1 Let all the world in every corner sing,
"My God and King!"
The heav'ns are not too high,
God's praise may thither fly;
the earth is not too low,
God's praises there may grow.
Let all the world in every corner sing,
"My God and King!"
2 Let all the world in every corner sing,
"My God and King!"
The church with psalms must shout:
no door can keep them out.
But, more than all, the heart
must bear the longest part.
Let all the world in every corner sing,
"My God and King!"
Source: Psalms and Hymns to the Living God #174
First Line: | Let all the world in every corner sing |
Title: | Let All the World in Every Corner Sing |
Author: | George Herbert (1633) |
Meter: | 6.6.6.6 with refrain |
Language: | English |
Refrain First Line: | Let all the world in every corner sing |
Copyright: | Public Domain |
Let all the world in every corner sing. G. Herbert. [Praise to God, the King.] First published posthumously in his Temple, in 1633, p. 45, in the following form:—
"Antiphone.
"Chorus: Let all the world in ev'ry corner sing,
My God and King.
"Verse: The heavens are not too high,
His praise may thither flie:
The earth is not too low,
His praises there may grow.
“Chorus: Let all the world in ev'ry corner sing,
My God and King.
"Verse: The church with psalms must shout,
No doore can keep them out:
But above all, the heart
Must bear the longest part.
"Chorus: Let all the world in ev'ry corner sing,
My God and King."
Although admirably adapted for musical treatment, the original form of the text is not popular with modern editors. We have the original in Thring's Collection, 1882; and in the Hymnary, 1872, the same, with the addition of a doxology. Usually the text is rearranged, sometimes, as in the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge Church Hymns, 1871; Horder's Congregational Hymns, 1884, &c.; and again, in other collections in a different manner. This hymn is also in common use in America.
--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)