Of many gods thus gone before,
That man did worship and adore
For all the good that they had done,
To tribes and nations everywhere
That prayed to them their gifts to share
Thou stoodst supreme, O mighty sun.
With nature's supreme power divine
Doth all thy power intertwine
To bless all life upon this earth,
With purple splendors, morning light,
And gilded blue and gray at night
That fills the soul with joy and mirth.
The flow'ry kingdom doth awake
And from thy smiles its beauty take
At morn in thy ascending.
Enchanted by thy brilliant light
They follow thee until at night,
They close their eyes in sunset's blending.
Thy greeting daily dost renew
To sip the sparkling pearly dew
From rosy lips at early hour,
Then mystically the dewdrops rise
To form the beauteous, cloudy skies
That send refreshing gentle showers.
Thy moving galleries on high
The greatest artist's skill defy;
Thy beauteous sceneries ever blend
With fragrant flowers on earth's breast,
With tow'ring snow-capped mountains' crest,
And ocean's swelling silv'ry strand.
Behold the rose-tint mountain crest
That draws its beauty from the west,
While thou dost sink in bright array
To shed thy light on other land,
And thus to form a golden band
That all earth's surface doth survey.
Most glorious hues from thee descend,
That beauty to earth's kingdom lend,
To woods, and meadows, and the sea;
The clouds are tinted with thy gold
And autumn leaves grand to behold.
All gorgeous splendor comes from thee.
Thy glittering light on glaciers beam
That oft like molten silver gleam,
And cast its brilliant light afar
To meet the purpled clouds above,
As if to greet them with their love
And all their frigid zone unbar.
The silv'ry billows on the lake
Of all thy coloring partake,
From emerald green to turquoise blue;
The sparkling diamonds from cascades,
And misty rainbows of all shades
Add to thy brilliant retinue.
The rainbow that for ages past
A sacred promise did forecast
Is also of thy magic art.
Aurora of the distant north
Whose carmine hue from dusk comes forth
Its beauty, too, thou dost impart.
To the vast satellites attend
And all obey thy fixed command
As in their train around thee fly.
The heavens above decked with bright stars,
Like Venus, Jupiter and Mars,
Dost thou adorn and vivify.
The tiny cells thy law obey
And wondrous changes oft display
In germinating life from seed.
Thy light and warmth are adequate
That life and form to animate
With wondrous power for every need.
With all thy many attributes
Thyself like we must e'er salute
The universal power divine
That holds command o'er all in all,
Without whose ken a hair can't fall,
Whose power doth mind, life, love, combine.
