Poems and Essays

by Joseph Howe


 

THANKSGIVING HYMN.


 

Almighty Father! at Thy Throne
    A grateful people kneel.
Father of Mercies, Thou alone
    Canst compass what we feel.

We thank Thee for the pleasant land
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    In which our lots are cast;
The guidance of Thy eydant hand
    Through all its perils past.

We thank Thee for the forms that guard
    The liberties we prize,
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For every cherish’d old Church-yard,
    Where rest the good and wise. [Page 64]

We thank Thee for the Altars free,
    The Courts without a stain—
The glowing page of History,
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    The Bard’s heroic strain;

The Martyr’s death—the Prophet’s fire,
    The Christian soldier’s sword;
But chiefly let our hearts aspire
    To thank Thee for thy Word:
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And for the hallow’d life and death
    Of Him to guide us given:
The hopes that hang upon His breath,
    The promised rest in Heaven.

For lesser mercies teach us too
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    The grateful song to raise:
Let all we think, and say, and do,
    Be moulded to Thy praise.

We thank Thee for the daily bread,
    That human life sustains;
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For flocks and herds profusely spread
    O’er all our hills and plains.

We thank Thee for the wealth we bring
    Up from the pregnant mine,
For ages stored—each precious thing
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    Is ours, and yet is Thine. [Page 65]

We thank Thee for the mighty deep,
    To which our sons go down;
For tranquil bays that calmly sleep
    Beyond the tempest’s frown.
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We thank Thee for the stars above,
    The flow’ry soil we tread,
For friendship’s grasp—the smile of love,
    The song bird over head.

In prayer and praise our souls ascend
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    To Thy Almighty Throne;
Father of Mercies—guide and friend,
    Our humble tribute own.

Dec.8. 1868. [Page 66]