History & Politics

America

by Samuel Francis Smith 1808–1895

From An American Anthology, 1787–1900 (1900)

History & Politics

My country, ’t is of thee,
Sweet land of liberty,
Of thee I sing;
Land where my fathers died,
Land of the pilgrims’ pride,
From every mountain-side
Let freedom ring.

My native country, thee,
Land of the noble free,—
Thy name I love;
I love thy rocks and rills,
Thy woods and templed hills;
My heart with rapture thrills
Like that above.

Let music swell the breeze,
And ring from all the trees
Sweet freedom’s song;
Let mortal tongues awake,
Let all that breathe partake,
Let rocks their silence break,
The sound prolong.

Our fathers’ God, to Thee,
Author of liberty,
To Thee I sing;
Long may our land be bright
With freedom’s holy light;
Protect us by Thy might,
Great God our King.

MLA

Smith, Samuel Francis. “America.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/smith_sf/0/.

Chicago

Smith, Samuel Francis. “America.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/smith_sf/0/.

Read this poem with the Codex →