Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, NEW JERSEY, by FRED CLARE BALDWIN


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

NEW JERSEY, by                    
First Line: My native state, to thee I sing
Last Line: My heart with endless gain!
Subject(s): New Jersey


My native State, to thee I sing;
To thee, among whose echoing hills,
From luring lilt of laughing rills,
And many a song-bird on the wing,
My spirit caught the rapturous thrills
Of life's awakening.

Fresh from the haunts of halcyon days
And countless paths that wind between,
Where Memory dwells o'er every scene
That greets her long and wistful gaze,
I bring to thee a garland green
With gratitude and praise.

I love thy pathways that were trod
By valiant hosts whom patriots prize
For what was wrought beneath thy skies;
I love the fields whose trembling sod
Received their crimson sacrifice
To freedom and to God!

I love thy western mountain-wall;
The sapphire mist that lingers there;
The cliffs that tinge the noonday's glare;
The issuing flood, whose charms recall
Its dulcet name, the Delaware --
I love them one and all.

I love thy stretch of storm-swept shore;
Its chastened hues and beauteous lines;
Its bordering plains of singing pines;
Its battling waves that inland pour
On voices wet with ocean wines
Their diapason roar.

I love thy fields of rustling grain;
I love the hamlets on thy hills;
I love the music of thy mills;
I love thy cities of the plain;
I love thy folk, their friendship fills
My heart with endless gain!





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