free-verse80 lines
Province Of Ontario.
by James McIntyreIn the land of woods and lakes,
Pure happiness each one partakes,
Who is sound in body and in mind,
And to industry is inclined.
Here in great lakes we do take pride,
And them with Uncle Sam divide,
Other lakes seem inferior
In size to great Superior.
And Canadians do take pride,
In Huron's wide expanded tide,
But it onward flows forever,
Through St. Clair lake and river.
But soon again it doth expand,
Into Erie's lake so grand,
Then behold its wondrous charms,
When embraced in Niagara's arms.
Then it more blessings doth bestow,
On pure bosom of Ontario,
Round it our towns and cities cluster,
O'er it Toronto sheds her lustre.
And Ontario doth awake,
The thought that 'tis our favorite lake;
Several states approach Lake Erie,
Each one claiming it for dearie.
But our fires of love do glow,
Alone for Lake Ontario,
Our love for it is so unbounded,
We have almost it surrounded.
And the lands around its beaches,
They are famed for grapes and peaches,
'Mong choicest fruits you ramble on
From Niagara to Hamilton.
Ontario North is land of pines,
A land of lakes and rocks and mines,
And beneath dark pine tree shade,
How happy is the youth and maid.
For here in summer you keep cool,
And fish for trout in sparkling pool,
For pike or salmon you can spear,
And in the season hunt the deer.
In great northern hunting ground,
Where both fish and game abound,
And verdant pastures here are seen,
Where cattle graze 'mong sweetest green.
In the far north a land of pines,
And in the south we have the vines,
Where each year adds into the charms,
Surrounds the homesteads on the farms.
Nature our province doth endow,
With hardy sons to guide the plow,
In south we have the fruitful soil,
Where nature's bounties on us smile.
We have got rich plains and highlands,
Ontario hath thousand islands,
And there is a great array
Of charming isles on Georgian Bay.
And travellers all they do adore,
The lovely isles near Huron's shore,
Superior makes a grand display,
All round her shores to Thunder Bay.
Muskoka's famed for woods and brakes,
For rocks and meadows and clear lakes,
And sportsmen for it proudly claim
That 'tis a land for fish and game.
There doth arise a sweet aroma
From great spruce forests of Algoma,
And from the poplar, birch and pine,
There too is wealth in many a mine.
It may be that of mines the best,
Will be found in Ontario West,
Stretching towards the interior,
Three hundred miles west of Superior.
Essex is our sunny south,
At the Detroit river's mouth,
There the sun doth cheerful smile
On the grape vineyards of Pelee Isle.
Pioneer's axe it now doth ring,
On the shores of Nipissing,
And some do locate claims away
To distant north around James' Bay.