I hate to be serious after that serious bout of wit, but when I've heard
British speakers use the construction, whether as a public proclamation
or as direct address (only in Tudor-period movies), "God," in "God save
the King" or "God save your Grace," the tonic accent has been on "King"
in the former and on "save" in the latter, not on "God" as I would
expect if "God" were vocative.
Herb
-----Original Message-----
From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Veit, Richard
Sent: 2008-03-16 07:59
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Subjunctive
I received some friendly ribbing for incorrectly assuming "God save the
queen" was imperative, since Christians would never presume to make
demands of the deity.
But wait a minute! Don't they address all kinds of imperatives
heavenward? The first lines of the "Pater Noster" are subjunctive:
* Hallowed be thy name
* Thy kingdom come
* Thy will be done
But what about the next four?
* Give us this day our daily bread
* Forgive us our trespasses
* Lead us not into temptation
* Deliver us from evil
And grace before meals:
* Bless us, O Lord, and these thy gifts...
And the sailor's hymn:
* Oh hear us when we cry to thee/ For those in peril on the sea
And "De Profundis":
* Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord./ Lord hear my voice!/ O let
your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleading.
And Janis Joplin:
* I'm counting on you, Lord, please don't let me down./ Prove that you
love me and buy the next round.
So (Lord, have mercy!) it wouldn't surprise me a bit if more than a few
Brits on the street are also thinking imperative when they sing their
national anthem.
Dick Veit
-----Original Message-----
Subject: Re: Subjunctive
You mean you thought it was direct address: God, bless the queen.
Do it now. Hurry. Faster.
On Mar 14, 2008, at 2:44 PM, Veit, Richard wrote:
> And all these years I have been incorrectly assuming "God bless the
> queen" was imperative. I learn a lot from this list.
>
> Dick
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