Hymns and Poems Original and Translated: By Edward Caswall ... Second Edition |
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| II. |
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| IV. |
| V. | V. TO THE DEW AND RAIN. |
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| VII. |
| VIII. |
| IX. |
| X. |
| XI. |
| XII. |
| XIII. |
| XIV. |
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| XVI. |
| XVII. |
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 | Hymns and Poems |  |
V. TO THE DEW AND RAIN.
Benedicite, imber et ros, Domino.
Ye Dew and Rain!
How pleasant is your task, who, hand in hand,
Tend the green innocent herbs
With your blest ministries!
Dear brethren are ye both;
But dearer thou, O Dew, the elder born!
For later came the rain,
Rough in his ways, and sometimes harmful found,
As suits a ruin'd world.
But the soft dew, it is a patient thing,
Quiet of spirit, ever doing good,
At no time harm;
And pitiful for man and nature's fall;
Ministering unseen through midnight hours
To fainting mortal things!
Offspring of Eden days!
In whose clear globe
Eden is faintly seen reflected still!
How pleasant is your task, who, hand in hand,
Tend the green innocent herbs
With your blest ministries!
Dear brethren are ye both;
But dearer thou, O Dew, the elder born!
For later came the rain,
Rough in his ways, and sometimes harmful found,
As suits a ruin'd world.
But the soft dew, it is a patient thing,
Quiet of spirit, ever doing good,
At no time harm;
And pitiful for man and nature's fall;
Ministering unseen through midnight hours
To fainting mortal things!
Offspring of Eden days!
In whose clear globe
Eden is faintly seen reflected still!
Yet pleasant too, art thou, O Rain, at times;
And there has been, when I have loved to sit
On some high crag,
Watching thine armies scour
The breadth of vale below;
As, troop by troop, they swept
With cloudy flags unfurl'd,
Muster'd in distant climes,
Or wild Norwegia, or Siberian waste,
Or melting Polar snows,
Atlantic deep, or wizard Egypt's shore,
Children of many lands and many tongues,
Under one law,
United each with each
In solemn contract of self-sacrifice,
To fertilise the world with their sweet blood!
And there has been, when I have loved to sit
On some high crag,
Watching thine armies scour
The breadth of vale below;
As, troop by troop, they swept
With cloudy flags unfurl'd,
Muster'd in distant climes,
376
Or melting Polar snows,
Atlantic deep, or wizard Egypt's shore,
Children of many lands and many tongues,
Under one law,
United each with each
In solemn contract of self-sacrifice,
To fertilise the world with their sweet blood!
O Dews! O Showers!
Praise Him, who you ordain'd;
Praise Him with me, and I with you,
Friends of my early days!
And God forefend
Judea's lot be thine, dear British Land!
Though stain'd with guilt of deadliest sacrilege,
Still not as yet of God forsaken quite.
A glorious clime was hers,
Nurtured in morning dew and evening shower,
The promise of her Lord.
But Oh, her children slew their Lord;
And evermore since then,
Up from the guilty soil His Blood has cried,
And year by year her Heav'n hath dried o'erhead,
Till all her sky is brass;
Nor through long arid months
Or dew or rain descend,
Save where, in nook forlorn,
Faith far retiring
The penitent tear outpours
For Sion's evil deeds;
There still, they say, the golden floweret springs,
The rain-drops fall,
And balmy dews distil;
To show that e'en in vengeance mercy lives!
Praise Him, who you ordain'd;
Praise Him with me, and I with you,
Friends of my early days!
And God forefend
Judea's lot be thine, dear British Land!
Though stain'd with guilt of deadliest sacrilege,
Still not as yet of God forsaken quite.
A glorious clime was hers,
Nurtured in morning dew and evening shower,
The promise of her Lord.
But Oh, her children slew their Lord;
And evermore since then,
Up from the guilty soil His Blood has cried,
And year by year her Heav'n hath dried o'erhead,
Till all her sky is brass;
Nor through long arid months
Or dew or rain descend,
Save where, in nook forlorn,
Faith far retiring
The penitent tear outpours
For Sion's evil deeds;
There still, they say, the golden floweret springs,
The rain-drops fall,
And balmy dews distil;
To show that e'en in vengeance mercy lives!
| Hymns and Poems | |