Hymns for the Amusement of Children (1791)/Gratitude
HYMN XXII.
GRATITUDE.
I upon the first creation
Clap'd my wings with loud applause,
Cherub of the highest station,[1]
Praising, blessing, without pause.
5I in Eden's bloomy bowers
Was the heav'nly gard'ner's pride,
Sweet of sweets, and flow'r of flowers
With the scented tinctures dy'd.
Hear, ye little children, hear me,
10I am God's delightful voice;
They who sweetly still revere me,
Still shall make the wisest choice.
Hear me not like Adam trembling,
When I walk'd in Eden's grove;
15And the host of heav'n assembling,
From the spot the traitor drove.
Hear me rather as the lover
Of mankind, restor'd and free;
By the Word[2] ye shall recover
20More than that ye lost by Me.[3]
I'm the Phoenix of the singers
That in upper Eden[4] dwell;
Hearing me Euphrates[5] lingers,
As my wond'rous tale I tell.
25'Tis the story of the Graces,
Mercies without end or sum;
And the sketches and the traces
Of ten thousand more to come.
List, my children, list within you,
30Dread not ye the tempter's rod;
Christ our gratitude shall win you,
Wean'd from earth, and led to God.
Notes
- ↑ 3. Cf. "Cherub of the highest sphere", in Smart's Oratorio "Hannah" III. ii. 18. "Gratitude is habitually personified as a cherub by Smart", as Karina Williamson noted.
- ↑ 19. "Word" in ed. 1786; "word" in ed. 1771, 1772, 1772a & 1775.
- ↑ 19—20. As Karina Williamson explains: "Trough Christ, the Word, man will regain more than he lost by ingratitude. Cf. "On Gratitude" 47—8: "For Paradise had ne'er been lost / Had heav'nly Gratitude remain'd.""
- ↑ 23. upper Eden is the heavenly paradise with multitudes of singers. See Rev. 2:7 and 14:3.
- ↑ 24. Euphrates is one of the four rivers of Eden.
This work was published before January 1, 1929, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.
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