Wake, all ye soaring throngs, and sing,
Ye cheerful warblers of the spring,
Harmonious anthems raise,

To Him who shap'd your finer mould,
Who tipp'd your glitt'ring wings with gold,
And tun'd your voice to praise.

Let man,

by nobler passions sway'd, The feeling heart, the judging head In heav'nly praise employ,

Spread the Creator's name around,

Till heav'n's broad arch ring back the sound,
The genʼral burst of joy.

The Seasons ordained by Divine Goodness.

THE rolling year, Almighty Lord!

Obeys thy pow'rful nod:

Each season, as it silent moves,

Declares the present God.

Wak'd by thy voice, out steps the spring,

In living green new dress'd;

On hills, in vales, thro' fields and groves,
Thy beauties stand confess'd.

The sun calls forth the summer months,
Nor do the hours delay;

The fruits with varied colours glow,
Beneath his rip'ning ray.

Thy bounty, Lord, in autumn shines,
And spreads a common feast;
He that regards his favourite, man,
Will not neglect the beast.

When winter rears her hoary head,
And shows her furrow'd brow,

In storms and tempests, frosts and snows,
How awful, Lord, art thou!

The rolling year, Almighty Lord!
Obeys thy pow'rful nod:
Each season, as it silent moves,

Declares the present God.

HYMN VII.

(Ps. 65.)

The Husbandman's Hymn.

GOOD is the Lord, the heav'nly King,

Who makes the earth His care; Visits the pastures every spring, And bids the grass appear.

The clouds, like rivers rais'd on high,
Pour out, at thy command,
Their watʼry blessings from the sky,
To cheer the thirsty land.

The soften'd ridges of the field
Permit the corn to spring;
The valleys rich provision yield,
And the poor lab'rers sing.

The little hills, on ev'ry side,
Rejoice at falling show'rs;

The meadows, dress'd in all their pride,
Perfume the air with flow'rs.

N

WATTS.

The barren clods, refresh'd with rain,
Promise a joyful crop ;

The parching grounds look green again,
And raise the reaper's hope.

The various months thy goodness crowns;
How bounteous are thy ways!

The bleating flocks, spread o'er the downs,
And shepherds shout thy praise.

HYMN VIII.

ORATORIO OF ABEL.

Nature calling Man to Devotion.
How cheerful along the gay mead,
The daisy and cowslip appear!
The flocks, as they carelessly feed,
Rejoice in the spring of the year.

The myrtles that shade the gay bow'rs,
The herbage that springs from the sod,
Trees, plants, cooling fruits, and sweet flowers,
All rise to the praise of my God.

Shall man, the great master of all,
The only insensible prove?

Forbid it, fair gratitude's call,

Forbid it, devotion and love!

The Lord who such wonders could raise,

And still can destroy with a nod,
My lips shall incessantly praise;

My soul shall be wrapp'd in my God.

HYMN IX.

The Voice of Creation.

THE spacious firmament on high,
With all the blue ethereal sky,

And spangled heav'ns, a shining frame,
Their great Original proclaim.

Th' unwearied sun, from day to day,
Doth his Creator's pow'r display ;
And publishes, to ev'ry land,

The work of an Almighty hand.

Soon as the ev'ning shades prevail,

The moon takes up the wondrous tale;
And nightly to the list'ning earth

Repeats the story of her birth:

ADDISON.

Whilst all the stars which round her burn,

And all the planets in their turn,

Confirm the tidings as they roll,

And spread the truth from pole to pole.

What though in solemn silence all
Move round the dark terrestrial ball;
What though no real voice nor sound
Amidst their radiant orbs be found:
In reason's ear they all rejoice,
And utter forth a glorious voice:
For ever singing as they shine,
The hand that made us is divine.

HYMN X.

Omnipresence of God.

JEHOVAH God! thy gracious pow'r

On ev'ry hand we see ;

O may the blessings of each hour

Lead all our thoughts to thee.

DR. THOMSON.

If on the wings of morn we speed
To earth's remotest bound,

Thy right hand will our footsteps lead,
Thine arm our path surround.

Thy pow'r is in the ocean deeps,
And reaches to the skies;
Thine eye of mercy never sleeps,
Thy goodness never dies.

From morn till noon, till latest eve,
The hand of God we see ;
And all the blessings we receive,
Ceaseless proceed from thee.

In all the varying scenes of time,
On thee our hopes depend;

In ev'ry age, in ev'ry clime,
Our Father and our Friend!

HYMN XI.

Events disposed by Divine Wisdom.

THROUGH all the various shifting scene
Of life's mistaken ill or good,

Thy hand, O God, conducts, unseen,
The beautiful vicissitude.

Thou portion'st with paternal care,
Howe'er unjustly we complain,
To each their necessary share
Of joy and sorrow, health and pain.

All things on earth, and all in heav'n,
On thine eternal will depend;

And all for greater good were giv'n, Would man pursue th' appointed end