Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). A Victorian Anthology, 1837–1895. 1895.

Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron 1809–92

Song in “The Foresters”

Tennyson

THERE is no land like England

Where’er the light of day be;

There are no hearts like English hearts,

Such hearts of oak as they be.

There is no land like England

Where’er the light of day be;

There are no men like Englishmen,

So tall and bold as they be.

And these will strike for England

And man and maid be free

To foil and spoil the tyrant

Beneath the greenwood tree.

There is no land like England

Where’er the light of day be;

There are no wives like English wives,

So fair and chaste as they be.

There is no land like England

Where’er the light of day be;

There are no maids like the English maids,

So beautiful as they be.

And these shall wed with freemen,

And all their sons be free,

To sing the songs of England

Beneath the greenwood tree.