Illuminations
O for a Thousand Hymns to Sing!
by Anthony Esolen
When I tell people that the Christian churches possess thousands of excellent hymns, most of them neglected or forgotten, they narrow their eyes and seem skeptical. They might question my taste in lyrics, but I tell them I have been teaching poetry for more than thirty years, and what I read and teach spans three millennia and a good dozen languages and cultures.
I won't get into why so few of our contemporaries can write a competent hymn, much less a fine one. The reasons have to do with the obliteration of poetic genres and the absence of poetry from the lived experience of common people.
"But we have culled out a lot of trash," my skeptic will say, nervously. That is a slander on the old hymnals. People may hit upon a dog here or there—usually something we wouldn't sing now because an important word has changed in meaning and would sound ridiculous. Still, if you comb through old hymnals, you are far more likely to find gems you had never seen or heard before.
Take the Hymnal for American Youth (1924), edited by H. Augustine Smith, "Professor of Church Worship, Music, Hymnody, and Pageantry," Boston University. That title of his suggests another world from ours, a world where church worship, music, and hymnody were considered fit objects of study for sharp minds; and that suggests a degree of seriousness and diligence, and a bounty of workers in the field, that we do not now have.
Indeed, Professor Smith intended his hymnal to be educational, to "stir the hymn-singing world"—for there was a hymn-singing world—"to a new appreciation of this wonder book," that is, the hymnal, any hymnal you would find in your church. For the hymnal "ought to be a fascinating volume of history, biography, nature descriptions, ethics and religion." Hence, his Hymnal for American Youth was supplemented by pamphlets, "one on how to tell hymn stories to children, another on how to interpret and lead hymns for mass singing." Because his compilation was for youth, he kept the scores straightforward, and he took care to provide "unusual strength in the sections devoted to the Life and Ministry of Jesus, Purity and Self Control, Conflict and Heroism, Human Service and Brotherhood, Freedom and Justice, Patriotism and Democracy, Peace, World Brotherhood, and Missions."
Nothing effeminate there.
Multiple Shades of Meaning
One of the most powerful entries is a hymn copyrighted by the YMCA and written by William Chatterton Dix (1837–1898), well known for "Alleluia, Sing to Jesus," "What Child Is This," and many others. It is "Come Unto Me, Ye Weary," arranged by L. B. McWhood to an air from Handel's Messiah, "And He shall feed His flock." The combination is stupendous. I urge the reader to find the melody and apply the words to it, words I will give as they appear in this hymnal, with repetitions to fit the score:
"Come unto me, ye weary,
And I will give you rest."
O blessed voice of Jesus,
Which comes to hearts oppressed,
Which comes to hearts oppressed!
It tells of benediction,
Of pardon, grace, and peace,
Of joy that hath no ending,
Of love which cannot cease;
Of joy that hath no ending,
Of love, of love which cannot cease.
Handel's air brings out in lyrical form the shades of feeling with which one might sing the repeated words, for we never do sing them to the same notes—joyful, solemn, meditative, soaring, peaceful.
Dix was inspired by the poignant words of Jesus:
Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. (Matt. 11:28–30)
Light, Gladness & Strength
From there, he went on to take things that Jesus said and adapt them to the form of the saying above, so that the stanzas are parallel to one another, each building upon the one before. "I am the light of the world," says Jesus, after the incident of the woman caught in adultery. "He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life" (John 8:12). On our own, we are always lost. But Jesus calls us:
"Come unto me, ye wanderers,
And I will give you light."
O loving voice of Jesus
Which comes to cheer the night,
Which comes to cheer the night!
Our hearts were filled with sadness,
And we had lost our way;
But morning brings us gladness,
And songs, the break of day;
But morning brings us gladness,
And songs, and songs, the break of day.
And Jesus both gives us strength and is the model of strength. "I will not send them away fasting," he said of the crowds that had followed him for three days, "lest they faint in the way" (Matt. 15:32), and then he fed them with the few loaves and fishes. We are also to recall, when we must "run with patience the race that is set before us," that Jesus, "the author and finisher of our faith," "for the joy that was set before him endured the cross," and therefore we should not be wearied and faint in our minds (Heb. 12:2–3). They that wait upon the Lord shall run and not grow weary, walk and not grow faint (Is. 40:31):
"Come unto me, ye fainting,
And I will give you life."
O cheering voice of Jesus
Which comes to aid our strife,
Which comes to aid our strife!
The foe is stern and eager,
The fight is fierce and long;
But thou hast made us mighty,
And stronger than the strong;
But thou hast made us mighty,
And stronger, and stronger than the strong.
The Definitive Promise
The final verse anchors our confidence, not in what we have done even by grace, but in the definitive promise of Jesus (John 6:37):
"And whosoever cometh,
I will not cast him out."
O welcome voice of Jesus,
Which drives away our doubt,
Which drives away our doubt!
Which calls us, very sinners,
Unworthy though we be
Of love so free and boundless,
To come, dear Lord, to thee;
Of love so free and boundless,
To come, to come, dear Lord, to thee.
Can we imagine young men singing those words at the YMCA? If we cannot, that says more about us than it does about the days of Dix, Smith, and McWhood. Surely we can be humble, and learn from our grandfathers?
Anthony Esolen is Distinguished Professor of Humanities at Thales College and the author of over 30 books, including Real Music: A Guide to the Timeless Hymns of the Church (Tan, with a CD), Out of the Ashes: Rebuilding American Culture (Regnery), and The Hundredfold: Songs for the Lord (Ignatius). He has also translated Dante’s Divine Comedy (Random House) and, with his wife Debra, publishes the web magazine Word and Song (anthonyesolen.substack.com). He is a senior editor of Touchstone.
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