I’ve just been reading the second verse of the British national anthem. I wonder if they’ll ever use it again?
“O Lord our God arise,
Scatter her enemies
And make them fall;
Confound their politics,
Frustrate their knavish tricks,
On Thee our hopes we fix,
God save us all! ”
Source: BBC
(Updated because I’d said English, not British)
Aussie media were much amused recently at the sight of Vic premier Steve Bracks mumbling and looking terrified when the second verse of the Advance Australia Fair was sung at some official do.
The “official version” of the song includes only verses 1 and 3 of the original; the other three verses are a delicious example of forelock-tugging and fawning admiration for all things British.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advance_Australia_Fair
That’s the British national anthem, not England’s.