WELCOME, O Brothers, joy and cheer! Your ancient race and ours were one; Freedom and song to them were dear Where Rhine and Elbe seaward run; And here, beneath this Western sky If foes assail, your valiant cry Will ring, as by the German strand: 'Forward, with God, for Fatherland!' One are our hopes, our aims, our needs; One force the gage of battle flings; We thrill with Hermann's mighty deeds; We glow with songs that Körner sings; And know, beneath this Western sky If foes assail, your valiant cry Will ring, as by the German strand: 'Forward, with God, for Fatherland!' Ah! Freedom, room for hand and brain, Full manhood, justice, love divine — These make the patriot's dear domain By Mississippi or by Rhine! And so, beneath this Western sky If foes assail, your valiant cry Will ring, as by the German strand: 'Forward, with God, for Fatherland!' Hail to the land so great and free — Your land and ours to guard and prize! With one accord, from sea to sea, Let joyful songs and anthems rise! Oh, heart to heart and eye to eye, If foes assail, your valiant cry Will ring, as by the German strand: 'Forward, with God, for Fatherland!' | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE INEBRIATE by RICHARD HARRIS BARHAM AT THE CEDARS by DUNCAN CAMPBELL SCOTT NATIONAL ODE; INDEPENDENCE SQUARE, PHILADELPHIA by BAYARD TAYLOR MAKE FRIENDS by ALI IBN ABU TALIB MY WINTER ROSE by ALFRED AUSTIN THIEPVAL WOOD by EDMUND CHARLES BLUNDEN THE TREE TOAD by JOHN GARDINER CALKINS BRAINARD |