Classic Poem

1.

Ye Works of God, on Him alone,
In Earth his footstool, Heav'n his throne,
Be all your praise bestow'd;
Whose hand the beauteous fabrick made,
Whose eye the finish'd World survey'd,
And saw that all was good.

2.

Ye Angels, who with loud acclaim
Admiring view'd the new-born frame,
And hail'd th' eternal King,
Again proclaim your Maker's praise,
Again your thankful voices raise,
And touch the tuneful string.

3.

Praise Him, Ye bright ethereal plains,
Where, in full majesty, he deigns
To fix his awful throne:
Ye Waters that above them roll;
From orb to orb, from pole to pole
O, make his praises known.

4.

Thrones, Dominations, Virtues, Pow'rs,
O, join your joyful songs with ours,
With us your voices raise:
From age to age extend the lay;
To heav'n's eternal Monarch pay
Hymns of eternal praise.

5.

Celestial Orb, whose pow'rful ray
Opes the glad eyelids of the day,
Whose influence all things own,
Praise him, whose Courts effulgent shine
With light as far excelling thine,
As thine the paler moon.

6.

Ye glitt'ring Planets of the sky,
Whose beams the absent sun supply,
With him the song pursue;
And let himself submissive own,
He borrows from a brighter Sun
The light he lends to You.

7.

Ye Show'rs and Dews, whose moisture shed
Calls into life the op'ning seed,
To him your praises yield,
Whose influence wakes the genial birth,
Drops fatness on the pregnant Earth,
And crowns the laughing field.

8.

Ye Winds, that oft tempestuous sweep
The ruffled surface of the Deep,
With Us confess your God:
See, through the heav'ns, the King of Kings,
Up-borne on your extended wings,
Comes flying all abroad.

9.

Ye Floods of fire, where'er ye flow,
With just submission humbly bow
To his superior pow'r,
Who stops the tempest on its way,
Or bids the flaming deluge stray,
And gives it strength to roar.

10.

Ye Summer's heat, and Winter's cold;
By turns in long succession roll'd,
The drooping World to chear,
Praise him who gave the Sun and Moon,
To lead the various Seasons on,
And guide the circling Year.

11.

Ye Frosts, that bind the watry plain,
Ye silent Show'rs of fleecy rain,
Pursue the heav'nly theme:
Praise him who sheds the driving snow,
Forbids the harden'd waves to flow,
And stops the rapid stream.

12.

Ye Days and Nights; that swiftly borne
From Morn to Eve from Eve to Morn,
Alternate glide away;
Praise him, whose never-varying light,
Absent, adds horror to the night,
But present gives the day.

13.

Light! from whose rays all beauty springs;
Darkness! whose wide-expanded wings
Involve the dusky Globe;
Praise him, who, when the heav'ns he spread,
Thick Darkness his pavilion made,
And Light his regal robe.

14.

Praise him, ye Lightnings, as ye fly
Wing'd with hot vengeance through the sky,
And red with wrath divine:
Praise him, ye Clouds, that scatter'd stray,
Or, fix'd by him in close array,
Surround his awful Shrine.

15.

Exalt, O Earth, thy heav'nly King,
Who bids the plants, that from thee spring,
Renew their annual bloom;
Whose frequent drops of kindly rain
Prolific swell the rip'ning grain,
And bless thy fertile womb.

16.

Ye Mountains, that ambitious rise,
And lift your summits to the skies,
Revere his awful nod:
Think how Ye once affrighted fled,
While Jordan sought his fountain-head,
And own'd th' approaching God.

17.

Ye Trees, that fill the rural scene,
Ye Flow'rs, that o'er th' enamel'd Green
In native beauty reign,
O, praise the Ruler of the skies,
Whose hand the genial sap supplies,
And clothes the thankful plain.

18.

Ye secret Springs, ye gentle Rills,
That murm'ring rise among the hills,
Or fill the humbler vale;
Praise him at whose almighty nod
The rugged rock dissolving flow'd,
And form'd a springing well.

19.

Praise him, Ye Floods, and Seas profound,
Whose waves the spacious Earth surround,
And roll from shore to shore:
Aw'd by his voice, Ye Seas, subside;
Ye Floods, within your channels glide,
And tremble and adore.

20.

Ye Whales, that stir the boiling Deep,
Or in its dark recesses sleep,
Remote from human eye;
Praise him, by whom Ye all are fed,
Praise him, without whose heav'nly aid
Ye sicken, faint, and die.

21.

Ye Birds, exalt your Maker's name;
Begin, and with th' important theme
Your artless lays improve;
Wake with your songs the rising day,
Let music sound from ev'ry spray,
And fill the vocal Grove.

22.

Praise him, Ye Beasts, that nightly roam
Amid the solitary gloom,
Th' expected prey to seize:
Ye slaves of the laborious plough,
Your stubborn necks submissive bow,
And bend your wearied knees.

23.

Ye Sons of Men, his praise display,
Whose vital breath informs your clay,
And gives it pow'r to move:
Yet that in Judah's confines dwell,
From age to age successive tell
The wonders of his Love.

24.

Let Aaron's Race the lay prolong,
Till Angels listen to the song,
And bend attentive down:
Let wonder seize the heav'nly Train,
Pleas'd, while they hear a mortal strain
So sweet, so like their own.

25.

To him exulting strike the chord,
Ye faithful Servants of your Lord;
Nor e'er your praises cease;
Whose hearts fair Wisdom's ways have known,
And, taught by blest experience, own
That all her paths are peace.

26.

Ye Spirits of the just and good,
That, eager for the bright Abode,
To heav'nly Mansions soar,
O, let your songs his praise display,
Till Heav'n itself shall melt away,
And Time shall be no more.

27.

Praise him, ye meek and humble Train,
Ye Saints whom his Decrees ordain
The boundless bliss to share:
O, praise him, till Ye take your way
To regions of eternal day,
And reign for ever there.

28.

Let Us, who see th' inclosing fire
Divested of its rage aspire,
And innocently blaze,
(While thus we triumph in the flame,)
Rise, and our Maker's Love proclaim
In hymns of endless praise.