My Country ‘Tis of Thee…Memorial Day Tribute by Betty Mason Arthurs

My Country, ‘Tis of Thee…Memorial Day Tribute

The song, “My Country, ‘Tis of  Thee,” was written by Rev. Samuel Francis Smith in the 1800s when he was 24 years-old. This Memorial Day, May 2017, its beautiful words ring out over America even after so many years and I want to share them with you. I pray we never forget those who died for our country to preserve its freedom and our men and women who serve in our military at home and around the world. Join with me and sing these words.

1.      My country ‘tis of thee,

Sweet land of liberty,

Of thee I sing;

Land where my fathers died,

Land of the pilgrims’ pride,

From every mountainside,

Let freedom ring!

 

2.         My native country thee,

Land of the noble, free;

Thy name I love;

I love thy rocks and rills,

Thy woods and templed hills;

My heart with rapture thrills,

Like that above.

 

3.         Let music swell the breeze,

And ring from all the trees

Sweet freedom’s song;

Let mortal tongues awake;

Let all that breath partake;

Let rocks their silence break,

The sound prolong.

 

4.          Our fathers’ God, to thee,

Author of liberty,

To thee we sing.

Long may our land be bright

With freedom’s holy light;

Protect us by thy might,

Great God, our King. Amen.      By Samuel F. Smith, 1808-1895