Olympic Hymn

Olympian flame immortal

Whose beacon lights our way

Emblaze our hearts with the fires of hope

On this momentous day

As now we come across the world

To share these Games of old

Let all the flags of every land

In brotherhood unfold

Sing out each nation, voices strong

Rise up in harmony

All hail our brave Olympians

With strains of victory

Olympic light burn on and on

O'er seas and mountains and plains

Unite, inspire, bring honor

To these ascending games

-author unknown

This poem is an example of an hymn. An hymn is type of poem, in the form of a song, usually a song of praise to God, to a Saint, or to a nation. In this case, the Olympic Hymn (the translated English version) is a song of praise to the entire world and its love of sports. This hymn evokes the spirit that the olympics bring to the entire world, as everyone unites as a whole to witness history being made and dreams being fulfilled. I chose this as one of my poems, as it ties in well with my theme for the calendar (the olympics). I made this my first poem because it follows the logical sequence of events in the olympics: it is the hymn sung at every opening ceremony of the olympic games. Some literary devices in this hymn are: assonance (as now we come across the world; in brotherhood unfold; unite, inspire, bring honour; etc), repetition (burn on and on; seas and mountains and plains), personification (olympic flame immortal), metaphors (whose beacon lights our way).