Florida, My Florida

Florida, My Florida

Written by Rev Dr. C. V. Waugh

Land of my birth, bright sunkissed land,
Florida, my Florida.
Laded by the Gulf and Ocean grand,
Florida, my Florida.

Of all the States in East or West,
Unto my heart thou art the best
Here may I live, here may I rest
Florida, my Florida.

The golden fruit the world outshines
Florida, my Florida,
Thy gardens and thy phosphate mines,
Florida, my Florida,

In country, town, or hills and dells,
Florida, my Florida,
The rythmic chimes of the school bells
Florida, my Florida,

Will call thy children day by day
To learn to walk the patriot's way
Firmly to stand for thee for aye
Florida, my Florida.

Yield their rich store of good supply,
To still the voice of hunger's cry
For thee we'll live, for thee we'll die
Florida, my Florida.

Before "The Swanee River", there was another state song, "Florida, My Florida," adopted in the 1913 Legislature. Written in 1894 by Rev Dr. C. V. Waugh, a professor of languages at the Florida Agricultural College at Lake City, the song was said by the Legislature to have "both metric and patriotic merit of the kind calculated to inspire love for home and native State." It is sung to the tune of "Maryland, My Maryland."

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