Cecil F. H. Alexander (1848)
All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful:
The Lord God made them all.
Each little flower that opens,
Each little bird that sings,
God made their glowing colors,
And made their tiny wings.
The purple headed mountains,
The river running by,
The sunset and the morning
That brightens up the sky.
The cold wind in the winter,
The pleasant summer sun,
The ripe fruits in the garden:
God made them every one.
The tall trees in the greenwood,
The meadows where we play,
The rushes by the water,
We gather every day.
God gave us eyes to see them,
And lips that we might tell
How great is God Almighty,
Who has made all things well.
EARTH
Poet: Unknown
Beautiful earth, as I have looked upon you,
how often has my spirit leapt into song
with huge happiness! How I have craved
to get a firm grip on you ocean-girdled waist
and keep it pressed to my breast;
to spread myself in every direction, as pervasive
and boundless as the morning sun; to dance
all day long upon forests, upon mountains,
on the undulations of trembling leaves; to kiss
every flower that buds; to embrace
all the tender densely growing greenswards;
to oscillate as on a swing of delight
on every wave; and quietly at night
with hushed footsteps to come as cosmic sleep,
stroking the eyes of all your birds and beasts
with my own fingers, entering every bed,
nest, home, cave, den that there is, spreading myself
like a gigantic sari-end upon
all that exists, cloaking it
with the gentlest darkness!
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