A Thanksgiving For Fire Poem by Rees Prichard

THOU, that dost best provide, what we require -
That dost our bodies and our souls uphold,
I bless thee for thy glorious creature, Fire,
Which thou hast made to warm us when we're cold!

How graciously, O God! didst thou ordain
Food against hunger - drink, when we are dry -
Fire, against cold - and houses, against rain?
And all, thy froward creatures to supply!

For if thou hadst not form'd this useful slave,
Our bodies with its pleasing warmth to cheer,
How long had men been absent from the grave?
Or how cou'd he have ever sojourn'd here.

Although it be so requisite a thing,
But few among so many millions join
(How few, alas!) their grateful thanks to bring,
And praise thy goodness for the gift divine?

Lord, open thou our eyes, that we may see,
How vast the blessings thou on us hast shed -
Open our mouths, that we may trumpet thee,
Each of us, for his house, his sire, his bed!

Better than us, have often lain abroad,
Shiv'ring with cold, beneath a bitter sky :
Cherish
them
with thy favour, O my God!
And make
us
ever thankful, 'till we die!