Wake little child, the morn is gay

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Wake little child, the morn is gay

Author: Cecil Francis Alexander
Published in 7 hymnals

Representative Text

1 Wake, little child, the morn is gay,
The air is fresh and cool;
But pause awhile, and kneel to pray,
Before you go to merry play,
Before you go to school.

2 Kneel down and speak the holy words:
God loves your simple prayer
Above the sweet songs of the birds,
The bleating of the gentle herds,
The flowers that scent the air.

3 And when the quiet evenings come,
And dew-drops wet the sod,
When bats and owls begin to roam,
And flocks and herds are driven home,
Then kneel in prayer to God.

4 Because you need him, day and night,
To shield you with his arm;
To help you always to do right,
To feed your soul and give it light,
And keep you safe from harm.

Source: Linden Harp: a rare collection of popular melodies adapted to sacred and moral songs, original and selected. Illustrated. Also a manual of... #20b

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Author: Cecil Francis Alexander

As a small girl, Cecil Frances Humphries (b. Redcross, County Wicklow, Ireland, 1818; Londonderry, Ireland, 1895) wrote poetry in her school's journal. In 1850 she married Rev. William Alexander, who later became the Anglican primate (chief bishop) of Ireland. She showed her concern for disadvantaged people by traveling many miles each day to visit the sick and the poor, providing food, warm clothes, and medical supplies. She and her sister also founded a school for the deaf. Alexander was strongly influenced by the Oxford Movement and by John Keble's Christian Year. Her first book of poetry, Verses for Seasons, was a "Christian Year" for children. She wrote hymns based on the Apostles' Creed, baptism, the Lord's Supper, the Ten Commandment… Go to person page >

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