 | [Poems by Dwight in] American poems, selected and original |  |
66
A HYMN,
Sung at the Public Exhibition of the Scholars, belonging to the Academy in Greenfield, May 2d, 1788.
Hail child of light, returning Spring,
Fair image, foretaste sweet, of heaven!
In thee our hearts thy Maker sing,
By whose blest bounty thou wast given.
Fair image, foretaste sweet, of heaven!
In thee our hearts thy Maker sing,
By whose blest bounty thou wast given.
From thee the wintry glooms retire,
The skies their purest beams display,
And winds, and showers, and suns conspire,
To clothe the world with life and May.
The skies their purest beams display,
And winds, and showers, and suns conspire,
To clothe the world with life and May.
Hail knowledge, hail, the moral spring
That wakes the verdure of the mind!
To man, thy rays indulgent bring
All fragrant flowers, and fruits refin'd.
That wakes the verdure of the mind!
To man, thy rays indulgent bring
All fragrant flowers, and fruits refin'd.
Thy progress with the morn began,
Before thee every region smil'd;
The savage brighten'd into man,
And gardens blossom'd in the wild.
Before thee every region smil'd;
The savage brighten'd into man,
And gardens blossom'd in the wild.
All hail fair Virtue, noblest good,
The bliss and beauty of the skies!
By whom, to yonder blest abode,
The humble, and the faithful rise.
The bliss and beauty of the skies!
By whom, to yonder blest abode,
The humble, and the faithful rise.
67
While here fair Learning smiles benign,
And Spring leads on the genial year,
From realms of life and peace divine,
Descend, and bloom, and flourish here.
And Spring leads on the genial year,
From realms of life and peace divine,
Descend, and bloom, and flourish here.
And O thou fount of good supreme,
The sun that lights eternal spring,
At once of knowledge source and theme,
Thee first, and last, our voices sing!
The sun that lights eternal spring,
At once of knowledge source and theme,
Thee first, and last, our voices sing!
Virtue, in every charm array'd,
For this dark world, thy sufferings won;
Those charms thy matchless life display'd,
When here the incarnate splendor shone.
For this dark world, thy sufferings won;
Those charms thy matchless life display'd,
When here the incarnate splendor shone.
As dews refresh, as suns revive,
When clear and cloudless shines the day,
Command our rising race to live,
And win them from the world away.
When clear and cloudless shines the day,
Command our rising race to live,
And win them from the world away.
With thee, the source of every grace,
Our song shall end, as it began;
Our hope, our trust, our joy, and praise,
The Saviour, and the Friend of Man.
Our song shall end, as it began;
Our hope, our trust, our joy, and praise,
The Saviour, and the Friend of Man.
| [Poems by Dwight in] American poems, selected and original | |