Every new year / chaque nouvel an

I think of George VI's famous Christmas message, delivered in 1939, at the outbreak of war.
je pense au célèbre message de Noël du Roi George VI, diffusé en 1939 au commencement de la guerre.

The link gives a recording . Le lien donne un enrégistrement mais il cite ce poème :

J'ai dit au gardien de la porte de l'année:
"Donnez-moi une lampe
Pour aller sans danger vers l'inconnu."
Et il m'a répondu: "Avance dans la nuit
Et met ta main dans la main de Dieu.
Ce sera mieux qu'une lampe
Et plus sûr qu'un chemin connu."

Comments

Ken said…
Thanks for that Alan. The late Queen Mum reportedly detested his brother for abdicating and forcing her beloved Bertie into a public gaze he neither sought nor wanted; he was a shy retiring man who apparently had a speech defect, (a stammer I believe), which he fought valiantly to overcome. Thus he was obviously a reticent and sometimes , uninspiring speaker but none-the-less a magnificent war-time King who was greatly loved by the masses. I remember as a little boy going to see him and his Queen when they visited Leicester - to a rapturous welcome!

He was also reputed to be a very Godly man who would, according to reports - perhaps apocryphal - nip out of some public meetings to attend a prayer meeting. Would that our next King would measure up a quarter as much - some hope eh?
2:46 pm
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