See ten thousand cradles swaying
With their burdens to and fro;
In the vales and on the mountains,
Tropics warm and fields of snow;
Every land and tribe and people
Hears the little new-born voice;
Sees the rising generation
In its early thoughts rejoice.
Shivering Greenland has these treasures,
Wrapt in furs with tender care.
Sunny India fans her birdlings
In the warm and balmy air,
And the spicy isles shed sweetness
’Round the little cherished bed:
From pole to pole the mother’s bosom
Pillows soft her darling’s head.
Little velvet hands are playing;
Little dimpled fingers move;
Little restless feet are nestling;
Little ruby lips of love
All throughout the world are smiling:
Precious baby hearts are light;
Wondering at surrounding objects,
Thinking all the world is bright.
Then the countless groups of children
Sporting as they glide along
The stream of life, while bird and rillet
Interweave their cheerful song
With sweetest notes; and childhood’s hours
Seem like a morning of delight
Where gardens bloom with fairest flowers,
Glittering with the dews of night.
Oh! the rising generation
Soon will rule throughout the world,
And the thoughts we daily teach them
Soon like banners be unfurled;
Soon our words and tones be copied,
And like seeds spring up again,
Swaying future generations,
Molding hearts and voices then:
And again be scattered broadcast,
And again in harvest rise.
Teach us, Lord, Thy perfect wisdom:
Make our hearts and lips and eyes
To speak forth tenderness and love.
Make the very tone of voice
The index to the will subdued,
Telling, “We in Christ rejoice.”
Give us faith and peace unshaken;
In each parent’s heart implant
The fear of God, to guard and quicken,
Till each thought with God is blent;
Till His glorious presence fills
With sweet peace no words can tell,
And we can every cross endure,
Seeing Him invisible.
Like Moses then the parent’s face
Shall tell what patience Jesus gives;
And little wond’ring hearts will trace
The path to where Immanuel lives.
And little children yearn to know
The sweetness of the Saviour’s love.
Then, then the world will turn to God.
Then children pray with earnest soul;
The clouds of unbelief will flee,
And light shall spread from pole to pole,
As millions bear the Gospel on
And scatter Day-beams through the earth,
Till all the nations shall arise
Rejoicing in immortal birth.
That glorious day my soul shall see;
Perchance on earth, or looking forth
From Heaven’s heights of amethyst
Rejoicing o’er the ransomed earth.
Rise, Christian, rise. Wake, parent, wake.
The Rising Generation calls;
Go onward and proclaim the road.