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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... poet is commonplace and his expression is of general usefulness to other Christians, the resulting poem is not suitable for hymn use unless it is doctrinally correct and spiritually edifying. A congregation of worshipers may be asked to ...
... poet, unhallowed by biblical authority, was a startling development in the English tradition. Church of England reservations about admitting hymns to the service understandable. The hymns may be usefully viewed, from a third perspective ...
... poets write hymns, what principles they follow and within what limits they work, the literary taste of poet and singer alike, the relationship of hymns to other literature, and similar critical questions are legitimate and their answers ...
... poet.6 This critical failure is especially obvious to one accustomed to a more objective scholarship (whether or not the objectivity is genuine). Perhaps less obvious, at least to those unfamiliar with the humanistic wealth and ...
... poetic genre, and it may be that this familiarity profoundly influences other aspects of popular literary taste. Such investigation is, however, contingent on the careful definition and placement of hymns. Meanwhile, tribal-lyrical ...
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 |