Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Scotland: Vols. VI–VIII. 1876–79.
America to Iceland
By Bayard Taylor (18251878)W
The youngest of the world’s high peers,
O land of steel, and song, and saga,
To greet thy glorious thousand years!
Dared with his venturous dragon’s prow;
From shores where Thorfinn set thy banner,
Their latest children seek thee now.
By love of freedom hither hurled,
Fire in their hearts as in thy mountains,
And strength like thine to shake the world!
The bird of song made thee her home;
The ancient gods, the ancient glory,
Still dwelt within thy shores of foam.
While all the rivers turbid run,
The manly growth of deed and daring
Was thine beneath a scantier sun.
Thy children wrote their runes of pride,
With power that brings, in this thy triumph,
The conquering nations to thy side.
The chord they struck shall ours prolong:
We claim thee kindred, call thee mother,
O land of saga, steel, and song!