America!
—for the one-year anniversary of the second Inauguration
of President Donald J. Trump, leader of the Free World
Oh, giant of the Western hemisphere!
Colossus of the gently setting sun!
Where liberty is held supremely dear
And fight for truth and justice never done.
A nation born in blood and revolution;
A hardy people struggling to be free,
Who gave the world a dazzling Constitution
And partied on the waterfront with tea.
A nation built by huddled immigrants
Fleeing persecution, poverty and war:
Arrivals in a land of innocence
Where other Nations had arrived before.
A nation torn apart by slavery
That battled for its very life and soul;
That witnessed acts of signal bravery
Exacting catastrophic human toll.
A nation forged anew in wars abroad:
In carnage on the Marne, the Somme and Aisne;
And then on Juno, Utah, Gold and Sword
And Omaha, where many fell again:
The children of bedraggled immigrants
Returning whence they came to save that world:
Blood spilt again with old belligerents
And freedom’s flag on ancient lands unfurled.
But other wars and conflicts, too, contrived
To cause dissent and tear that soul apart;
Yet still this Nation under God survived,
So indestructible its prayerful heart.
Oh, home to multitudes and teeming peoples
Of every shade of colour and belief,
To soaring skyscrapers and graceful steeples
And landscapes of imponderable relief!
Oh, complex melting pot of many races!
Oh, blazing image of modernity
Whose mountains, forests, plains and mighty places
Evince the Mystery of Eternity!
America!! You tower above us all
And like a rocket, climb towards the future.
What epic tale could ever so enthral
As yours from wagon train to bit computer?
What heights will you, America, not scale?
What frontiers fraught with danger not traverse
As now, with courage unafraid to fail,
You gaze upon the boundless universe?
God speed, America, we honour you
And call you here to witness on this stage
A President with instincts bold and true
And dawning of a coming Golden Age!
Paul Martin Freeman is an art dealer in London. His book of whimsical verse, A Chocolate Box Menagerie, is published by New English Review Press. This poem is from the his unpublished work, The Bus Poems: A Tale of the Devil.
Great poem extolling the virtues of this great country and its people. But still. democracy is a fragile experiment. I hope that enough Americans understand and protect this beacon of freedom and humanism from those who would tear it down from within.
Thank you, Richard. On this side of the Atlantic the prospects for democracy are looking increasingly grim. All the more need for America to stay the course.
Reminds me of Phillis Wheatley’s poem “His Excellency General Washington.”
Thank you , Benjamin. I am honoured by the comparison.
All GENUINE Americans are proud, and lucky, to have you on ‘our side’, Paul. You’ve addressed virtually every aspect of what constitutes a sovereign nation while succinctly pointing out the ever-growing number of threats we face as a nation, even today. And I agree that we have the appropriate man captaining the ship that’s fighting tirelessly to get us back to where we once were. An excellent and well-written piece.
I’m touched that you should think so, Mark. When I started the poem, as is usual with me, I had no idea where it would go. But then it turned into this paean for the country of my birth which I never knew.
Paul, this is also an outstanding poem for the 250th birthday of America celebrated this year! You covered the entire span of our existence with striking imagery and panache!
Thank you, Roy. I think there must be something special about the praise of an old soldier for a poem expressing love and appreciation for his country.
Only a Brit could have written this. If an American had done so it might have seemed jingoistic. In a time when Britain herself has become overwhelmed with invading hordes, it’s no wonder, but a wonder nonetheless, that the expression of the spirit of revolution should come from America’s home country. Thank you.
Thank you, C.B.
As long as it allows the same to others, so, in the context of western civilisation and cultures informed by comparable ethical codes, and as long as it doesn’t stray into isolationism, I think love of country is generally a good thing. And certainly at this time in our history, as it gives us both the will and the means to push back against the two forces threatening to overwhelm us: globalism, a new form of totalitarianism, and a resurgent aggressive Islam spread by terror and oil money in a globalised world.
I think President Trump gets all this, which is why he wants not just to make America great again, but other countries as well, in the context of Iran talking about MIGA.
Maybe you’ll write a lament for Birdsall?
