Do you Know?

One of the greatest pleasures in my life that I have received recently came in the form of a brief letter from my fellow-lover of the English Language — Dr Julian Duncan, Professor Emeritus of UWI.

I quote: “Dear Mrs G - Just thought you might like to see what is posted on the Trinidad and Tobago website as the words of the National Anthem. Note the 9th and 11th lines. As it is said, if a drop of water falls continuously on a stone it soon creates an impression. Julian “I could hardly believe my eyes when I looked at the page that followed. I reproduce it in its entirety.

NATIONAL EMBLEMS OF TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO

THE NATIONAL ANTHEM

Forged from the love of liberty

In the fires of hope and prayer,

With boundless faith in our Destiny,

We solemnly declare,

Side by side we stand,

Islands of the blue Caribbean Sea,

This our Native Land,

We pledge our lives to Thee,

Here every creed and race finds an equal place

(The underscoring is mine)

And may God bless our Nation

Here every creed and race finds an equal place,

And may God bless our Nation.

http://www.nalis.tt/etc

My next move was to call NALIS to congratulate the persons who were responsible for taking that decisive step that should have been taken more than forty years ago when the grammatical mistake in the anthem was pointed out to officials by some scholars who really know English Grammar and have a sense of pride in their nation, and preserving its reputation.

What must other nations think of us?

As I listened to Wendy Sheppard lustily belting out our national anthem on the occasion of the function for the Soca Warriors at the Hasely Crawford Stadium (What a voice she had!), it occurred to me that she and Mavis John and other such persons who are asked to sing the national anthem on special occasions could be wonderful ambassadors for upholding and spreading the good reputation of our nation, if only they had the courage to sing the 9th and 11th lines correctly from a grammatical point of view. It would also save them the indignity of singing something that hurts the ears of those who know better. What wonderful opportunities they have to salvage our dignity! Constant dripping will wear away the hardest stone. I throw out the challenge to you, Wendy and Mavis and other such singers.

Thank you, NALIS, for setting an example.