Hymns for Christian Devotion Part 142

860. C. M.

Spring.

1 When verdure clothes the fertile vale, And blossoms deck the spray, And fragrance breathes in every gale, How sweet the vernal day!

2 Hark! how the feathered warblers sing!

'Tis nature's cheerful voice; Soft music hails the lovely spring, And woods and fields rejoice.

3 O G.o.d of nature and of grace, Thy heavenly gifts impart; Then shall my meditation trace Spring blooming in my heart.

4 Inspired to praise, I then shall join Glad nature's cheerful song, And love and grat.i.tude divine Attune my joyful tongue.

861. C. M. Peabody.

Spring.

1 When brighter suns and milder skies Proclaim the opening year, What various sounds of joy arise!

What prospects bright appear!

2 Earth and her thousand voices give Their thousand notes of praise; And all, that by his mercy live, To G.o.d their offering raise.

3 The streams, all beautiful and bright, Reflect the morning sky; And there, with music in his flight, The wild bird soars on high.

4 Thus, like the morning, calm and clear, That saw the Saviour rise, The spring of heaven's eternal year Shall dawn on earth and skies.

5 No winter there, no shades of night, Obscure those mansions blest, Where, in the happy fields of light, The weary are at rest.

862. L. M. Fergus.

Spring-Time.

1 The spring, the joyous spring is come With lovely flowers of early bloom; The warbling birds, on every tree, Fill all the air with melody.

2 Once more, unsealed, the fountains run, Sparkling, beneath a brighter sun; Green leaves and tender herbs arise, Cheered by the glow of warmer skies.

3 Oh Lord, the changes of the year At thy Almighty word appear; And all the seasons, as they roll, Declare thy name from pole to pole.

4 Spring showers, descending from above, Bear down glad tidings of thy love, And every blossom on the tree Bespeaks our grat.i.tude to thee.

863. S. M. Anonymous.

Summer.

1 Great G.o.d, at thy command, Seasons in order rise: Thy power and love in concert reign Through earth, and seas, and skies.

2 How balmy is the air!

How warm the sun's bright beams!

While, to refresh the ground, the rains Descend in gentle streams.

3 With grateful praise we own Thy providential hand, While gra.s.s, and herbs, and waving corn, Adorn and bless the land.

4 But greater still the gift Of thy beloved Son; By him forgiveness, peace, and joy, Through endless ages run.

864. C. M. T. Richardson.

"The Hymn of Summer."

1 How glad the tone when summer's sun Wreathes the gay world with flowers, And trees bend down with golden fruit, And birds are in the bowers!

2 The moon sends silent music down Upon each earthly thing; And always, since creation's dawn, The stars together sing.

3 Shall man remain in silence, then, While all beneath the skies The chorus joins? no, let us sing, And while our voices rise,

4 O, let our lives, great G.o.d, breathe forth A constant melody; And every action be a tone In that sweet hymn to thee!

865. 7s. & 6s. M. Brit. Magazine.

Autumn.

1 The leaves, around me falling, Are preaching of decay; The hollow winds are calling, "Come, pilgrim, come away:"

The day, in night declining, Says I must, too, decline; The year its bloom resigning, Its lot foreshadows mine.

2 The light my path surrounding, The loves to which I cling, The hopes within me bounding, The joys that round me wing,-- All, all, like stars at even, Just gleam and shoot away, Pa.s.s on before to heaven, And chide at my delay.

3 The friends gone there before me Are calling from on high, And happy angels o'er me Tempt sweetly to the sky: "Why wait," they say, "and wither, 'Mid scenes of death and sin?

O, rise to glory, hither, And find true life begin."