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Rule, Britannia! Main Menu

1740 Ode

35846

Rule, Britannia!

When Britain first, at heaven's command,
Arose from out the azure main;
This was the charter of the land,
And guardian Angels sung this strain:
            "Rule Britannia, rule the waves;
            "Britons never will be slaves."

The opening stanza imagines Britain as arising from the sea "at heaven's command." Not only was Britain imagined as created first, but Britannia was immediately given its empirical mission—as sung by Angels, to "rule the waves" and "never... be slaves."

The nations, not so blest as thee,
Must in their turns, to tyrants fall:
While thou shalt flourish great and free,
The dread and envy of them all.
            "Rule Britannia, rule the waves;
            "Britons never will be slaves."

"Tyrants" are here distinguished from the Britons, even though the nations that Britain rule also "in their turn... fall." The final line before the couplet, that Britain is "the dread and envy of them all," underscores the mechanisms of nascent imperialism. The "great and free" state of Britain relies upon causing other nations to "dread and envy," perhaps the nations Britain actively colonizes.

Thee haughty tyrants ne'er shall tame:
All their attempts to bend thee down,
Will but arouse thy generous flame;
But work their woe, and thy renown.
            "Rule Britannia, rule the waves;
            "Britons never will be slaves."

Calling other nation's rulers "haughty tyrants" defines the way Britain sees their rule as an invisible norm. Any power that stands against Britain's rule is haughty and tyrannical. Indeed, any attempt to usurp Britain's power, according to the ode, "will but arouse thy generous flame." In other words, any attempt to quell Britain's imperialism will only incite further.

To thee belongs the rural reign;
Thy cities shall with commerce shine:
All thine shall be the subject main,
And every shore it circles thine.
            "Rule Britannia, rule the waves;
            "Britons never will be slaves."

By focusing on the cities' commerce, "Rule, Britannia!" again gestures to the transatlantic slave trade. Commerce in spaces such as the Royal Exchange depended upon the products of imperialism. In a 1711 edition of The Spectator, the Royal Exchange describes this cross-cultural zone, such as "The Infusion of a China Plant" being "sweetned with the Pith of an Indian Cane." However, the sweet "Indian Cane," or sugar from the plantations of the West Indies, is commerce fueling the enslavement of captive Africans.

The Muses, still with freedom found,
Shall to thy happy coast repair:
Blest isle! with matchless beauty crown'd,
And manly hearts to guard the fair.
            "Rule Britannia, rule the waves;
            "Britons never will be slaves."

"Manly hearts" characterizes imperialism as patriarchal as well. Guarding "the fair" engenders Britain as female, as "fair" is a descriptor often used for women of this time (the "fair" sex). This gendered distinction is also found in the colonial language towards "new worlds" in calling them "virgin lands—as if virgin female land is merely waiting for the penetrative discovery of masculine colonizers. Finally, the repetition of the final couplet ensures that it is the part that will be stuck in one's head. The music swells in each verse as the couplet repeats. The song itself, therefore, holds the singer in a loop of captivity until the lyrics are presumably internalized.

1740 Ode

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