Dear Editor,
Queen’s College alumni have gathered in Guyana to celebrate the institution’s 180th birthday this week, and the word “excellence” is in the air. I am using the opportunity to propose new words for the Guyana National Anthem.
National anthem (proposed)
Dear land of our fathers, of woods, and of rivers,
Made rich by the sunshine, and lush by the rains,
Set gem-like and bright, between earth and heaven,
Your children salute you, dear land of the free.
Precious land of our fathers, our fighters of old,
Enslaved and free laid, their bones in our home,
This soil they made sacred, and from them we’re blessed,
All children of fathers and mothers we be.
Bold fathers of our land, united in blood,
We’re born of their sacrifices, and heirs of their pains,
Our is the glory, mentioned they of we,
One mosaic of peoples, united and free.
Great land of bold fighters, to you will we give,
Our homage, our service, each day that we live,
Grant us great warriors, courage eternally,
Defending our heritage, land of the free.
Compare the above with
THE NATIONAL ANTHEM
Dear land of Guyana, of rivers and plains,
Made rich by the sunshine, and lush by the rains,
Set gem-like and fair, between mountains and seas
Your children salute you, dear land of the free.
Green land of Guyana, our heroes of yore,
Both bondsmen and free, laid their bones on your shore,
This soil so they hallowed, and from them are we,
All sons of one mother, Guyana the free.
Great land of Guyana, diverse though our strains,
We’re born of their sacrifices, heirs to their pains,
And ours is the glory their eyes did not see,
One land of six peoples, united and free,
Dear land of Guyana, to you will we give,
Our homage, our service, each day that we live,
God grant you great mother, and make us to be,
More worthy our heritage, land of the free.
I think many words of our present anthem are dividing us instead of unifying us. For example, ‘land of six peoples’ captures British colonial policy of divide and rule. I am proposing, “one mosaic of peoples”.
Please publish, in the expectation that the excellencies now gathered may reflect and respond to the proposed new Guyana Nation Anthem.
Yours faithfully,
Tom Dalgety
Niah Griffith
