Loved Queen of Scotia's bonnie braes!
Of Erin's, England's homes;
This day thy people speak thy praise
Where'er the exile roams.
By gorgeous India's ancient fanes;
On Greenland's banks of snow;
Where, o'er Columbia's boundless plains,
Majestic rivers flow.
On frozen seas, in balmy air,
By forest's dusky green
Ariseth up to heaven the prayer:--
"God bless our gracious Queen!"
God guide her through the evening light
To where no shadows frown;
Nor sorrow's pall, nor darksome night
Will dim _that_ lustrous crown.
Let earthly glory sink in night;
Life's record, without stain,
Shall cast an ever-hallowed light
Across Victoria's reign.
'Tis not that Britain's martial prow
In every port appears;
Nor that the flag which streameth now
Hath waved a thousand years.
'Tis not the sceptre, nor the sword,
Nor gold, nor precious stone;
True sympathy hath knit the cord
That binds us to the Throne.
Thy sires, in siege and battle field
Full bravely bore their part;
But, without strife to thee doth yield
The fortress of the heart.
Not land from weakling nations rent
Shall keep thy memory green;
But this--thy lasting monument--
She was _the peoples' Queen_.