1. O Lord who fashioned all creation,
East and West,

2. The one we call upon when times grow hard
And grievous wars unfold.

3. I swear by the driving rain across the land,
Fettered, hemmed in,

4. That came to the House by secret ways,
Bearing a riding band.

5. Whom, after long estrangement, the return of rain,
Solace and plenty, satisfies.

6. You built a kingdom ever raised in fame,
Through you made firm and fast.

7. And left God's faith a naked corpse cast down
In plain and hill.

8. You guaranteed the world and all its realms
A buffer 'gainst want's pangs.

9. Say, who but you presumption's path has trod,
Erring, fabricating wrong?

10. My death draws near, while still your servant sees
Nothing he longed for.

11. So save him from a long life lived in woe
As you see fit.

12. He let caprice hold sway when fortune smiled,
Tripping, stumbling.

13. Look on him: scorn has hounded him away,
Barren, dejected.

14. Shunning all mankind, to you he crept, acquired
Through dearth, abundance.

15. To you he comes to browse in your estate,
No more to be destroyed.