Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Germany: Vols. XVII–XVIII. 1876–79.
The German Fatherland
By Ernst Moritz Arndt (1769–1860)W
Is ’t Prussia’s or Swabia’s land?
Is ’t where the Rhine’s rich vintage streams?
Or where the Northern sea-gull screams?—
Ah, no, no, no!
His fatherland ’s not bounded so!
Bavaria’s or Styria’s land?
Is ’t where the Marsian ox unbends?
Or where the Marksman iron rends?—
Ah, no, no, no!
His fatherland ’s not bounded so!
Pomerania’s, or Westphalia’s land?
Is it where sweep the Dunian waves?
Or where the thundering Danube raves?—
Ah, no, no, no!
His fatherland ’s not bounded so!
O, tell me now the famous land!
Is ’t Tyrol, or the land of Tell?
Such lands and people please me well.—
Ah, no, no, no!
His fatherland ’s not bounded so!
Come, tell me now the famous land.
Doubtless, it is the Austrian state,
In honors and in triumphs great.—
Ah, no, no, no!
His fatherland ’s not bounded so!
So tell me now the famous land!
Is ’t what the Princess won by sleight
From the Emperor’s and Empire’s right?—
Ah, no, no, no!
His fatherland ’s not bounded so!
So tell me now at last the land!—
As far ’s the German accent rings
And hymns to God in heaven sings,—
That is the land,—
There, brother, is thy fatherland!
Where oaths attest the graspéd hand,—
Where truth beams from the sparkling eyes,
And in the heart love warmly lies;—
That is the land,—
There, brother, is thy fatherland!
Where wrath pursues the foreign band,—
Where every Frank is held a foe,
And Germans all as brothers glow;—
That is the land,—
All Germany ’s thy fatherland!