Classic Poem

Florida, fair Florida, land of my birth,
Queen of the continent, gem of the earth.
Land where the skies are blue as the sea,
Where the bright laughing waters are flowing and free.
Land of fair sunlight,
Land of soft starlight,
Land where the moon is queen of the night,
I love thee, I love thee with passionate love.

Thou liest wrapped in the ocean's arms,
Old Neptune feasts upon thy charms,
And runs to kiss thy coral shore,
As a lover speeds to his lady's bower.
Beautiful Florida!
Lovely Florida!
Most favored spot of a favored land.

Sweet land of sweet flowers,
Of soft summer showers,
I love all thy plains, all thy rivers and lakes.
I love all thy forests, thy marshes and brakes,
Every slow-winding creek,
That flows on to seek
A path to the rivers and thence to the sea,
Is loved by me, fondly loved by me.

The noble St. Johns, thy boast and thy pride,
How my heart flows along on its ceaseless tide,
As in majesty flowing,
Flowing, flowing,
It comes from the far, far south to be
Mingled at last with the great open sea.

And that dream of a stream,
The Ocklawaha,
Flowing serene,
Through a tropical scene,
Where the sleepy-eyed saurian basks in the sunlight,
And the bright-hued flamingo stalks in the moonlight,
Where the mosses hang low from the cypress trees,
And the golden fruit sways in the autumn breeze.
How dear to my heart, my fond heart.

And thy huge Everglades stretching out like a sea,
Brooding in silence and mystery,
Wrapped in mystery,
Death-like mystery,
Vast and unknown as the fathomless sea,
Is reverenced by me, held in reverence by me.

O, land of my birth, be the land of my death.
May I draw 'neath thy skies my last fleeting breath,
May my grave be beneath the moss-covered trees,
My requiem sounded by thy tropic seas,
As they beat on the shore,