HYMN I. Anna Laetitia Barbauld (née Aikin) Alexander Huber Editor Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford
Broad Street Oxford OX1 3BG UK
Eighteenth-Century Poetry Archive
Taylor Institution Library St Giles' Oxford OX1 3NA UK info@eighteenthcenturypoetry.org https://www.eighteenthcenturypoetry.org/
Oxford This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. T236 K019955.000 Barbauld, Mrs. (Anna Letitia), 1743-1825. Poems. London printed for Joseph Johnson 1773 pp. 110-114. vi,138p. ; 4⁰.

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HYMN I. JEHOVAH reigns , let every nation hear , And at his footstool bow with holy fear ; Let heaven's high arches echo with his name , And the wide peopled earth his praise proclaim ; Then send it down to hell's deep glooms resounding , Thro' all her caves in dreadful murmurs sounding . He rules with wide and absolute command O'er the broad ocean and the stedfast land ; JEHOVAH reigns , unbounded , and alone , And all creation hangs beneath his throne : He reigns alone ; let no inferior nature Usurp , or share the throne of the Creator . He saw the struggling beams of infant light Shoot thro' the massy gloom of ancient night ; His spirit hush'd the elemental strife , And brooded o'er the kindling seeds of life ; Seasons and months began the long procession And measur'd o'er the year in bright succession . The joyful sun sprung up th' etherial way Strong as a giant , as a bridegroom gay ; And the pale moon diffus'd her shadowy light Superior o'er the dusky brow of night ; Ten thousand glittering lamps the skies adorning , Numerous as dew drops from the womb of morning . Earth's blooming face with rising flowers he drest , And spread a verdant mantle o'er her breast ; Then from the hollow of his hand he pours The circling waters round her winding shores , The new-born world in their cool arms embracing , And with soft murmurs still her banks caressing . At length she rose complete in finish'd pride , All fair and spotless like a virgin bride ; Fresh with untarnish'd lusture as she stood Her Maker blest his work , and call'd it good ; The morning stars with joyful acclamation Exulting sung , and hail'd the new creation . Yet this fair world , the creature of a day , Tho' built by GOD's right hand , must pass away , And long oblivion creep o'er mortal things , The fate of empires , and the pride of kings : Eternal night shall veil their proudest story , And drop the curtain o'er all human glory . The sun himself , with weary clouds opprest , Shall in his silent , dark pavilion rest ; His golden urn shall broke and useless lie , Amidst the common ruins of the sky : The stars rush headlong in the wild commotion And bathe their glittering foreheads in the ocean . But fix'd , O GOD , for ever stands thy throne ; JEHOVAH reigns , a universe alone ; Th' eternal fire that feeds each vital flame , Collected , or diffus'd is still the same . He dwells within his own unfathom'd essence , And fills all space with his unbounded presence . But oh ! our highest notes the theme debase , And silence is our least injurious praise ; Cease , cease your songs , the daring flight controul , Revere him in the stillness of the soul : With silent duty meekly bend before him , And deep within your inmost hearts adore him .