The spacious firmament on high,
With all the blue ethereal sky,
And spangled heavens, a shining frame
Their great Original proclaim.
Th’unwearied sun, from day to day,
Does his Creator’s powers display,
And publishes to every land
The work of an Almighty Hand.
Soon as the evening shades prevail
The moon takes up the wondrous tale,
And nightly to the listening earth
Repeats the story of her birth;
While all the stars that round her burn
And all the planets in their turn,
Confirm the tidings as they roll,
And spread the truth from pole to pole.
What though in solemn silence all
Move round the dark terrestrial ball?
What though no real voice nor sound
Amid the radiant orbs be found?
In reason’s ear they all rejoice,
And utter forth a glorious voice,
Forever singing as they shine,
“The hand that made us is divine.”
About the writer: Joseph Addison was born in 1672, the son of Reverend Lancelot Addison, Dean of Lichfield, England. He was educated at Oxford and early developed poetic talent. His literary contributions were made chiefly to various magazines. He is the author of five hymns, all of which appeared in the Spectator in 1712. Addison died in 1719. At the time of his death he was contemplating a poetic version of the Psalms. “The piety of Addison,” wrote a contemporary, “was in truth of a singularly cheerful kind. The feeling which predominates in all his devotional writings is gratitude; and on that goodness to which he ascribed all the happiness of his life he relied in the hour of death with a love which casteth out fear.”
Key Verse: The heavens tell of the glory of God. The skies display his marvelous craftsmanship. –Psalm 19:1