Tea at Trianon: A Tale of Two American Anthems

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Saturday, July 6, 2024

A Tale of Two American Anthems

From Bethel at Further Up:

What makes an American anthem? Is it peaceful gratitude, or martial vigor? Is it love of the American land and people, or defiance of America’s enemies? Is it blind loyalty, or clear-sighted devotion?
It’s safe to say that our official anthem is on the “martial” side, having literally been inspired by a battle. You might even call it downright jingoistic. But in the 19th century, more reflective (and more singable) standards began to emerge. Where “The Star-Spangled Banner” is a battle cry, lyrics like “America the Beautiful” and “My Country ‘Tis of Thee” convey the beauty of our land in peacetime, though not without honoring the bloody sacrifices that made it possible.
In the 20th century, two simply composed classics proved especially enduring: “God Bless America” and “This Land is Your Land.” You may have grown up singing both of them while knowing little about their writers, or about how the songs’ histories were intertwined. And given how similar they feel, you would never have known that the latter was originally conceived as a protest against the former.
Like all great pieces of art, both works stand on their own with no need for biographical interpolations. Still, in a forgetful and complacent age, it’s worth knowing something about where our songs came from, written by men who were forged in crucibles we little understand today. This 4th, I hope you enjoy this musical walk down our collective memory lane as much as I enjoyed writing it, and I hope it sheds some interesting light on my opening question: What makes an American anthem? (Read more.)