1820

"THE EARTH IS FULL OF THY RICHES"

by William Cullen Bryant

THE EARTH IS FULL OF THY RICHES -

Almighty! hear thy children raise

The voice of thankfulness and praise,

To Him whose wisdom deigned to plan

This fair and bright abode for man. -

For when this orb of sea and land

Was moulded in thy forming hand,

Thy calm, benignant smile impressed

A beam of heaven upon its breast. -

Then rose the hills, and broad and green

The vale's deep pathway sank between;

Then stretched the plains to where the sky

Stoops and shuts in the exploring eye. -

Beneath that smile earth's blossoms glowed,

Her fountains gushed, her rivers flowed,

And from the shadowy wood was heard

The pleasant sound of breeze and bird. -

Thy hand outspread the billowy plains

Of ocean, nurse of genial rains,

Hung high the glorious sun and set

Night's cressets in her arch of jet. -

Lord, teach us, while the admiring sight

Dwells on Thy works in deep delight,

To deem the forms of beauty here

But shadows of a brighter sphere. - -