This is a beautiful poem, Paul, which truly touched my heart. In these trying times when the West is under attack and a huge number of people resent the USA based on knee-jerk or agenda-driven ideological grounds, it is not only refreshing but a great comfort to be reminded that America is still a beacon of light for liberty throughout the world. There is a reason why so many millions of people from other countries seek to live here. Thank you for this.
Thank you, Brian. I am so glad if it moved you. That was really the purpose of the poem. In all the ideological confusion and gloom, however naive it might seem to sophisticated types, we need to keep alive that freshness and excitement about what America is and can be as a nation, just as we need to do so about ourselves as individuals.
I sent the poem off to the Trump camp before the inauguration in case they wanted it read out on stage (terrified I might be invited to do so in front of billions of people!) But the purpose of the poem is the encouragement of that self-belief you refer to without which we are lost. For it is in the loss of self-belief that civilisations die.
Paul, you just articulated something profound that has been eating away at my soul. Thank you for these insightful words: “It is in the loss of self-belief that civilisations die.”
I think that is the deep strategy of the left and why leftists attack every foundational block of our civilisation. If they can stop us believing in ourselves, they know we’ll become disorientated, weak and easy to control, which is their whole purpose.
In the UK, we’ve reached a more advanced stage in the process. Here, people are being criminalised for what is essentially customary behaviour or holding customary views. All, of course, in the name of “tolerance”.
Paul, for me, your excellently crafted poem does something brave and beautiful. It sings of America’s history and culture and makes no apology for it – it celebrates America’s existence at a time when it is heretical to do so under the rigid rules of the new world order, and I thank you wholeheartedly for your creativity and your courage. I have reached a stage where I no longer trust what I hear or see. I feel manipulated by mainstream media and the political system with its bought-and-paid-for toadies, its self-serving agenda, and its disdain for the voice of we the people. I love your nod to self-belief – you are right to note that the loss of self-belief means civilizations die. Whether one agrees with Trump’s methods or not – America has given much to the world and its people should never be silenced and constantly shamed. I also speak for my homeland and every supposedly-sovereign individual in the Western World being trampled on by the instigators and stokers of this culture war. Paul, thanks again.
Hello Susan. That’s very high praise coming from someone so gifted. Thank you.
I think you and I as Brits (or ex-Brits), and therefore as outsiders, see with benefit of distance what may be harder to see from close up. Britain and Europe need America as desperately as they did in 1940. The difference is, this time it’s more complicated. Such has been the power of generations of indoctrination, much of Britain and Europe either don’t know it, or else don’t want to know it, while America has got similar problems!
An inspirational poem reflecting sentiments many, many Americans are quite willing to echo. It acquires grandeur from the allusive flow through history. I especially liked the reference to the Boston Tea Party. But dating it specifically at the beginning of the second year of President Trump’s second term is effective. We are not necessarily at this mood you create, Paul Martin, as we begin the third century after the Declaration of Independence. There will be much more celebration and controversy, but here and now a forward-looking stance is welcome and warranted. There have always been problems and complexities for this “Nation under God,” as the poem properly places us.
Thank you for your thoughtful comment, Margaret.
I wrote the poem at the end of 2024 for publication by New English Review in the January 2025 edition of their online magazine. As I don’t have a US email address, I asked the NER who kindly agreed to send it off to the Office of Melania Trump in case they wanted to use it for the big day. They wrote back to thank me, but I didn’t hear anything more.
When I looked at it again recently to offer to Evan, I felt it lacked something in two places, so added stanzas six and eight.
So much has happened in the past year and the tone or content may seem a little out of date. In particular the reference to Elon Musk in (now) stanza eleven.
The poem was indeed intended to be inspirational – I’m delighted you picked up on this – and even thrilling. I envisaged it being read out on the inauguration stage in a big voice with a thunderous climax at that “America!!” in the (now) tenth stanza, but was relieved not to have to bear the responsibility!
Thanks for the outline of the poem’s intent and history! This is fascinating. I did take the emotion as something to be shared by supporters of the President, including many legally present in the country but not citizens capable of voting, and by others throughout the world who approve of his policies affecting themselves. You would count as a British well-wisher. I made a mistake above by reference to the “third century after the Declaration of Independence.” Should have said the “second quarter of a millenium.” It is hopeful to think we are moving that far into the 1000 years introduced by 1776.