For the Strength of the Hills

Today in church, we sang the patriotic hymn, For the Strength of the Hills, based on verses written by Welch poet, Felicia D. Hemans (1793-1835).*

One stirring stanza in the hymn is: 

"We are watchers of a beacon

Whose light must never die;

We are guardians of an altar

'Midst the silence of the sky.

Here the rocks yield founts of courage,

Struck forth as by thy rod.

For the strength of the hills we bless thee,

Our God, our fathers' God."*

Hermans' "appeal lay in her ability to write emotional verses expressing the sentiments of her time"* And ours. 

*http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/hemans/biography.html
*http://www.losthymnsproject.com/14_Texts/For_the_Strength_of_the_Hills.pdf