The Cyber Hymnal ‎#12657

12657. Father! To Thy Kind Love We Owe

1 Father! to Thy kind love we owe
All that is fair and good below;
Bestower of the health that lies
On tearless cheeks and cheerful eyes!

2 Giver of sunshine and of rain!
Ripener of fruits on hill and plain!
Fountain of light, that rayed afar,
Fills the vast urns of sun and star!

3 Who send’st Thy storms and frosts to bind
The plagues that rise to waste mankind;
Then breathest, o’er the naked scene,
Spring gales, and life, and tender green.

4 Yet deem we not that thus alone,
Thy mercy and Thy love are shown;
For we have learned, with higher praise,
And holier names, to speak Thy ways.

5 In woe’s dark hour, our kindest stay!
Sole trust when life shall pass away!
Teacher of hopes that light the gloom
Of death, and consecrate the tomb!

6 Patient, with headstrong guilt to bear;
Slow to avenge, and kind to spare;
Listening to prayer, and reconciled
Full quickly to Thy erring child!

Text Information

• First Line: Father! to Thy kind love we owe
• Title: Father! To Thy Kind Love We Owe
• Author: William C. Bryant
• Meter: LM
• Language: English
• Source: A Collection of Psalms and Hymns by Henry Devereux Sewall (New York: C. S. Van Winkle, 1820)
• Copyright: Public Domain
• Notes: Alternate tunes: CANNONS by George F.Handel, CHURCH TRIUMPHANT by James W. Elliott, CONFIDENCE by William Moore

Tune Information

• Name: CANONBURY
• Composer: Robert Alexander Schumann (1839)
• Meter: LM
• Key: G Major or modal
• Copyright: Public Domain