58. God for our native land!
by Rev. Dr. Bethune.1
God's blessing be uponOur own, our native land!
The land our fathers won
By the strong heart and hand,
The keen axe and the brand,
When they felled the forest's pride,
And the tyrant foe defied,
The free, the rich, the wide;
God for our native land!
Up with the starry sign,
The red stripes and the white!
Where'er its glories shine,
In peace, or in the fight,
We own its high command;
For the Flag our fathers gave,
O'er our children's heads shall wave,
And their children's children's grave!
God for our native land!
Who doth that Flag defy,
We challenge as our foe;
Who will not for it die,
Out from us he must go!
So let them understand.
Who that dear Flag disclaim,
Which won their fathers' fame,
We brand with endless shame!
God for our native land!
Our native land! to thee,
In one united vow,
To keep thee strong and free,
And glorious as now--
We pledge each heart and hand;
By the blood our fathers shed,
By the ashes of our dead,
By the sacred soil we tread,
God for our native land!
