Hymns of Creation
Where are the contemporary hymns that celebrate man’s lordship over the physical world and all its living creatures? I have never heard one. But here I would like to suggest what thoughts such a hymn might encourage in us, by looking at how John Milton, inspired by Scripture, sets the matter forth in Paradise Lost.
In the great interview between man and angel that begins in Book Five and continues through Book Eight, Milton includes an account of the creation of the universe. Here Raphael has brought his narration to what appears its completion:
Now Heaven in all her glory shone, and rolled
Her motions as the great First-Mover’s hand
First wheeled their course; Earth in her rich attire
Consummate lovely smiled; Air, Water, Earth
By fowl, fish, beast was flown, was swum, was walked
Frequent. (7.498–504)
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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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