Rule Britannia

Rule Britannia is a song, originating from the poem Rule Britannia by James Thomson, and put to music by Thomas Arne in 1740. The song was included in a masque, Alfred, co-written by Thomson and David Mallet and first performed at Cliveden, country home of Frederick, Prince of Wales.

At the time it appeared the song was not a celebration of the existing state of naval affairs as Britain did not "rule the waves". However, over the next two centuries the Royal Navy became a dominant force on the oceans and protected Britain and her burgeoning Empire from a number of "haughty tyrants" and "foreign strokes". The jesting lyrics of the mid-1700s assumed a material and patriotic significance by the end of the 19th century.

When Britain first at Heav'n's command
Arose from out the azure main;
This was the charter of the land,
And guardian angels sang this strain;

Rule, Britannia! Britannia, rule the waves:
Britons never will be slaves.

The nations not so blest as thee,
Shall in their turns to tyrants fall;
While thou shalt flourish great and free,
The dread and envy of them all.

Rule, Britannia! Britannia, rule the waves:
Britons never will be slaves.

Still more majestic shalt thou rise,
More dreadful from each foreign stroke;
As the loud blast that tears the skies,
Serves but to root thy native oak.

Rule, Britannia! Britannia, rule the waves:
Britons never will be slaves.

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! Britannia, rule the waves:
Britons never will be slaves.

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! Britannia, rule the waves:
Britons never will be slaves.

The Muses, still with freedom found,
Shall to thy happy coast repair;
Blest Isle! With matchless beauty crowned,
And manly hearts to guide the fair.

Rule, Britannia! Britannia, rule the waves:
Britons never will be slaves.

The melody was the theme for a set of variations for piano by Ludwig van Beethoven (WoO 79).

Rule Britannia is traditionally performed at the BBC's Last Night of the Proms, normally with a guest soloist (past performers have included Bryn Terfel, Thomas Hampton, and Felicity Lott). However, in recent years the inclusion of the song and other patriotic tunes has been much criticised - notably by Leonard Slatkin - and the presentation has been amended.