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Sat 9 Jan, 2016 08:49 am
My country, 'tis of thee,
Sweet land of liberty,
Of thee I sing;
Land where my fathers died,
Land of the pilgrims' pride,
From ev'ry mountainside
Let freedom ring!
@oristarA,
it translates...poetically (derived from biblical words):
it is made up of (or comprised or belongs to) of thee..(of you or yours).
'tis - poetic for 'it is'
Many such questions can be answered by using an online dictionary. Here's a link where you can view the translation of thee:
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/thee
Furthermore, this link is addressed to English-language learners - a valuable resource:
http://www.learnersdictionary.com/definition/thee
@Ragman,
Thanks.
But of course I've checked out my dictionaries (including but not limited to Oxford) and know it means "it is of you."
Well, I just failed to understand "it is of you."
What does it mean? "It is about you"?
@oristarA,
Quote:Well, I just failed to understand "it is of you."
My country, it is of you ... that I sing
@Tes yeux noirs,
Tes yeux noirs wrote:
Quote:Well, I just failed to understand "it is of you."
My country, it is of you ... that I sing
Why not "it is you that I sing" (I sing for you)?
The use of "of" confused me.
We can say "I sing of [something] when we mean "I sing about [something].
I sing of love and pain, he sings of summer, I sing of the girl I love.
@Tes yeux noirs,
Cool.
Thanks.
Does "swell the breeze" mean "fly with the breeze"?
Quote:Let music swell the breeze,
And ring from all the trees
Sweet freedom's song;
Let mortal tongues awake;
Let all that breathe partake;
Let rocks their silence break,
The sound prolong.
@oristarA,
Yes. Wind carries sound along, a bit. Upwind, it's quieter. Downwind, you can hear it more clearly.
Most of all, it's really bad, florid writing. You get that a lot with patriotic excess.
@oristarA,
oristarA wrote:Failed to get "'tis of thee" - please rewrite it in plain English
With pleasure! Here you go:
This land is your land,
This land is my land,
From California
To the New York island;
From the Redwood forest
To the gulfstream waters:
This land is made for you and me.
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