God Bless Our Native Land

God Bless Our Native Land
Frances E. W. Harper

God bless our native land,
  Land of the newly free,
Oh may she ever stand
  For truth and liberty.

God bless our native land,
  Where sleep our kindred dead,
Let peace at thy command
  Above their graves be shed.

God help our native land,
  Bring surcease to her strife,
And shower from thy hand
  A more abundant life.

God bless our native land,
  Her homes and children bless,
Oh may she ever stand
  For truth and righteousness.

Above is the poem, "God Bless Our Native Land" written by Frances E. W. Harper. Analyzing Harper's "The Slave Action," I found her writing quite moving and decided to read some more of her other work. This particular poem struck me as the subject matter is quite similar to Fredrick Douglass' "What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?" sermon. Both Harper and Douglass long for truth, liberty, and righteousness, but each writer's tone is distinct. Douglass expressed anger and frustration that the fourth of July is "fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy- a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages" (261). While Harper's tone is pleading and hopeful as she writes: "God bless our native land... Oh may she ever stand, For truth and liberty." The rhymes in Harper's poem are almost playful. Though the message of her poem is similar to Douglass' sermon, it reads as less bitter and more hopeful. Both works focus on the condition of inequality in America, but approach it with different attitudes.