Greatest of beings, source of life;

Sovereign of air, and earth, and sea!

All nature feels thy pow’r, and all

A silent homage pay to thee.

2 Waked by thy hand, the morning sun

Pours forth to thee its earlier rays,

And spreads thy glories as it climbs;

While raptured worlds look up and praise.

3 The moon, to the deep shades of night,

Speaks the mild luster of thy name;

While all the stars, that cheer the scene,

Thee, the great Lord of light, proclaim.

4 And groves and vales, and rocks and hills,

And every flower, and every tree,

Ten thousand creatures, warm with life,

Have each a grateful song for thee.

5 But man was formed to rise to heaven;

And, blest with reason’s clearer light,

He views his Maker through his works,

And glows with rapture at the sight.

6 Nor can the thousand songs that rise,

Whether from air, or earth, or sea,

So well repeat Jehovah’s praise,

Or raise such sacred harmony.