Contents -BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD

Alfred H. Miles, ed. The Sacred Poets of the Nineteenth Century. 1907.

By The Golden Chain of Praise (1869). II. The Divine Renewer

Thomas Hornblower Gill (1819–1906)

THE GLORY of the spring how sweet!

The newborn life how glad!

What joy the happy earth to greet

In new, bright raiment clad;

The blessèd vernal airs to hail

In their renewing power,

The new song of each nightingale,

The new birth of each flower!

Divine Renewer! Thee I bless;

I greet Thy going forth:

I love Thee in the loveliness

Of Thy renewèd earth.

But O! these wonders of Thy grace,

These nobler works of Thine,

These marvels sweeter far to trace,

These new-births more divine!

These sinful souls Thou hallowest,

These hearts Thou makest new,

These mourning souls by Thee made blest,

These faithless hearts made true:

This new-born glow of faith so strong,

This bloom of love so fair;

This new-born ecstasy of song

And fragrancy of prayer!

Creator Spirit, work in me

These wonders sweet of Thine!

Divine Renewer, graciously

Renew this heart of mine!

Grant me the grace of the New Birth,

The joy of the New Song!

The vernal bloom, the vernal mirth

In my new heart prolong!

Still let new life and strength upspring,

Still let new joy be given!

And grant the glad new song to ring

Through the new earth and Heaven!