A Selection of Original Songs, Scraps, Etc., by Ned Farmer (3rd ed.)/The New-born Year
The New-born Year.
Written Jan. 1, 1862.
Hail! new-bom Year, in whose glad face
A thousand promises we trace,
Of worldly blessings, Nature's gifts,
When from the earth the Storm King lifts
His icy hand, and bids appear
Sweet Spring; with visage mild and clear;
Whose birth the balmy violets tell
To primroses in mead and dell;
Let every human voice be raised
In one loud anthem—God be praised!
Anon the Summer flowers advance,
As Nature wakes from out her trance;
Rich Plenty, with an open hand,
Scatters abundance through the land;
The new mown hay its perfume yields,
And corn in blossom decks the fields;
Fruits ripe and luscious meet the eye.
Telling of Autumn by-and-bye.
Let every human voice be raised
In one loud anthem—God be praised!
Sun-burnt and laden. Autumn nears,
Tanning with brown the wheaten ears;
The thankful grain low bows its head
To passing breezes, quickly fled;
The pimpernel (its hour of pride)
Dares the blue corn-flower by its side,
(While twittering swallows o'er them skim,)
To look as bright and gay as him.
Let every human voice be raised
In one loud anthem—God be praised.
Then comes stern Winter once again,
And follow in his boisterous train
Dense Fogs, and Frost, whose breath doth freeze
The fading leaves on shrubs and trees,
And proffers, as he round doth creep,
To all that need it, rest and sleep;
Until at Nature's beck once more
They rise and flourish as before,
Let every human voice be raised
In one loud anthem—God be praised!