I Vow to Thee my Country

This is a patriotic hymn, which is particularly associated with England.

The words are based on "Urbs Dei" ("The City of God") or "The Two Fatherlands": This is a poem written by English diplomat Cecil Spring Rice (1859–1918) in 1908 or 1912, and updated in 1918, which describes how a Christian owes loyalties to both his/her homeland and the heavenly kingdom.

It was published as a hymn in 1921, when English composer, music-arranger and teacher Gustav Holst (1874–1934) set sections of the poem to melody, later called THAXTED, which was lightly adapted from the "Jupiter" movement of The Planets, a suite that Host wrote in 1917.

Hymn-books where it has been published in include:

Songs of Praise: enlarged edition, 1931
Methodist Hymn Book, 1933
Songs of Praise for America, 1938
The Book of Common Praise (hymn book of The Church of England in Canada), 1939
Hymns Ancient & Modern, Revised, 1950
Songs of Praise for Schools, 1957
Church Hymnal, Fourth Edition, 1960
New Catholic Hymnal, Faber, England, 1971
With Cheerful Voice, Hymns for Children 1968 and 1979
Hymns Ancient and Modern, New Standard Edition, 1983
Celebration Hymnal for Everyone, McCrimmon Publications, England, 1994 and 2012
Common Praise: A new edition of Hymns Ancient and Modern, 2000
Church Hymnary 4th edition, 2005
New English Praise, 2006, SCM Canterbury Press

The work is somewhat controversial: some churches regard it as primarily a patriotic song especially when with the extra verse is included.

Downloads

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PowerPoint slides

Downloadable setting: piano accompaniment for voice, with guitar chords

Examples

Choir with orchestra

Choir with piano

Choir and congregation at a Royal-attended church service

Tenor soloist with orchestra

Choir with orchestra, professional recording, words on-screen

Singer with pipe and drum band

Instrumental - organ

Instrumental - brass bands

Lyrics

I vow to thee, my country, all earthly things above,
Entire and whole and perfect, the service of my love;
The love that asks no questions, the love that stands the test,
That lays upon the altar the dearest and the best;
The love that never falters, the love that pays the price,
The love that makes undaunted the final sacrifice.

This verse was added by Cecil Spring Rice in 2018, during the First World War: some commentators say it was intended to replace the first verse, while others say it is in addition to it:

I heard my country calling, away across the sea,

Across the waste of waters she calls and calls to me.

Her sword is girded at her side, her helmet on her head,

And round her feet are lying the dying and the dead.

I hear the noise of battle, the thunder of her guns,

I haste to thee my mother, a son among thy sons.

And there's another country, I've heard of long ago,
Most dear to them that love her, most great to them that know;
We may not count her armies, we may not see her King;
Her fortress is a faithful heart, her pride is suffering;
And soul by soul and silently her shining bounds increase,

And her ways are ways of gentleness, and all her paths are peace.