UK National Anthem Lyrics, Original Lyrics, Jerusalem National Anthem, God Save The Queen Lyrics All Verses PDF Free Download
UK National Anthem Lyrics PDF Download
Happenings On The London Underground Is Quite A Reflective Piece. It Clearly Isn’t Autobiographical As The Poet Is Not Called Mr Patel! It Is Separated Into Six Stanzas, Although The First And Last Of These Is Only One Line Long And Is Almost A Refrain Giving The Poem A Balance And Symmetry.
The Poem Is Written In Free Verse And Each Of The Stanzas (One And Six Aside) Has A Different Amount Of Lines. There Is No Rhyming Pattern Throughout The Poem.
This First Stanza Helps To Set The Scene, Or At Least It Does For Anybody Who Has Traveled On The London Underground. The District Line Is A Route That Travels Right Through The Heart Of The City Of London.
Note How Alliteration Is Used In The Very First Line. This Gives The Description An Upbeat Kind Of Feel Although This Somewhat Belays The Tone Of Happenings On The London Underground Which Is Quite Wistful In Places. We Are Introduced Early On To The Poem’s Main Character: A Chap By The Name Of Mr. Patel. Given Nair’s Own Heritage And The Asian Sounding Name, I Think It Would Be A Sensible Assumption That Mr Patel Is Probably Of Indian Origin. When It References Dreaming Of Sunshine It May Well Be Referring To India.
What I Find Interesting Is That He Seems To Be Holding His Sandwiches Close To His Heart. Why Is That? Could It Be That He Is Nervous About Taking The Underground? It Can Be Quite An Intimidating Experience After All And That Level Of Intimidation Could Well Be Enough To Make Somebody Long For Something Else.
As The Poem Continues It Throws That Concept Into Doubt. It Says That Mr Patel Is Trying To Escape From Issues At Home. But Which Home Is This Referencing? His London Home Or His Original Home? It Isn’t Really Clear At This Juncture But What Is Clear Is That Mr Patel Seems To Have A Lot Of The Same Worries A Typical Londoner Would Have.
At The Start Of This Stanza, We See The First “name Drop” As The Tube Moves Past Westminster. Obviously Whilst You Are On The Underground Everything Looks Pretty Much The Same. So This Doesn’t Really Help To Set Any Kind Of Scene And Is Perhaps In The Poem To Help Give The Poem A Sense Of Nostalgia. The Nostalgia Kick Continues As Several Other Prominent London Landmarks Are Namedropped, Earl’s Court And Petticoat Lane, Which Is Famed For Its Bustling Market.
In The Final Two Lines Of This Stanza, An Interesting Idea Is Portrayed As The Voice From The Public Announcement System Is Described As Being The Mysterious Voice Of God! I Don’t Believe For A Second That The Narrator Actually Believes That It Is Gods Voice Which Does Raise The Question Of Why It Is Described Thusly.
Perhaps It Is Because The Voice Appears To Come From The Heavens? Maybe The Narrator Is Making A Joke? What Is Also Significant About This Line Is The Mentioning Of God. Religion Features Heavily In The Poetry Of Anita Nair And This Poem Is No Exception To That Rule.
In This Stanza Of Happenings On The London Underground, I Think That Mr Patel Has Probably Exited The Train As The Scenes He Is Surveying Seem To Revolve Around A Duck Pond And A Rather Disgusting Sounding Duck Pond At That! This Is Probably Another Landmark In London But I Have To Admit I Don’t Know London Well Enough To Tell You Where This Place Is (If Anyone Knows Please Feel Free To Comment!) Clearly It Is A Place That Is Quite Inspirational As We See In The Fifth Line There Is Usually An Influx Of Artists Keen To Use The Area.
In The Line Following This, It Is Revealed That It Is A Cold Day By The Fact That Mr. Patel Is Wearing Mittens. Perhaps This Is Another Reason Why He Is Missing Home? The Cold Is Making Him Miss Warmer Climes. Interestingly The Narrator Takes On The Voice Of Mr. Patel Himself In The Seventh And Eighth Line, Questioning The Decisions That Have Led Him To Live In London.
In This Penultimate Stanza, We See Mr Patel Completing His Journey By Taking The Tube Home. He Is Described As Being In A Reverie Which Is An Altogether Nicer State Than In The Previous Stanza Where His Head Was Full Of Hard To Answer Questions. However, It Is Revealed That This Reverie Isn’t As Positive As The Word Would Suggest As The Beggar Boy That Distracts Him Helps Him To Escape What Would Appear To Be Quite Negative Thoughts.
The Twists And Turns Here Are Strange. It Would Appear That Nair Is Suggesting One Thing But Then It Is Revealed She Means Something Else Entirely. In The End Though When Mr Patel Reflects On The Day He Does So Positively, Perhaps The Meaning Of The Poem Is That Mr Patel Isn’t Entirely Unhappy, It’s Just When He Has Time To Reflect That He Can’t Help But Ponder On Whether He Made A Good Decision To Come To England.
UK National Anthem Lyrics
God Save Our Gracious King,
Long Live Our Noble King,
God Save The King!
Send Him Victorious,
Happy And Glorious,
Long To Reign Over Us,
God Save The King!
O Lord Our God Arise,
Scatter Our Enemies,
And Make Them Fall!
Confound Their Politics,
Frustrate Their Knavish Tricks,
On Thee Our Hopes We Fix,
God Save Us All!
Not In This Land Alone,
But Be God’s Mercies Known,
From Shore To Shore!
Lord Make The Nations See,
That Men Should Brothers Be,
And Form One Family,
The Wide World O’er.
From Every Latent Foe,
From The Assassins Blow,
God Save The King!
O’er His Thine Arm Extend,
For Britain’s Sake Defend,
Our Father, Prince, And Friend,
God Save The King!
Thy Choicest Gifts In Store,
On Him Be Pleased To Pour,
Long May He Reign!
May He Defend Our Laws,
And Ever Give Us Cause,
To Sing With Heart And Voice,
God Save The King!