Let us now praise famous men December 23, 2005
Posted by Ujwala in 1983, lamartiniere, lmog, school, song, ujwala.trackback
Canticle
by R Vaughan Williams
Let us now praise famous men
and our fathers that begat us
such as did bear rule
in their kingdoms
men renowned for their power
leaders of the people
by their counsel
and by their knowledge
such as found out
musical tunes and
recited verses in writing
All these were honoured
in their generation
and for the glory of our times
but some there be
which have no memorial
who have perished as though
they have never been
Their bodies are
buried in peace
but their name liveth
for evermore.
please let me know where the errors have crept in…..
LMOG '83 
errors: reknowned =renowned (spelling mistake)
council= counsel (wrong meaning)
musical tune should be musical tunes
forever more should be for evermore
thank you celia. i have made the corrections.
What a beautiful piece of poetry. We used to sing it at Melbourne High School in the mid fifties. One thousand young male voices, singing with all their heart. It used to bring a lump to my throat every time we sang it. Robert Wood MHS 1952-1955.
For the record the source is Wisdom of Ben Sira chapter 44. I happened to use it in my latest blog and my partner told me that she sang it as a schoolgirl in England
we too sang it at school, a 1000 odd girls and we loved it. saw a youtube video of it on your blog and have updated my post with it. thank you for both. : )
Oh my god I’m in Class 9 at La Martiniere for Girls, Kolkata, right now, and i am in love with this song….It’s amazing how the same song was sung years ago, in the same school, years before I was even born!! And here it is, linked to LMG, on the internet. Amazing, truly.
hope you’re enjoying school as much as we did and will remember it as fondly as we do! :))
When I was at Grammar School many years ago we had an annual Founders Day Service and this was the ‘School Song’. I am reminded of it whenever I walk through a graveyard/cemetery and see headstones where the names are worn down. Looked up all the lyrics tonight to write some on a wooden Royal British Legion Cross which will be placed in their Field of Remembrance at Westminster Abbey. “But some there be who have no memorial…..” It brought back memories to hear it sung. And made me think about having headstones put on both sets of my grandparents graves – who I’ve recently found through genealogy, because the families at the time were too poor to erect any. And my great-uncle Thomas was killed a Gallipoli in 1915.