The despot’s heel is on thy shore
Maryland! My Maryland
His torch is at thy temple door
Maryland! My Maryland!
Avenge the patriotic gore
That flecked the streets of Baltimore
And be the battle queen of yore
Maryland! My Maryland!
Hark to an exiled son’s appeal
Maryland! My Maryland!
My mother State! to thee I kneel
Maryland! My Maryland!
For life and death, for woe and weal
Thy peerless chivalry reveal
And gird thy beauteous limbs with steel
Maryland! My Maryland!
Thou wilt not cower in the dust
Maryland!
Thy beaming sword shall never rust
Maryland!
Remember Carroll’s sacred trust
Remember Howard’s warlike thrust
And all thy slumberers with the just
Maryland! My Maryland!
Come! ‚tis the red dawn of the day
Maryland!
Come with thy panoplied array
Maryland!
With Ringgold’s spirit for the fray
With Watson’s blood at Monterey
With fearless Lowe and dashing May
Maryland! My Maryland!
Come! for thy shield is bright and strong
Maryland!
Come! for thy dalliance does thee wrong
Maryland!
Come to thine own anointed throng
Stalking with Liberty along
And sing thy dauntless slogan song
Maryland! My Maryland!
Dear Mother! burst the tyrant’s chain
Maryland!
Virginia should not call in vain
Maryland!
She meets her sisters on the plain
„Sic semper!“ ‚tis the proud refrain
That baffles minions back amain
Maryland! My Maryland!
I see the blush upon thy cheek
Maryland!
For thou wast ever bravely meek
Maryland!
But lo! there surges forth a shriek
From hill to hill, from creek to creek
Potomac calls to Chesapeake
Maryland! My Maryland!
Thou wilt not yield the Vandal toll
Maryland!
Thou wilt not crook to his control
Maryland!
Better the fire upon thee roll
Better the blade, the shot, the bowl
Than crucifixion of the soul
Maryland! My Maryland!
I hear the distant thunder-hum
Maryland!
The Old Line’s bugle, fife, and drum
Maryland!
She is not dead, nor deaf, nor dumb
Huzza! she spurns the Northern scum
She breathes! she burns! she’ll come! she’ll come
Maryland! My Maryland!
Text: James Ryder Randall (1861)
Musik: auf die Melodie von O Tannenbaum
