HONOR to him whose very blood remembers <br />The old, enchanted dream-song of the Rhine, <br />Although his house of life. is fair with shine <br />Of fires new-kindled on the buried embers; <br />Whose heart is wistful for the flowers he tended <br />Beside his mother, for the caryen gnome <br />And climbing bear and cuckoo-clock of home, <br />For the whispering forest path two lovers wended; <br />Who none the less, still strange in speech and manner, <br />With our young Freedom keeps his plighted faith, <br />Sides with his children's hope against the wraith <br />Of his own childhood, hails the Starry Banner <br />As emblem of his country now, to-morrow; <br />A patriot by duty, not by birth. <br />The costliest loyalty has purest worth. <br />Honor to him who draws the sword in sorrow!<br /><br />Katharine Lee Bates<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-german-american/
