The land for me.
[Written by J. Hedderwick, Junr., editor of "The Glasgow Citizen" Newspaper.—Music by S. Barr.]
I've been upon the moonlit deep,
When the wind had died away,
And like an ocean god asleep,
The bark majestic lay;
But lovelier is the varied scene,
The hill, the lake, the tree,
When bathed in light of midnight's queen,
The land! the land! for me.
The glancing waves I've glided o'er
When gently blew the breeze;
But sweeter was the distant shore,
The zephyr 'mang the trees.
The murmur of the mountain rill,
The blossoms waving free,
The song of birds on every hill,
The land! the land! for me.
The billows I have been among,
When they roll'd in mountains dark,
And night her blackest curtain hung
Around our heaving bark;
But give me when the storm is fierce,
My home and fireside glee,
Where winds may howl, but dare not pierce,
The land! the land! for me.
And when around the lightning flash'd,
I've been upon the deep,
And to the gulf beneath I've dash'd
Adown the liquid steep;
But now that I am safe on shore,
There let me ever be;
The sea let others wander o'er,
The land! the land! for me.