Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Germany: Vols. XVII–XVIII. 1876–79.
My Native Land
By Georg Philipp Schmidt (17661849)B
I love my native land the best;
With God’s best gifts ’t is teeming;
No gold or jewels here are found,
Yet men of noble soul abound,
And eyes of joy are gleaming.
I love my native tongue the best;
Though not so smoothly spoken,
Nor woven with Italian art,
Yet when it speaks from heart to heart,
The word is never broken.
I love my countrymen the best,—
A race of noble spirit.
A vigorous mind, a generous heart
To virtue bound, yet free from art,
They from their sires inherit.
My heart I give my native land;
I seek her good,—her glory;
I honor every nation’s name,
Respect their fortunes and their fame,
But I love the land that bore me.