Susanna Strickland Moodie (06 Dec 1803 – 08 Apr 1885 | Bungay UK – Toronto ON) English-Canadian poet, artist, novelist, memoirist, children’s author.

Canada, the blest – the free! Land of vast hills and mighty streams, the lofty sun that

o’er thee beams. OH! can you leave your native land, an exile’s bride to be? Queen of

the West! – upon thy rocky throne, in solitary grandeur sternly placed, thou sittest

alone. The strains we hear in foreign lands, no echo from the heart can claim. There’s

rest when eve, with dewy fingers, draws the curtains of repose round the west, where

light still lingers, and the day’s last glory glows. Though distant, in spirit still present

to me, my best thoughts, my country, still linger with thee. Oh Canada! Thy gloomy

woods will never cheer the heart. Backwoodsman, son of the isles! rave not to me of the

old world’s pride and luxury. ‘Tis merry to hear, at evening time, by the blazing hearth,

sleigh-bells chime. The parting sunbeams ringed with red, a line of dazzling glory shed!

Moodie, Susanna Strickland. Roughing It in the Bush, or, Life in Canada. London: Richard Bentley, 1852. https://archive.org/details/roughingitinbush01mood_1/page/n20/mode/1up