Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Germany: Vols. XVII–XVIII. 1876–79. | | | | Introductory | | My Native Land | | Georg Philipp Schmidt (1766–1849) |
| | Translated by C. T. Brooks
BEFORE all lands, in east or west, | |
| 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, | 5 |
| And eyes of joy are gleaming. | |
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| Before all tongues, in east or west, | |
| I love my native tongue the best; | |
| Though not so smoothly spoken, | |
| Nor woven with Italian art, | 10 |
| Yet when it speaks from heart to heart, | |
| The word is never broken. | |
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| Before all people, east or west, | |
| I love my countrymen the best,— | |
| A race of noble spirit. | 15 |
| A vigorous mind, a generous heart | |
| To virtue bound, yet free from art, | |
| They from their sires inherit. | |
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| To east and west I reach my hand; | |
| My heart I give my native land; | 20 |
| 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. | | | | |
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