Birth Of Canada As A Nation, July First, 1867.

        Hail Britannia's noblest daughter,
        Who is surrounded by the water
        Of many a lake and broad sea,
        Land of beaver and of maple tree.

        Her lofty brow is wreathed with smiles,
        For from the far Atlantic isles
        In pomp have come their delegates,
        All seeking to unite their fates.

        With Canada great northern queen,
        And now throughout the land is seen,
        High festival and stately dance,
        Triumphant nuptials to advance.

        And soon shall Red River valley
        And distant Vancouver rally,
        To form this Empire gigantic
        From Pacific to Atlantic.

James McIntyre

James McIntyre was a Canadian poet, most notable for his poetry concerning cheese, cheese-making, dairying, and dairy products. Often referred to as 'The Cheese Poet,' McIntyre's work is celebrated for its earnestness and unintentional humor, making him both a beloved and an infamous figure in literary circles. He emigrated from Scotland to Canada in 1851 and settled in Ingersoll, Ontario, where he became a successful businessman and community leader.

James McIntyre

Galt And Dunlop.

James McIntyre, Simple Poetry

Lines Read At A Dairymen's Supper.

James McIntyre, Simple Poetry

In Memoriam.

James McIntyre, Simple Poetry

Tramp And Fish.

James McIntyre, Simple Poetry

English

Suggested Poems

Explore a curated selection of verses that share themes, styles, and emotional resonance with the poem you've just read.

Our Nation's Birthday. July 1St, 1867.

Ring out your glad peals of rejoicing!
    Wake Music's enlivening strain!
Let the sound float abroad o'er your waters,
    And echo through valley and plain;
From the shores of the far-distant Fundy,
    To the lakes of the limitless West,
Let the sound of a People's exulting
    Go forth in its joyous unrest!

For a great Christian Nation, this morning,
    From fragments disjointed made one,
With the laws and the speech of old England,
    Looks up to the new-risen sun;
And, scarce conscious as yet of her mission -
    Of the wealth of her young, earnest life -
Starts out in the march of the nations,
    To a future with perils how rife!

Yet who shall not hope for that future -
    God's wide-open Book in her hand,
With her sturdy and t...

Pamela S. Vining (J. C. Yule)

Canada Our Home, 1883.

The following response to Canada our home was given at a banquet of the Caledonian Society, Ingersoll:

In responding to the sentiment Canada our home perhaps it would be appropriate to point out the prominent and distinguishing characteristics between the land of our nativity and the land of our adoption. In this Canada of ours we have no bonny blooming heath, no banks and braes covered o'er with daisies and gowans, no fragrant hedges showering down white spray in the May time, no whin and broom prodigal in their gaiety of yellow flowers, no hills nor glens where fairies gambol in pleasant and harmless sport, no grand ruins of ancient cathedrals and castles, no feathered songsters like the mavis and blackbird.

        Full oft we did enraptured hark
        To heavenly song of the skylark.

But Canada ...

James McIntyre

United States.

        The United States is wondrous land,
        Within its mighty borders grand,
        They are a world unto themselves,
        In South the Negro plows and delves.

        Raising tobacco, sugar, cotton,
        Grapes and rice too may be gotten,
        The west for corn, cattle and swine,
        On which millions o'er the world dine.

        The silver hills of Colorado,
        Equaled only by Nevada,
        And o'er the world you can't behold
        Aught like California's mines of gold.

        To vast extent her exports reaches,
        Of grapes and oranges and peaches,
        And Florida the land of flowers
        Is famous for its orange bowers.

        Pennsylvania's hills environ
        Wondrous mines of co...

James McIntyre

Canada Before The Confederation Of The Provinces.

        Canadian provinces they lay
        Divided by river and by bay,
        Many a separate division,
        Among them there was no cohesion.

        But statesmen saw that a great nation
        Could be formed by federation,
        And soon they led public opinion
        To favor forming this Dominion.

        North-West with its streams and fountains,
        With sources in the Rocky Mountains,
        It was all a great mystery,
        Hunting for furs its history.

        Though North-West is filling slow
        Yet soon there will be mighty flow,
        Millions to North-West will hurry
        In last decade of century.

        For therein is an opening grand
        In great fertile prairie land,
        F...

James McIntyre

Canada, 1882.

"Are hearts here strong enough to found
A glorious people's sway?"
Ask of our rivers as they bound
From hill to plain, or ocean-sound,
If they are strong to-day?
If weakness in their floods be found,
Then may ye answer "Nay!"

"Is union yours? may foeman's might
Your love ne'er break or chain?"
Go see if o'er our land the flight
Of Spring be stayed by blast or blight;
If Fall bring never grain;
If Summer suns deny their light,
Then may our hope be vain!

"Yet far too cramped the narrow space
Your country's rule can own?"
Ah! travel all its bounds and trace
Each Alp unto its fertile base,
Our realm of forests lone,
Our world of prairie, like the face
Of ocean, hardly known!

"Yet for the arts to find a shrine,
Too ro...

John Campbell

The Native Born.

There's a thing we love to think of when the summer days are long,
And the summer winds are blowing, and the summer sun is strong,
When the orchards and the meadows throw their fragrance on the air,
When the grain-fields flaunt their riches, and the glow is everywhere.
        Something sings it all the day,
            Canada, fair Canada,
    And the pride thrills through and through us,
            'Tis our birthplace, Canada!

There's a thing we love to think of when the frost and ice and snow
Hold high carnival together, and the biting north winds blow.
There's a thing we love to think of through the bitter winter hours,
For it stirs a warmth within us - 'tis this fair young land of ours.
        Something sings it all the day,
            Canada, fair Canada,

Jean Blewett