English Congregational Hymns in the Eighteenth CenturyHistorians of the English congregational hymn, focusing on its literary or theological aspects, have usually found the genre out of step with the rationalist era that produced it. This book takes a more balanced approach to the work of four writers and concludes that only eighteenth-century Britain, with its understanding of public verse, common truth, and the utility of poetry, could have invented the English hymn as we know it. The early hymns sought to inspire, teach, stir, and entertain congregations. The essential purpose shifted slightly in line with each poet's setting and in accord with the poetic thought of his day. For Isaac Watts's Independents, powerful traditional imagery was appropriate. Charles Wesley's enthusiasm proceeded from and served the spirit of the revival. John Newton's prophetic vision particularly suited the impoverished community at Olney. William Cowper's masterful handling of formal conventions and his idiosyncratic personal hymns reflect his poetic, rather than clerical, vocation. Despite such temporal variations, the great poetry by each man displays themes of general Christian relevance, suggesting common experience, showing normative features of the genre, and bearing a complex and intriguing relationship to secular literature. |
From inside the book
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... less obvious, at least to those unfamiliar with the humanistic wealth and diversity of the eighteenth century, is the extent to which scholars who have written about hymns of the age have bound themselves to views of the period that are ...
... less rigid. The metrical options of the early hymn writers were few but distinct in effect. Such formal restrictions were a delight and a challenge to the poetic craftsman. The rise of the hymn in England has frequently been credited to ...
... less subjective response and introspection than do the metrical psalms used as directed. This subjectivity and personal focus of psalmody is perhaps unexpected; we might too easily have assumed that “modern” hymns of original ...
... less human. The lofty Eternal Throne of Grace belongs to the New Version, not to the Old, and God's undignified haste is eliminated. The call of the singer is transformed to a “sad cry.” The changes, to modern ears, seem to introduce a ...
... less concise: Tate and Brady tended to modify and qualify nouns—“my dayes” become “each cloudy Portion of my Life”; fading smoke becomes “expiring scatter'd Smoak”; bones become “shriv'led Bones,” and line 12 is entirely new. The heart ...
Contents
Self Sense the Revival | |
John Newton Olney Prophet | |
Exemplary Tradition the Loss of Control | |
Conclusion | |
Notes | |
Other editions - View all
English Congregational Hymns in the Eighteenth Century Madeleine Forell Marshall,Janet Todd Limited preview - 1982 |
English Congregational Hymns in the Eighteenth Century Madeleine Forrell Marshall,Janet M. Todd No preview available - 2014 |