America For Me

'Tis fine to see the Old World
and travel up and down
Among the famous palaces
and cities of renown,

To admire the crumbly castles
and the statues and kings
But now I think I've had enough
of antiquated things.

So it's home again, and home again,
America for me!
My heart is turning home again
and there I long to be,

In the land of youth and freedom,
beyond the ocean bars,
Where the air is full of sunlight
and the flag is full of stars.

Oh, London is a man's town,
there's power in the air;
And Paris is a woman's town,
with flowers in her hair;

And it's sweet to dream in Venice,
and it's great to study Rome;
But when it comes to living
there is no place like home.

I like the German fir-woods
in green battalions drilled;
I like the gardens of Versailles
with flashing fountains filled;

But, oh, to take your hand, my dear,
and ramble for a day
In the friendly western woodland
where Nature has her sway!

I know that Europe's wonderful,
yet something seems to lack!
The Past is too much with her,
and the people looking back.

But the glory of the Present
is to make the Future free--
We love our land for what she is
and what she is to be.

Oh, it's home again, and home again,
America for me!
I want a ship that's westward bound
to plough the rolling sea,

To the blessed Land of Room Enough,
beyond the ocean bars,
Where the air is full of sunlight
and the flag is full of stars