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For the Strength of the Hills (original)

“Hymn of the Vaudois mountaineers in times of persecution”, or more succinctly the Hymn of the Mountain Christian, first line “For the strength of the hills we bless thee”, as written by Felicia D. Hemans (1783‒1835) without the subsequent LDS‐centric revisions by Edward L. Sloan (1830‒1874). Verse 1 corresponds to LDS verse 1 with two lines differing, verse 2 corresponds to LDS verse 4 and the remainding four do not correspond, for a total of eight verses and one verse variant between them.

HYMN OF THE VAUDOIS MOUNTAINEERS IN TIMES OF PERSECUTION

"Thanks be to God for the mountains"―Howitt

For the strength of the hills we bless thee,
Our God, our fathers' God!
Thou hast made thy children mighty,
By the touch of the mountain sod.
Thou hast fix'd our ark of refuge
Where the spoiler's foot ne'er trod;
For the strength of the hills we bless thee,
Our God, our fathers' God!

We are watchers of a beacon
Whose light must never die;
We are guardians of an altar
'Midst the silence of the sky:
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!

For the dark resounding caverns,
Where thy still small voice is heard;
For the strong pines of the forests,
That by thy breath are stir'd:
For the storms on whose free pinions
Thy spirit walks abroad:
For the strength of the hills we bless thee,
Our God, our fathers' God!

The royal eagle darteth
On his quarry from the heights,
And the stag that knows no master,
Seeks there his wild delights;
But we for thy communion,
Have sought the mountain sod;
For the strength of the hills we bless thee,
Our God, our fathers' God!

The banner of the chieftain,
Far far below us waves;
The war horse of the spearman
Cannot reach our lofty caves:
Thy dark clouds wrap the threshold
Of freedom's last abode;
For the strength of the hills we bless thee,
Our God, our fathers' God!

For the shadow of thy presence,
Round our camp of rock outspread;
For the stern defiles of battle,
Bearing record of our dead;
For the snows and for the torrents,
For the free heart's burial sod;
For the strength of the hills we bless thee,
Our God, our fathers' God!

-- https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=b6JEAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA477&lpg=PA477