This is My Fathers World, Uncle Jan's Penns Creek

Uncle Jan's Fishing Spot on "This Is My Father's World," A Glimpses of Melody, Nature Sketch by Nancy E. Wiist

This painting is of Penns Creeks as it flows beside uncle Jan's cabin where he enjoys time fishing in his Father's world.

"going out to see the Father's world." -Maltbie Davenport Babcock

"This Is My Father's World"

This is my Father's world,
And to my listening ears
All nature sings, and round me rings
The music of the spheres.
This is my Father's world:
I rest me in the thought
Of rocks and trees, of skies and seas--
His hand the wonders wrought.

This is my Father's world:
The birds their carols raise,
The morning light, the lily white,
Declare their Maker's praise.
This is my Father's world:
He shines in all that's fair;
In the rustling grass, I hear Him pass,
He speaks to me everywhere.

This is my Father's world:
O let me ne'er forget
That though the wrong seems oft so strong,
God is the Ruler yet.
This is my Father's world:
Why should my heart be sad?
The Lord is King: let the heavens ring!
God reigns; let earth be glad! 

The Story Behind This is my Father's World

When Maltbie Davenport Babcock resided in Lockport, he would take strolls along the Niagara Escarpment to savor the overlook's scenic view of upstate New York surroundings and Lake Ontario, telling his wife he was "going out to see the Father's world". Soon after his death in 1901, she released a collection of Babcock's poems entitled Thoughts for Every-Day Living that contained the poem "My Father's World."

The original poem was composed in 16 four-line stanzas, each beginning with “This is my Father’s world.” One of Babcock’s friends, Franklin Shepherd (1852-1930) adopted an English folk song inserting portions of Babcock’s text into three, eight-line stanzas. The hymn in this form first appeared in the composer’s hymnal Alleluia, a Presbyterian Sunday school book published in 1915.

© Nancy E. Wiist retains copyright to artwork

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