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2 Thy bounty bids the infant year,
From winter storms recovered, rise;
When thousand grateful scenes appear,
Fresh opening to our wondering eyes.

3 The new delight how great, to see
The earth in vernal beauty dressed,
While in each herb, and flower, and tree,
Thy opening bounty shines confessed.

4 Aloft, full beaming, reigns the sun,
And light and genial heat conveys;
And while he leads the seasons on,
From thee derives his quickening rays.
5 Indulgent God! from every part
Thy plenteous blessings largely flow;
We
e see; we taste; let every heart
With grateful love and duty glow.

493.

H. M. FREEMAN.

Imitation of Thomson's Hymn on the Seasons.
1 LORD of the worlds below!
On earth thy glories shine;
The changing seasons show
Thy skill and power divine.
In all we see

A God appears;
The rolling years
Are full of thee.

2 Forth in the flowery spring,
We see thy beauty move;
The birds on branches sing
Thy tenderness and love;

Wide flush the hills;
The air is balm:
Devotion's calm

Our bosom fills.

3 Then come, in robes of light,
The summer's flaming days;
The sun, thine image bright,
Thy majesty displays;
And oft thy voice
In thunder rolls;
But still our souls
In thee rejoice.

4 In autumn, a rich feast
Thy common bounty gives
To man, and bird, and beast,
And everything that lives.
Thy liberal care

At morn and noon
And harvest moon,
Our lips declare.

5 In winter, awful thou!

With storms around thee cast;
The leafless forests bow

Beneath thy northern blast.

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494.

C. M.

WATTS.

The Seasons of the Year. Ps. 147.

1 WITH Songs and honors sounding loud,
Address the Lord on high;

Over the heavens he spreads his cloud,
And waters veil the sky.

2 He sends his showers of blessings down To cheer the plains below;

He makes the grass the mountains crown, And corn in valleys grow.

3 His steady counsels change the face
Of the declining year;

He bids the sun cut short his race,
And wintry days appear.

4 His hoary frost, his fleecy snow,
Descend and clothe the ground;
The liquid streams forbear to flow,
In icy fetters bound.

5 He sends his word, and melts the snow;
The fields no longer mourn:
He calls the warmer gales to blow,
And bids the spring return.

6 The changing wind, the flying cloud,
Obey his mighty word:

With songs and honors sounding loud,
Praise ye the sovereign Lord.

386

495. C. M.

WATTS.

The Blessing of Rain. Ps. 65.

1 'Tis by thy strength the mountains stand, God of eternal power!

The sea grows calm at thy command,
And tempests cease to roar.

2 The morning light and evening shade
Successive comforts bring;

Thy plenteous fruits make harvest glad, Thy flowers adorn the spring.

3 Seasons and times, and moons and hours, Heaven, earth, and air, are thine; When clouds distil in fruitful showers, The Author is divine.

4 The thirsty ridges drink their fill,
And ranks of corn appear;

Thy ways abound with blessings still,
Thy goodness crowns the year.

496.

C. M.

WATTS.

God gives Rain. Ps. 65.

1 GOOD is the Lord, the heavenly King,
Who makes the earth his care;
Visits the pastures every spring,
And bids the grass appear.

2 The clouds, like rivers, raised on high, Pour out, at thy command,

Their watery blessings from the sky,
To cheer the thirsty land.

3 The softened ridges of the field
Permit the corn to spring;
The valleys rich provision yield,
And the poor laborers sing.

4 The little hills, on every side,
Rejoice at falling showers;
The meadows, dressed in all their pride,
Perfume the air with flowers.

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

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

497.

L. M.

RIPPON'S COL.

Divine Influences compared to Rain.

1 THE dews and rains, in all their store,
Watering the pastures o'er and o'er,
Are not so copious as that grace
Which sanctifies and saves our race.

2 As in soft silence vernal showers
Descend and cheer the fainting flowers!
So in the secrecy of love

Falls the sweet influence from above.

3 That heavenly influence let me find
In holy silence of the mind,

While every grace maintains its bloom,
Diffusing wide its rich perfume.

4 Nor let these blessings be confined
To me, but poured on all mankind;
Till earth's wild wastes in verdure rise,
And a new Eden bless our eyes.

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