OUR MOTHERS THREE.
[Air.—Battle Hymn of the Republic.]
Come now and raise a gladsome song to Mother Nature dear:
Again the flowers laugh in the fields, again the birds sing clear:
And we who love God’s bright, fair World should let that love appear,
On this glad Arbor Day.
Chorus:—Mother Nature, hear our singing;
Take the praises we are bringing;
May they swell, forever ringing,
As on this Arbor Day.
And let us too join hearts in praise of our dear native land.
Our Mother Country. she to whom we all pledge heart and hand.
A peerless queen she truly is: so may she ever stand.
As on this Arbor Day,
Chorus:—Mother Country, hear our singing;
Take the praises we are bringing;
May they swell, forever ringing,
As on this Arbor Day.
And to our Alma Matter, our dear Mother School as well,
We sing to show our loyalty, we would her virtues tell:
She teaches us the truth of life: we pledge to heed them well,
As on this glad Arbor Day. -
Chorus:—Alma Mater, hear our singing
Take the praises we are bringing;
May they swell, forever ringing,
As on this Arbor Day.
Our school we love, our happy land, and Nature’s beauty rare.
Three mothers they, and in their weal we each have some true share:
So plant we trees, salute the flag, and faith and fealty swear,
On this glad Arbor Day.
Chorus:—Mother Nature, hear our singing;
Take the praises we are bringing;
May they swell, forever ringing,
As on this Arbor Day.
—Written for New York Annual.
WHAT WILL YOU BE?
Dear little tree that we plant today
What will you be when we’re old and gray?
“The savings bank of the squirrel and mouse,
For robbin and wren an apartment house,
The dressing-room of the butterfly’s ball,
The locusts and katydid’s concert hall;
The school-boy’s ladder in pleasant June,
The school-girl’s tent in the July noon.
And my leaves shall whisper them merrily
A tale of the children who planted me.”
