For the Beauty of the Earth

Folliott Sandford Pierpoint was an English poet and classics teacher. He wrote this classic hymn after being inspired by the countryside around Bath while contemplating God's gifts in creation and the church. He was an Anglican – but why would most Protestants change the words of his hymn and leave out some of the verses?

LYRICS

For the beauty of the earth,
For the beauty of the skies,
For the Love which from our birth
Over and around us lies:

Refrain:
Christ, our God, to Thee we raise
This our Sacrifice of Praise.

For the beauty of each hour
Of the day and of the night,
Hill and vale, and tree and flower,
Sun and moon and stars of light:

For the joy of ear and eye,
For the heart and brain's delight,
For the mystic harmony
Linking sense to sound and sight:

For the joy of human love,
Brother, sister, parent, child,
Friends on earth, and friends above;
For all gentle thoughts and mild:

For each perfect Gift of Thine
To our race so freely given,
Graces human and Divine,
Flowers of earth, and buds of Heaven:

For Thy Bride that evermore
Lifteth holy hands above,
Offering up on every shore
This Pure Sacrifice of Love:

For Thy Martyrs' crown of light,
For Thy Prophets' eagle eye,
For Thy bold Confessors' might,
For the lips of Infancy:

For Thy Virgins' robes of snow,
For Thy Maiden Mother mild,
For Thyself, with hearts aglow,
Jesu, Victim undefiled,