W.M. MacKeracher's 'Canada, My Land'

Patriotic and personal verse for the day by William Mackay MacKeracher (1871-1913), the very same man who wrote that old favourite 'My Canadian Girl.' Both come from Canada, My Land and Other Compositions in Verse (Toronto: William Briggs, 1908), the third of five volumes of MacKeracher poetry.

CANADA, MY LAND

               There may be more enchanting climes

                  Within a southern zone; 

               There may be eastern Edens deckt

                  With charms to thee unknown;
               But thou art fairest unto me,

                  Because thou art mine own,

                     Canada, my land.

               More spacious plains and loftier heights

                  In other realms may be.

               And mightier streams than those which bear

                  Thy waters to the sea;

               But thou, great handiwork of God,

                  Art grandest unto me,

                     Canada, my land.

               More glorious records may adorn

                  The annals of the past

              Than those which tell the rise and growth

                  Of thy dominion vast;

              But I am proudest of the land

                 In which my lot is cast,

                    Canada, my land. 

             Beneath thy green or snow-clad sod

                My fathers' ashes lie;

             Thou hast my all, to thee I'm bound

                By every dearest tie;

             For thee I'll gladly live, for thee

                I cheerfully would die,

                   Canada, my land.

A Happy Canada Day to all... and belated best National Day wishes to our Greenlandic allies and friends.

The view from our Upper Canadian sunroom, 21 June 2026.

Related posts:

'We first saw light in Canada...'

'God Guide Thee Canada'

Laura Salverson's 'For Canada' for Canada Day

'Canada to England, July 1st 1917' by Horace Bray

'O Canada! beloved native land...'
'O Canada! our native land thou art!'
Patriotic Verse from the Garden of a Girl's Dreams
A 123-Year-Old Poem for Canada Day

Two Hurrahs for the New Dominion

Charles G.D. Roberts' Dominion Day Collect
Marjorie Pickthall's Canadian Hymn

Verse From the First of Dominion Poetesses
Fair Canada: 'Here many nations dwell...'

'How we joyously welcome this travail-less birth'

Ten Poems for National Poetry Month, Number 9:
'My Own Canadian Girl' by W.M. MacKeracher

Ten Poems for National Poetry Month, Number 9: 'My Own Canadian Girl' by W.M. MacKeracher

For the month, the ninth of ten poems

I find interesting, amusing, and/or infuriating.

What could be considered romantic verse from W.M. (William MacKay) MacKeracher's Canada, My Land and Other Compositions in Verse (Toronto: William Briggs, 1908).

MY OWN CANADIAN GIRL

                    The demoiselles of sunny France

                         Have gaiety and grace;

                    Britannia's maids a tender glance,

                         A sweet and gentle face;

                    Columbia's virgins bring to knee

                         Full many a duke and earl;

                    But there is none can equal thee,

                         My own Canadian girl.

                    Thy hair is finer than the floss

                         That tufts the ears of corn;

                    Its tresses have a silken gloss,

                         A glory like the morn;

                    I prize the rich, luxuriant mass,

                         And each endearing curl

                    A special grace and beauty has,

                         My own Canadian girl.

                   Thy brow is like the silver moon

                        That sails in summer skies.

                   The mirror of a mind immune

                        From care, serene and wise.

                   Thy nose is sculptured ivory;

                        Thine ears are lobes of pearl;

                   Thy lips are corals from the sea,

                        My own Canadian girl.

                   Thine eyes are limpid pools of light,

                        The windows of thy soul;

                   The stars are not so clear and bright

                        That shine around the pole.

                   The crimson banners of thy cheeks

                        To sun and wind unfurl;

                   Thy tongue makes music when it speaks,

                        My own Canadian girl.

                   God keep thee fair and bright and good

                        As in thy morning hour,

                   And make thy gracious womanhood

                        A still unfolding fiow'r.

                   And stay thy thoughts from trifles vain,

                        Thy feet from folly's whirl,

                   And guard thy life from every stain,

                        My own Canadian girl!