O MAPLE LEAF!

Thee best of leaves I love,

In forest or in grove,

O Maple Leaf;

O thou which art the sign

Of this dear land of mine,

What loveliness is thine,

O Maple Leaf!

Naught can with thee compare,

On earth or in the air,

O Maple Leaf;

Wondrous thy beauties are;

Thy form is like a star,

But thou art not afar,

O Maple Leaf.

When drops of dew adorn

Thy surface in the morn,

O Maple Leaf,

No hue so fair is seen,

In silk or satin's sheen,

As thy rich shade of green,

O Maple Leaf.

No music in my ear

Is half so sweet to hear,

O Maple Leaf,

As that which thou dost make

When winds of summer shake

The branches of the brake,

O Maple Leaf.

Most beautiful in pain,

When suns begin to wane,

O Maple Leaf,

Thou never growest old,

But in the time of cold

Thou turnest but to gold,

O Maple Leaf.

And when the earth expires,

And mute are all her choirs,

O Maple Leaf,

Thy dower thou dost shed

Of tribute, richest red,

Upon her sombre bed,

O Maple Leaf.

May heaven bless thy land,

And make it strong to stand,

O Maple Leaf;

For it we humbly pray

That God will be its stay,

Now, henceforth, and for aye,

O Maple Leaf.