Reading and Mapping the Worldviews of Island States through National Anthems: Celebrating Deity, Identity, Landscapes and Unity
| May 23, 2022
Miscellanea Geographica
Thematic Issue: Contemporary world political geography - unity in diversity. Guest Editor: Marcin Solarz
About this article
Published Online: May 23, 2022
Page range: 160 - 168
Received: Oct 12, 2021
Accepted: Mar 15, 2022
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/mgrsd-2022-0005
Keywords
© 2022 Stanley D. Brunn, published by Sciendo
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.
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Word categories identified in national anthems
| 1 | All/Our/We | ours, us, together |
| 2 | Spiritual | spirit, faith, divine, bless, glory, joy, soul, holy, prayer, wisdom, eternal, heaven |
| 3 | Future | eternity, onwards, forward, evermore, posterity |
| 4 | Land | home, homeland, motherland, fatherland |
| 5 | God/Lord | Almighty, Heavenly Father, Thou, Thee, Thy, He, His, Him |
| 6 | Family | children, he, she, sister, brother, mother, father |
| 7 | Conflict | battle, conflict, strife, heroes, war, imperialism, invasion, fear, hate, death |
| 8 | Love | loving, beloved, lovely |
| 9 | Freedom | free, independence, liberty |
| 10 | Nation | national, nationality, country |
| 11 | Unity | united, union, thanks |
| 12 | Environment | hills, valleys, mountains, rivers, seas, coast, sun |
| 13 | Peace/Justice | peaceful, just, injustice |
| 14 | Island | insular, isle |
| 15 | Hope | hopeful, hoping, aspire |
Inspiring lyrics from national anthems of selected island states
| Cape Verde | “Freedom is a hymn / Hope is as big as the sea” |
| East Timor | “Fatherland, fatherland, East Timor our nation / Glory to the people and the heroes of our liberation.” |
| Fiji | “Blessing grant oh God of nations on the isles of Fojo / Shores of golden sand and sunshine, happiness and song |
| Madagascar | “Our love will never decay / But will last eternally” |
| Marshall Islands | “My island lies o’er the ocean / Like a wreath of flowers upon the sea.” |
| New Zealand | “May our mountains ever be / Freedom and ramparts on the sea.”/“Preaching love and peace to man / Working out they glorious plan.” |
| Papua New Guinea | “Shout our name from the mountains to the sea.” |
| Philippines | “O’er within thy skies and through thy clouds / And o’er tiny hills and seas, / Do we behold the radiance / Feel the throb of glorious liberty.” |
| Singapore | “Let us progress toward happiness together/ May our noble aspirations bring / Singapore success.” |
| Sri Lanka | “Mother Lanka we salute Thee? / Beauteous in prosperity Thou / Laden with corn and luscious fruit / And fragrant flowers of radiant hue.” |
| Trinidad and Tobago | “Side by side we stand, islands of the blue Caribbean Sea” / “Here every creed and race find an equal place.” |
Time lyrics from national anthems of selected states
| Barbados | “In plenty and in time of need / The Lord has been the people’s guide / For the past 300 years.” |
| Comoros | “On these islands were we born / These islands brought us up.” |
| Cyprus | “We knew thee of old” |
| Haiti | “For Haiti our Ancestors’ country / We must walk hand in hand.” |
| Iceland | “With thee each day is a thousand years / Eternity’s flow’er with its homage of tears.” |
| Ireland | “No more our ancient sireland.” / “Some have come from the land beyond the wave.” |
| Madagascar | “Our love will never decay / But will last eternally.” |
| Palau | “Our sweet inheritance came from ancient days.” |
| St. Lucia | “Dawns at last a brighter day / Gone the time when nations battled.” |