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- When Britain first, at Heaven's command
- Arose from out the azure main;
- This was the charter of the land,
- And guardian angels sang this strain:
- "Rule, Britannia! rule the waves:
- "Britons never will be slaves."
—first stanza of James Thomson's "Rule, Britannia", written for the masque Alfred
Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature (for instance, Irish or France).