GOD'S GIFTS TO BE ENJOYED

From God's all bounteous hand descend

Rare gifts in rich effusion,

And with those gifts no poisons blend,

Nor is their end delusion;

So do not spurn if He bestow

Those forms arrayed in beauty;

If thus His gifts with radiance glow,

Enjoyment is a duty.

Come, deck your brows with leaves and flowers,

Ye fair ones, nothing fearing;

Adorn your homes and train your bowers

Nor deem this sin's appearing;

We do not fit ourselves for bliss

By scorning all adorning;

We may enjoy the good of this

And share heaven's brighter morning.

A garment plain may have its stain,

And saintly brows lack sweetness;

But he who would heaven's glory gain

Must here acquire a meetness;

So eat and drink, rejoice and sing,

But do n't forget the ending;

The bells of earth more sweetly ring

If we are heavenward tending.

The world we use, but not abuse,

If we enjoy its beauty;

And they who all its joys refuse

Miss privilege and duty.

Then prize earth's joys, but prize much more

The bloom beyond the river;

God's gifts enjoy, but e'er adore

The ever blessed Giver.