Some Election Day whimsy

I've been voting since 1966 and I have to say that this election seems to be different to all the others I have known in that division seems to be a much stronger theme than unity. Whether it is the division of Britain from Europe, or Scotland from England, or saints from scroungers: we seem to have become more and more obsessed by the narrowness of politics rather than its ability to be inclusive. Our political idiots think they can win by dividing us and that this is the right thing to do. The sane thing to do is unite. These divisions will come back to haunt us later when separations occur.

So, as we prepare ourselves for our immediate political future I thought it was an opportune time to recall the opening lines of that most narrow and nationalistic of songs, Land Of Hope and Glory.

 

Land of Hope and Glory, Mother of the Free,How shall we extol thee, who are born of thee?

 

But let's not forget that we live in a diverse and culturally rich age, not to mention an age which has the benefit of machine translation. So let us subject those familiar lines to the cultural mincing machine that is Google Translate and see what comes out at the other end. I have translated the English into Welsh, the Welsh into Japanese, the Japanese in Maltese, the Maltese into Chichewa, the Chichewa into Icelandic, the Icelandic into Azerbaijani and finally the Azerbaijani back into English (Yes, I need to get out into the fresh air more). What you finish up with is this:-

 

Hope and glory of the world, women's rights,The people, as we are born, you raise?

 

A much more pleasing sentiment, don't you think? Proof, if ever proof was needed, that diversity beats isolationism any day of the week. And let's hope that sanity wins through as the votes are counted and the victors announced tomorrow.

For those who have an interest in such things, here are the various stages the translation went through:

English

Land of Hope and Glory, Mother of the Free,

How shall we extol thee, who are born of thee?

 

Welsh

Land of Hope and Glory, Mam y Free,

Sut y byddwn Dyrchafaf di, sy'n cael eu geni o ti?

 

Japanese

希望と栄光の国、自由の母、

どのように我々はあなたから生まれている人、あなたを賞揚？

Maltese

Tama u glorja tal-pajjiż, il-libertà ta 'l-omm,

Kif in-nies aħna li huma mwielda minn int, extol inti?

 

Chichewa

Chiyembekezo ndi ulemerero wa dziko, ufulu wa amayi,

Monga anthu timabadwa kwa inu, kukweza inu?

 

Icelandic

Vona og dýrð heimsins, réttindi kvenna,

Eins og menn, við erum fædd til þín, hækka þig?

 

Azerbaijani

Ümid və dünyanın şöhrət, qadın hüquqları,

Insanlar, biz sizə anadan kimi, sizə qaldırmaq?

English

Hope and glory of the world, women's rights,The people, as we are born, you raise?