9 Earth thou dost visit, watering it;
thou mak’st it rich to grow
with God’s full flood; thou corn provid’st,
when thou prepar'st it so.
10 Its ridges thou dost water well,
its furrows down dost press;
thou mak'st it soft with plenteous rain,
its spring thou dost bless.
11 So thou the year most liberally
dost with thy goodness crown;
and all thy paths abundantly
on us drop fatness down.
12 They drop upon the pastures wide,
that in the desert lie;
the little hills on every side
rejoice right pleasantly.
13 With flocks the pastures clothed be,
the vales with corn are clad;
and now they shout and sing to thee,
for thou hast made them glad.
From William Tans’ur’s A Compleat Melody: or, The Harmony of Sion (London: W. Pearson, for James Hodges, 1735), attributed to him there as composer and/or arranger. Hymn Tune Index no. 1393a. The tune is sometimes attributed to Henry Purcell, although the reasons for that attribution are unclear…