-style figures); on the next line «REV. DWIGHT WILLIAMS.» at the left (the words) and «W. A. OGDEN.» at the right (the music), capitals and small capitals; under the author, in italics, «With energy.». No meter, no reference line. The first system is an instrumental introduction without words (no label printed); «cres.» (italic) stands over its fourth bar. The four stanzas are interlinear, numbered «1.»–«4.», between the staves of systems 2–5; each printed line of words carries several verse lines, given here one verse line per line (the closing «Old land of the brave, / Thy flag on the wave, / O long may it ride…» lines change with each stanza: there is no chorus). In stanza 1, «thee! queen» is set in a smaller, condensed bold type, close together. Stanza 3 prints «To the» under the one pickup note of the last line. Spelling «Brit-tan-nia» (double t, double n) as printed. Under the music, centred: «Copyrighted 1881 by J. E. White.»; folio «596». The print sets a thin space before «!», «;» and «:» («thee !», «fame ;», «nation :»); it is closed up here; curly quotes and apostrophes are written straight. Spelling and punctuation are the print's.