Fairest of all the lights above: Difference between revisions

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General information

This is a poem by Isaac Watts, published in Horae Lyricae, 1706, entitled Sun, Moon, and Stars, Praise Ye the Lord.

Settings by composers

Oliver Holden — Sun English STB

Text and translations

English text

1. Fairest of all the lights above,
Thou sun, whose beams adorn the spheres:
And with unwearied swiftness move
To form the circles of our years.

2. Praise the Creator of the skies,
That dressed thine orb in golden rays;
Or may the sun forget to rise,
If he forget his Maker's praise.

3. Thou reigning beauty of the night,
Fair queen of silence, silver moon,
Whose gentle beams and borrowed light
Are softer rivals of the noon.

4. Arise, and to that sovereign power
Waxing and waning honors pay;
Who bade thee rule the dusky hour,
And half supply the absent day.

5. Ye twinkling stars, who gild the skies
When darkness has its curtains drawn,
Who keep your watch with wakeful eyes,
When business, cares, and day are gone.

6. Proclaim the glories of your Lord,
Dispersed through all the heavenly streets,
Whose boundless treasures can afford
So rich a pavement for his feet.

7. Thou heaven of heavens, supremely bright,
Fair palace of the court divine,
Where, with inimitable light,
The Godhead condescends to shine.

8. Praise thou thy great inhabitant,
Who scatters lovely beams of grace
On every angel, every saint,
Nor veils the luster of his face.

9. O God of glory, God of love,
Thou art the sun that makes our days:
With all thy shining works above,
Let earth and dust attempt thy praise.