{"id":124,"asset_id":292,"title":"My Country \u2018Tis of Thee","alias":"my-country-tis-of-thee","introtext":"<p><strong>My Country \u2018Tis of Thee<\/strong><\/p>\r\n<p>Samuel Francis Smith<\/p>\r\n<p>Samuel Frances Smith graduated from Andover the same year he wrote \"My Country \u2018Tis of Thee.\" He was going through a stack of German childrens' songs given to him by a friend on February 2, 1832. One song caught his eye and he read it and found that it was patriotic. He thought of his own great land and began to pen the words:<\/p>\r\n<table>\r\n<tbody>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td>\r\n<p>Our father's God to thee, <br \/> Author of liberty, to thee we sing: <br \/> Long may our land be bright <br \/> With Freedom's holy light: <br \/> Protect us by thy might, Great God, our King.<\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\n<p>Within half an hour, he had written the song <em>My Country \u2018Tis of Thee<\/em>. It has become our favorite American hymn of patriotism.<\/p>\r\n<p>Though the text of the hymn is distinctively American, the tune is an international one. It is the official or semi-official national melody of about twenty nations, notably that of England where \u201cGod Save the King\/Queen\u201d has been sung for more than 200 years. The origin of the tune seems to go back deeply into the singing traditions of Europe. Traces of the tune have been found in Swiss music as early as the seventeenth century. It has also been found in the musical heritages of Germany, Sweden and Russia. Its first known publication was in a hymnal entitled <em>Thesaurus Musicus<\/em> in 1740. In 1841 one of the world\u2019s master composers, Ludwig Beethoven, wrote several interesting piano variations on this tune.<\/p>\r\n<p>My country, \u2019tis of thee,<br \/> Sweet land of liberty,<br \/> Of thee I sing;<br \/> Land where my fathers died,<br \/> Land of the pilgrims\u2019 pride,<br \/> From every mountainside,<br \/> Let freedom ring!<\/p>\r\n<p>My native country, thee,<br \/> Land of the noble free,<br \/> Thy name I love;<br \/> I love thy rocks and rills,<br \/> Thy woods and templed hills;<br \/> My heart with rapture thrills,<br \/> Like that above.<\/p>\r\n<p>Let music swell the breeze,<br \/> And ring from all the trees,<br \/> Sweet freedom\u2019s song;<br \/> Let mortal tongues awake;<br \/> Let all that breathe partake;<br \/> Let rocks their silence break,<br \/> The sound prolong.<\/p>\r\n<p>Our fathers\u2019 God, to Thee,<br \/> Author of liberty,<br \/> To Thee we sing;<br \/> Long may our land be bright<br \/> With freedom\u2019s holy light;<br \/> Protect us by Thy might,<br \/> Great God, our King.<\/p>","fulltext":"","state":1,"catid":"37","created":"2020-11-04 04:07:20","created_by":"873","created_by_alias":"","modified":"2020-11-04 04:07:20","modified_by":null,"checked_out":null,"checked_out_time":null,"publish_up":"2020-11-04 04:07:20","publish_down":"0000-00-00 00:00:00","images":"{\"image_intro\":\"\",\"float_intro\":\"\",\"image_intro_alt\":\"\",\"image_intro_caption\":\"\",\"image_fulltext\":\"\",\"float_fulltext\":\"\",\"image_fulltext_alt\":\"\",\"image_fulltext_caption\":\"\"}","urls":"{\"urla\":false,\"urlatext\":\"\",\"targeta\":\"\",\"urlb\":false,\"urlbtext\":\"\",\"targetb\":\"\",\"urlc\":false,\"urlctext\":\"\",\"targetc\":\"\"}","attribs":"{\"article_layout\":\"\",\"show_title\":\"\",\"link_titles\":\"\",\"show_tags\":\"\",\"show_intro\":\"\",\"info_block_position\":\"\",\"info_block_show_title\":\"\",\"show_category\":\"\",\"link_category\":\"\",\"show_parent_category\":\"\",\"link_parent_category\":\"\",\"show_associations\":\"\",\"show_author\":\"\",\"link_author\":\"\",\"show_create_date\":\"\",\"show_modify_date\":\"\",\"show_publish_date\":\"\",\"show_item_navigation\":\"\",\"show_icons\":\"\",\"show_print_icon\":\"\",\"show_email_icon\":\"\",\"show_vote\":\"\",\"show_hits\":\"\",\"show_noauth\":\"\",\"urls_position\":\"\",\"alternative_readmore\":\"\",\"article_page_title\":\"\",\"show_publishing_options\":\"\",\"show_article_options\":\"\",\"show_urls_images_backend\":\"\",\"show_urls_images_frontend\":\"\"}","version":1,"ordering":null,"metakey":"","metadesc":"","access":"1","hits":null,"metadata":"{\"robots\":\"\",\"author\":\"\",\"rights\":\"\",\"xreference\":\"\"}","featured":"0","language":"*","xreference":"","note":""}