Can You Count the Stars?

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Can you count the stars that nightly Twinkle in the midnight sky?

Author: Wilhelm Hey; Translator: H. W. Dulcken
Tune: [Weisst du, wie viel sternlein stehen]
Published in 38 hymnals

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Representative Text

1 Can you count the stars that brightly
Twinkle in the midnight sky?
Can you count the clouds, so lightly
O’er the meadows floating by?
God, the Lord, doth mark their number
With His eyes that never slumber;
He hath made them every one,
He hath made them every one.

2 Can you count the wings now flashing
In the sunshine’s golden light?
Can you count the fishes splashing
In the cooling waters bright?
God, the Lord, a name hath given,
To all creatures under heaven;
He hath named them every one,
He hath named them every one.

3 Do you know how many children
Rise each morning blithe and gay?
Can you count their jolly voices,
Singing sweetly day by day?
God hears all the happy voices,
In their merry songs rejoices;
And He loves them, every one,
And He loves them, every one.

Source: Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal #98

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Author: Wilhelm Hey

Hey, Johann Wilhelm, son of H. A. Hey, pastor at Leina, near Gotha, was born at Leina, March 26, 1789. He studied at the Universities of Jena and Göttingen, became in 1811 licentiate in theology, and, after varied tutorial work, was appointed in 1818 pastor at Töttelstadt, near Gotha. In 1827 he became court preacher at Gotha, where his preaching attracted large audiences, but being regarded as a Pietist, was in 1832 appointed superintendent of Ichtershausen. He died at Ichtershausen, May 19, 1854 (Koch, vii. 262-266; Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie, xii. 344-345; MS. from Pfarrer Ortlob of Leina). Hey's poems were mostly written for children. The best known are his Fabeln für Kinder, with illustrations by Otto Speckter, of which the fir… Go to person page >

Translator: H. W. Dulcken

Henry William Dulcken (1832-1894) Dulcken’s works include: Visit to the Holy Land, Egypt, and Italy, Ida Pfeiffer, second edition (London: Ingram Cooke and Company, 1853) (translator) The Book of German Songs: From the Sixteen to the Nineteenth Century (London: Ward, Lock and Tyler, 1871) Ice Maiden, by Hans Christian Andersen (translator) Arabian Nights (translator) Worthies of the World: A Series of Historical and Critical Sketches of the Lives, Actions, and Characters of Great and Eminent Men of All Countries and Times Go to person page >

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Text Information

Text Information

First Line:	Can you count the stars that nightly Twinkle in the midnight sky?
Title:	Can You Count the Stars?
German Title:	Weisst du, wie viel Sternlein stehen
Author:	Wilhelm Hey
Translator:	H. W. Dulcken
Meter:	8.7.8.7.8.8.7.7
Language:	English
Copyright:	Public Domain