Oh! Canada, of forests green and

rocky mountains high
with maple leaf, your flags unfurled, 
as Mounties passing by.
Salute the Queen of England
and your capital, Ottawa.
"The Royal Canadian Mounted Police" 
enforce the federal law.

Heroes born of another time,
when lawlessness once ruled.
They drove crime out of Canada,
on horses they pursued.
Justice for their nation then
and now they do it too!
In jeeps more than on horseback,
but, they're still "The Mounties"
through and through.

Oh! Canada of rivers deep
and cathedrals rising high,
to woods and cities your history speaks,
of French and English ties.

"O Canada" is your anthem
and "God Save the Queen," is sung.
We hear your majesty in every note
and in your church bells when they're rung.

Oh! Canada of basins great,
bays and lakes and seas
"The Mother of your Nation,"
the St. Lawrence beckons me.

And your country spreads before me
in a glorious array.

All your frozen, thawing, tundra's
and your winding waterways,
Fill the heart and soul with wonder
in a hundred different ways.
Sightseers bring their cameras,
they take pictures every day.

Alberta, British Columbia and Manitoba,
New Brunswick, New Foundland and Nova Scotia,
Quebec, Ontario, and Saskatchewan
there's 10 provinces
when Prince Edward's Islands added on.
Take the Yukon and Northwest Territories, too
And Canada that's all there is to you.

Oh! there's lots to see in Canada
and lots and lots to do.

Beavers, Moose and Caribou,

Reindeer, Seal
 and dogsleds too!

Tobogganing is lots of fun
and hockey players score
and run.

Fishing, Camping, 
skiing's done,
on snow or water, either's fun.

And spectacular's the only word,
that I have ever felt or heard
for the beauty that surrounds you here
is more than just the atmosphere.

Canadian Geese and Canadian skies,
Canadian sunsets are paradise!

Quebec is beckoning and Montreal calls.
It's a must see city in Winter, Spring or Fall.
Mt. Royal towers above the city, tall.
Beaver Lake glistens beneath it all.
Known for both its fishing
and ice skating, too,
there's so much to do
in Montreal, I'm telling you.
In Royal Park you only ride horse driven things.
It's both quaint and very old world
and I'm wondering,
if the planet wasn't better off in those early days
Before our engines choked monoxide
to the great airways.

Niagara Falls, splashes in Ontario,
it's a honeymooners paradise but, even so,
it's rainbow spilling colors are a joy to all,
everyone I ever met, loves Niagara Falls.

Oh, Canada! Your Calendar is full of things to do.
Your Winter Carnival and Maple Festival,
are one and two.

Sugar cane is sliced and diced
and maple syrup drips
in golden sweet rivers, how we love to sip.
Yum, Yum, yummy,
its goodness is a natural feast
and of all your treasures well,
it's neither last nor least.

So, on this very sweet note,
 we'll say goodbye,
to the Canadian Shield
and the Canadian Sky,
to the Rocky Mountains
and your Eagles high,
and to Bonaventure Island
where your water birds fly.

Yes, to your lynxes, foxes, otters,
wolves and bears, Oh my!
And to your pheasants, ducks, deer, lobsters,
hawks and fish,
we wave ... Bye, Bye!

November 1998

Linda A. Copp