Friday 13 May 2016

A 180-year-old poem by Hans Christian Andersen about America

Brothers, very far from here,
’cross the salty reaches,
see America appear
with its golden beaches,
there the Phoenix is reborn:
gold and silver grow like corn,
and in forests nesting
see roast pigeons resting.
Sensational!
Oh, how inspirational!
What a shame America
Lies so far from here, so far!

There the sun stays high above,
every chestnut’s roasted,
everything is simply love,
in champagne all’s toasted.
Should one give one’s heart away
folk will twice or thrice repay,
not with milk and honey
flows this land but money.
Sensational!
Oh, how inspirational!
What a shame America
Lies so far from here, so far!


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