Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, FATHER LAND AND MOTHER TONGUE, by SAMUEL LOVER


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

FATHER LAND AND MOTHER TONGUE, by             Poem Explanation         Poet's Biography
First Line: Our father land! And wouldst thou know
Last Line: We call our language mother tongue.
Subject(s): Patriotism


Our Father Land! and wouldst thou know
Why we should call it Father Land?
It is that Adam here below
Was made of earth by Nature's hand;
And he our father, made of earth,
Hath peopled earth on every hand;
And we, in memory of his birth,
Do call our country Father Land.

At first, in Eden's bowers, they say,
No sound of speech had Adam caught,
But whistled like a bird all day, --
And maybe 't was for want of thought:
But Nature, with resistless laws,
Made Adam soon surpass the birds;
She gave him lovely Eve because
If he'd a wife they must have words.

And so the native land, I hold,
By male descent is proudly mine;
The language, as the tale hath told,
Was given in the female line.
And thus we see on either hand
We name our blessings whence they've
sprung;
We call our country Father Land,
We call our language Mother Tongue.




Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...
Home: PoetryExplorer.net