O Sweet Saint Martin's Land
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Regional anthem of  Saint-Martin Sint Maarten
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| Lyrics | Gerard Kemps, 1958 |
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| Music | Gerard Kemps, 1958 |
O Sweet Saint Martin's Land is the bi-national song of Saint Martin/Sint-Maarten island, an island divided between the French Republic and the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
This full original version was written by Gerard Kemps in 1958.
Many years ago, Father Gerard Kemps, after being appointed as priest for the Catholic Church of French St-Martin in 1954, felt compelled to compose lyrics and a melody to sing of the sweetness, the grace, and the incomparable beauty of the land that was unfolding before his eyes.
In 1958, Father Gerard Kemps created "O Sweet Saint Martin's Land". Because of the message the lyrics conveyed and the melody that carried the tune, it served the purpose of a national song.
In 1984, on the occasion of the Queen's Birthday, Father Kemps was knighted "Ridder in de Order van Oranje van Nassau".
Although there are some now on St. Martin who are unaware of Father Kemps, his legacy lives on in the St. Martin's song.
Hereafter : The various lyrics of the O Sweet Saint Martin's Land song (in English, French and Dutch).
Where over the world, say where,
You find an island there,
So lovely small with nations free
With people French and Dutch
Though talking English much,
As thee Saint Martin in the sea ?
Chorus :
O sweet Saint Martin's Land
So bright by beach and strand
With sailors on the sea and harbors free
Where the chains of mountains green
Variously in sunlight sheen
Oh I love thy Paradise,
Nature beauty fairly nice (twice)''
How pretty between all green
Flamboyants beaming gleam
Of flowers red by sunlight set
Thy cows and sheep and goats
In meadows or on the roads
Thy donkeys keen I can't forget
Thy useful birds in white
Their morn and evening flight
Like aircraft-wings in unity
Their coming down for food
Then turning back to roost
Bring home to me their harmony
Saint Martin I like thy name
In which Columbus fame
And memories of old are closed
For me a great delight
Thy Southern Cross the night
May God the Lord protect thy coast!
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Trouvez-moi une perle si chère,
comme l'île Saint-Martin en mer,
chaîne de mornes et vallées;
riche de plages bien dorées
qui donnent la paix, donnent le repos
dans ses mornes et toutes ses eaux.
Chœur (refrain) :
Saint-Martin, Saint-Martin,
Si jolie en tous ses coins. (bis)
Quel charme ses flamboyants,
leur fleurs un enchantement,
tout un bouquet de flammes vives.
Quand le soleil ici arrive,
donnant splendeur, montrant beauté,
Quel éclat de tous cotés.
Sa cime "le Pic Paradis",
ravit les touristes ici,
d'où sa verdure fait merveille;
un panorama sans pareil,
voyant les plaines, voyant la mer,
colorées en bleu et vert.
Le vol de ses pélicans,
gracieux et si élégants
quand ils plannent haut en l'air,
quand ils plongent dans la mer;
Dites-moi l'endroit, où on les voit,
lorsqu'ils fondent sur leur proies
Son nom toujours Saint-Martin
rest'ra dans l'histoire sans fin,
Christophe Colomb l'a découverte,
lui a donné son nom si cher,
Dieu protecteur, Dieu de bonté,
garde-la bien en prospérité !
...
Wikipedia