The Seasons of the Year

Representative Text

1 With songs and honors sounding loud
O praise the LORD on high;
over the heav'ns He spreads His cloud,
and waters veil the sky.

2 He sends His show'rs of blessing down
to cheer the plains below;
He makes the grass the mountains crown,
and corn in valleys grow.

3 His steady counsels change the face
of the declining year;
He bids the sun cut short his race,
and wintry days appear.

4 His ivy frost, His fleecy snow,
descend and clothe the ground;
the liquid streams forbear to flow,
in icy fetters bound.

5 He sends His word, and melts the snow,
the fields no longer mourn;
He calls the warmer gales to blow,
and bids the spring return.

6 The changing wind, the flying cloud,
obey His mighty Word:
with songs and honors sounding loud
praise ye the sovereign LORD.

Source: Psalms and Hymns to the Living God #147A

Author: Isaac Watts

Isaac Watts was the son of a schoolmaster, and was born in Southampton, July 17, 1674. He is said to have shown remarkable precocity in childhood, beginning the study of Latin, in his fourth year, and writing respectable verses at the age of seven. At the age of sixteen, he went to London to study in the Academy of the Rev. Thomas Rowe, an Independent minister. In 1698, he became assistant minister of the Independent Church, Berry St., London. In 1702, he became pastor. In 1712, he accepted an invitation to visit Sir Thomas Abney, at his residence of Abney Park, and at Sir Thomas' pressing request, made it his home for the remainder of his life. It was a residence most favourable for his health, and for the prosecution of his literary… Go to person page >

Text Information

First Line: With songs and honors sounding loud
Title: The Seasons of the Year
Author: Isaac Watts (1717)
Meter: 8.6.8.6
Language: English
Notes: Psalm 147, Part 3.
Copyright: Public Domain

Tune

ELLACOMBE

Published in a chapel hymnal for the Duke of Würtemberg (Gesangbuch der Herzogl, 1784), ELLACOMBE (the name of a village in Devonshire, England) was first set to the words "Ave Maria, klarer und lichter Morgenstern." During the first half of the nineteenth century various German hymnals altered the…

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Timeline

Instances

Instances (1 - 9 of 9)

Church Hymnal, Mennonite #47

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Psalms and Hymns to the Living God #147A

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Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal #35

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The Cyber Hymnal #7533

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The Sacred Harp #200

The Sacred Harp #301

The Sacred Harp #304

The Sacred Harp #528

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Trinity Hymnal (Rev. ed.) #127

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