25 THE LAND OF LIBERTY

I love my country’s pine-clad hills,

Her thousand bright and gushing rills,

Her sunshine and her storms;

Her rough and rugged rocks, that rear

Their hoary heads high in the air

In wild, fantastic forms.

I love her rivers, deep and wide,

Those mighty streams that seaward glide

To seek the ocean’s breast;

Her smiling fields, her pleasant vales,

Her shady dells, her flow’ry dales,

The haunts of peaceful rest.

I love her forests, dark and lone,

For there the wild bird’s merry tone

I hear from morn till night;

And there are lovelier flowers, I ween,

Than e’er in Eastern lands were seen,

In varied colors bright.

Her forests and her valleys fair,

Her flowers that scent the morning air —

All have their charms for me;

But more I love my country’s name,

Those words that echo deathless fame,

“The Land of Liberty.”

( Author Unknown )

Word list

gushing : coming out very fast

rills : very small brooks

You Practice

A) Answer the following questions.

1) Where are pine forests found?

2) What does the poet love about America?

3) What name does he give America?

4) What does the poet say makes the forests beautiful?

5) What is your favourite part of the poem? Why?

B) Nouns and adjectives name and describe things around us.Nouns are people, places, things, or ideas. Adjectives describe the nouns. Tell what adjectives go with the nouns in the poem.The first one is done for you