Motto
Whether you have been in Ipswich long or not, all the same -
Let me utter an important refrain;
“Our town’s motto still confined to obscurity,
Speaks to us today of who we are, and who we want to be.”
Let me explain, my friends -
Duty, city, treasure and citizen is what literal translation rends.
To each other, what do we owe?
Beyond our common human ties and civic pride,
Beyond our duty to flourish out of tended soil,
What in Ipswich is there to sow?
Might I suggest that we owe ourselves and our famous Cardinal son his college:
“What can its vision bring beyond Whitehall marble and white plastic?”
“How do we mingle pleasure with study for all?”
These and more we must acknowledge.
But whatever unique good to the town we choose to give,
We must prove that it is something we are willing to outlive.
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We have many of the trappings of a city, save its name.
To list some: Many people, a Mansion, a Minster, some historic fame.
To Ipswich, people come from far and wide;
Bringing life, creating civic pride.
Though we may not demand our fame,
We are becoming ever more notable as a place.
Works great and small need to be done for our town,
though at the risk of talking it down,
I say that we are right to critique if only to dream of better civic space.
The treasure of Ipswich is an iridescent jewel we hold in both hands,
Admiring its hues:
The greens of natural space around which our town is built;
The purple hues of nights reclaimed, of a town made safer;
The richer pink of Suffolk;
The bright orange corners of new music;
The rising yellow sun of scholarship;
Against the memory of our fallen red son,
Shared in the Blues of humble beginnings
And rising national success.
“The role of a town is to bring out the best of its citizens”, reads the motto in a better translation.
Signed between people and town:
“The best public service must be provided now.
In return, we will be the best that we can be — here, in the region, in the nation.”
To each other, what does this contract show?
Nothing more than who we are and what we want to be:
Now, our congeniality
Amongst our town and our Artois twin
Amongst people wishing to visit
Amongst our shared history.
In future, should we choose,
Amongst a seat of learning,
Amongst greater treasure of Ipswich mind and body,
our collegiality?
Whatever duty, city, treasure and citizen we make of us,
Whether this refrain is heeded or not,
In whatever shape our identity takes, our voices must be heard,
Especially if we don’t speak the obscure Latin words:
Munia civitatis decus civium.
(Poem by Andrew Bolt)
