National anthems, in Wordles
Tonight, at an English class where I help out, an esteemed student said that one of his favorite celebrations of Independence Day in Costa Rica (tomorrow, September 15) is singing the national anthem as one, as an entire country, at 6pm tonight at the lantern parade.
This could go in the !Guau! category for that alone. So I listened to the anthem at 6pm, because I could not sing it. I watched FIFA World Cup fans and players sing it on YouTube. And I was struck by how—— far away from reality the words seemed. Who wrote this? It’s about peasants and war, far from today’s Costa Rica. Then I watched the Panamanian Hymn of the Isthmus and got a similar vibe. Is this the way all anthems are?
Maybe. I started looking at anthem after anthem of really any country. Poland’s is sad, mostly about how they survived. Latvia’s is short but proud.
Here is Japan’s:
May the reign of the Emperor
continue for a thousand, nay, eight thousand generations
and for the eternity that it takes
for small pebbles to grow into a great rock
and become covered with moss.
Yes. For real.
So, I made Wordles of various national anthems, stripping out the too obvious. Take a guess (hints if you have a geography background):
And of course:
Limpid Hail Homeland! And because I was curious:
Back to Costa Rica and tonight’s beautiful parade of homemade artistic lanterns of all sizes — a lantern, an incredible symbol — and the entire country singing at one moment. Imagine. It is a celebration of unity by acting in unity.
Another favorite for me: the torch that goes through every town in Costa Rica today, carried by school children of all ages. The children and the schools are at the center of the celebration, they are the purpose of the celebration, which changes the celebration to be one about the future and not just about the past.
As two of my friends here said, they were unused to feeling patriotic and here felt connected to the joy and pride of the celebration. Pondering patriotism of another stripe, patriotism that is not about a border, but about an immediate and community recognition.
