The Happiest Land
from The German
The Happiest Land - meaning Summary
Boastful Regional Pride, Then Heaven
The poem describes four men from different German regions who boast loudly about why their homeland is the happiest. Each proclaims his own place superior, emphasizing local strengths and pleasures. The circular contest ends when the landlord’s daughter gestures upward and declares the true happiest land to be in heaven, shifting the poem from competitive provincial pride to a simple, spiritual answer that transcends earthly divisions.
Read Complete AnalysesThere sat one day in quiet, By an alehouse on the Rhine, Four hale and hearty fellows, And drank the precious wine. The landlord's daughter filled their cups Around the rustic board; Then sat they all so calm and still, And spake not one rude word. But, when the maid departed, A Swabian raised his hand, And cried, all hot and flushed with wine, "Long live the Swabian land! "The greatest kingdom upon earth Cannot with that compare; With all the stout and hardy men And the nut-brown maidens there." Ha! cried a Saxon, laughing,-- And dashed his beard with wine; " I had rather live in Lapland, Than that Swabian land of thine! The goodliest land on all this earth, It is the Saxon land! There have I as many maidens As fingers on this hand! Hold your tongues! both Swabian and Saxon! A bold Bohemian cries; "If there's a heaven upon this earth, In Bohemia it lies. There the tailor blows the flute, And the cobbler blows the horn, And the miner blows the bugle, Over mountain gorge and bourn. **** And then the landlord's daughter Up to heaven raised her hand, And said, Ye may no more contend,-- There lies the happiest land!
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