We thank Thee, Lord, for this fair earth

Representative Text

1 We thank Thee, Lord, for this fair earth,
The glittering sky, the silver sea;
For all their beauty, all their worth,
Their light and glory, come from Thee.

2 Thine are the flowers that clothe the ground,
The trees that wave their arms above,
The hills that gird our dwellings round,
As Thou dost gird thine own with love.

3 Yet teach us still how far more fair,
More glorious, Father, in Thy sight,
Is one pure deed, one holy prayer,
One heart that owns Thy Spirit’s might.

4 So while we gaze with thoughtful eye
On all the gifts Thy love has given,
Help us in Thee to live and die,
By Thee to rise from earth to heaven.

Amen.

Source: The Hymnal of The Evangelical United Brethren Church #425

Author: George E. L. Cotton

Cotton, George Edward Lynch, D.D., born at Chester, Oct. 29, 1813, was the son of Captain Thomas Cotton, who was killed in action on Nov. 13 in the same year. He was educated at Westminster, and Trinity College, Cambridge, graduating B.A. in 1836. His first appointment was as an assistant master at Rugby. From Rugby he passed to Marlborough as Head Master in 1852. In 1858 he was consecrated Bishop of Calcutta, as successor to Dr. Daniel Wilson. He was drowned, on disembarking from a steamer at Koshtea, Oct. 6, 1866. His hymn, "We thank Thee, Lord, for this fair earth" (q.v.) is deservedly popular. [William T. Brooke] --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)  Go to person page >

Text Information

First Line: We thank Thee, Lord, for this fair earth
Author: George E. L. Cotton
Language: English
Copyright: Public Domain

Notes

We thank, Thee, Lord, for this fair earth. Bishop G. E. L. Cotton. [Flower Services.] Published in Hymns for use in the Chapel of Marlborough College, 1856, No. 94, in 4 stanzas of 4 lines, and again in the enlarged edition of 1869. It has passed into numerous collections, and usually with the change of two or three words in the whole hymn.

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

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