(illuminated capital) I bless Thee, Lord, in early spring, When first the daisy decks the mead, And in the furrowed ground we fling, With hope and prayer, the golden seed. Let children in life’s spring-time days Lift up their hearts in prayer and praise! I bless Thee in the summer heat, When cattle seek the cooling streams, And o’er green fields of waving wheat The sun pours down his ripening beams. Let man in life’s bright summer days Lift up his heart in prayer and praise! I bless Thee in the autumn morn, When varied tints are on the leaves, When gaily sounds the hunter’s horn, Where reapers bind the golden sheaves. Let man in life’s declining days Lift up his heart in prayer and praise! I’ll bless my God in winter’s gloom, When Nature sleeps beneath the snow; Oh! grant that when, beneath the tomb, My body lies in slumber low, Thou wilt my soul to Heaven raise, Where all is joy and all is praise! |