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Retrograde

(11,219 posts)

1. "Thine alabaster cities gleem/Undimmed by human tears"

Reply to Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin (Original post)

Mon Jul 28, 2025, 01:53 PM

Monday

Read past the first verse - it's not all sweetness and light as some suppose. Still, I'd rather have it as the national anthem instead of The Star Spangled Banner (which includes the line "Their blood has wash'd out their foul footstep's pollution" as if to say, Take That, La Marseillaise)

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Highlight:

The Surprising Origins of America's Best-Loved, Most Misunderstood Song [View all] Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin Monday OP

"Thine alabaster cities gleem/Undimmed by human tears" Retrograde Monday #1

Still, the music for our national anthem is taken directly from an old English drinking song. Aristus Monday #2

Good essay at link. Here's the full poem: I looked it up for accuracy, but I remember it from childhood... Hekate Monday #3

From grammar school enid602 Monday #4