This Canada Day, as you stand for our national anthem at the lake, around the campfire, or at your local celebration, you'll likely sing the familiar first verse we all know by heart.
But did you know that the English lyrics to "O Canada", the song that our official anthem was adapted from, has a second verse? And a third? And a fourth?
While we regularly sing the opening lines, there are a few more lyrics that paint a fuller picture of our nation – they're worth discovering!
O Canada
Historic recording by Irving Gillette, 1914
Performer
Irving Gillette
Year
1914
One of the earliest known recordings of Canada's national anthem
Source: Wikimedia Commons
The rest of the anthem
These are the rest of the lyrics to 'O Canada' in its most complete form prior to the first verse being adopted as Canada's official anthem. The recording above uses even earlier lyrics.
Verse II
O Canada! Where pines and maples grow.
Great prairies spread and lordly rivers flow.
How dear to us thy broad domain,
From East to Western sea.
Thou land of hope for all who toil!
Thou True North, strong and free!
Chorus
God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
Verse III
O Canada! Beneath thy shining skies
May stalwart sons, and gentle maidens rise,
To keep thee steadfast through the years
From East to Western sea.
Our own beloved native land!
Our True North, strong and free!
Chorus
God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
Verse IV (Added in 1926)
Ruler supreme, who hearest humble prayer,
Hold our Dominion within thy loving care;
Help us to find, O God, in thee
A lasting, rich reward,
As waiting for the better Day,
We ever stand on guard.
Chorus
God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
There are similarly a second, third and fourth stanza to the original French version of O Canada from the late 1800s.
The story behind O Canada
While Calixa Lavallée composed the music in 1880 (originally for French lyrics by Sir Adolphe-Basile Routhier), the English version we know was penned by Robert Stanley Weir in 1908.
Weir, a lawyer and Recorder of the City of Montreal, created not just the first verse we know so well today, but also the second, third and fourth verses.
The second verse seems to speak directly to the cabin-dwelling heart – celebrating our pines and maples, our prairies and rivers. It's as if Weir was writing for everyone who's ever stood on a dock at sunrise or hiked through an autumn forest.
The fourth verse, with its distinctly religious tone, was added later in 1926.
Why not sing an extra verse?
Why not surprise your loved ones by leading them through an extra verse? Imagine singing about our "pines and maples" while actually surrounded by them, or proclaiming our nation "from East to Western sea" while gathered by one of our countless lakes.
Make it a new tradition
Here's a Canada Day challenge: Print out the second verse of 'O Canada' and bring it to your celebration. Share the words around the campfire. Teach them to the kids.
O Canada Lyrics
Complete version with historical second verse
Download the complete lyrics including the traditional second verse.
PDF format • 1 page
Contains both traditional verses of Canada's national anthem
After all, in a country as vast and diverse as ours, shouldn't our anthem be equally expansive?
Happy Canada Day from all of us at CabinLiving.ca!
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