Anthem 39 - Once more, my soul, the rising day

Welcome to Anthem 39 in my attempt to write a new choir anthem every week for a year. I’m Kevin Mulryne and I hope you will enjoy listening to my progress throughout 2024. Please do visit the website Anthem52.com, follow along on x.com - @realanthem52 or Instagram - @realanthem52 and send me a message to show@anthem52.com.

I've been trying to catch up with anthem production this week. I was only a few days behind but I don't want to be faced with a deficit at the end of the year. So here is an anthem I completed rather quickly. I don't think it has suffered from the speed of composition but you will have to be the judge of that.

I used the same collection of Isaac Watts words as last week and I looked for something a bit more upbeat. It seemed to work because the process of writing didn't depress me (in the non-clinical sense) like last week's did.

Here are the words I chose:

Once more, my soul, the ris­ing day
Salutes thy wak­ing eyes;
Once more, my voice, thy trib­ute pay
To Him that rules the skies.

Night un­to night His name re­peats,
The day re­news the sound,
Wide as the Heav’n on which He sits,
To turn the sea­sons round.

A thou­sand wretch­ed souls are fled
Since the last set­ting sun,
And yet Thou length’n­est out my thread,
And yet my mo­ments run.

Dear God, let all my hours be Thine,
Whilst I en­joy the light;
Then shall my sun in smiles de­cline,
And bring a pleas­ing night.