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O for a heart to praise my God

Author: C. Wesley Meter: 8.6.8.6 Appears in 1,162 hymnals Topics: Eighth Sunday after Trinity Lyrics: 1 O for a heart to praise my God, A heart from sin set free! A heart that always feels Thy Blood, So freely shed for me! 2 A heart resigned, submissive, meek, My great Redeemer's throne; Where only Christ is heard to speak, Where Jesus reigns alone. 3 An humble, lowly, contrite heart, Believing, true, and clean; Which neither life nor death can part From Him that dwells within. 4 A heart in every thought renewed, And full of love divine; Perfect, and right, and pure, and good, A copy, Lord, of Thine! 5 Thy nature, gracious Lord, impart, Come quickly from above; Write Thy new Name upon my heart, Thy new, best Name of Love. Used With Tune: WILTSHIRE

O could I find from day to day

Meter: 8.6.8.6 Appears in 269 hymnals Topics: Eighth Sunday after Trinity Lyrics: 1 O could I find from day to day A nearness to my God! Then should my hours glide sweet away, And lean upon His Word. 2 Lord, I desire with Thee to live Anew from day to day; In joys the world can never give, Nor ever take away. 3 O Jesus, come and rule my heart, And make me wholly Thine, That I may never more depart, Nor grieve Thy love divine. 4 Thus till my last expiring breath Thy goodness I'll adore; And when my flesh dissolves in death, My soul shall love Thee more. Used With Tune: COVENTRY Text Sources: Hartford Selection, 1799

O for a closer walk with God

Author: William Cowper Meter: 8.6.8.6 Appears in 1,368 hymnals Topics: Eighth Sunday after Trinity Lyrics: 1 O for a closer walk with God, A calm and heavenly frame; A light to shine upon the road That leads me to the Lamb! 2 Return, O holy Dove, return, Sweet Messenger of rest! I hate the sins that made Thee mourn, And drove Thee from my breast. 3 The dearest idol I have known, Whate'er that idol be, Help me to tear it from Thy throne, And worship only Thee. 4 So shall my walk be close with God, Calm and serene my frame; So purer light shall mark the road That leads me to the Lamb. Used With Tune: BARBY

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COVENTRY

Meter: 8.6.8.6 Appears in 57 hymnals Topics: Eighth Sunday after Trinity Tune Key: C Major Incipit: 55117 16544 35556 Used With Text: O could I find from day to day

NUN DANKET ALL' U. BRINGET EHR

Meter: 8.6.8.6 Appears in 245 hymnals Topics: Eighth Sunday after Trinity Tune Key: G Major Incipit: 16512 33235 43215 Used With Text: We praise and bless Thee, gracious Lord

EMMANEUL

Meter: 8.8.8.8 Appears in 40 hymnals Topics: Eighth Sunday after Trinity Tune Key: E Major Incipit: 33313 56533 42312 Used With Text: Come, gracious Spirit, heavenly Dove

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Published text-tune combinations (hymns) from specific hymnals

O kjære Sjæl, som vanker

Author: Brorson Hymnal: Salmebog for Lutherske Kristne i Amerika #498 (1919) Topics: Eighth Sunday after Trinity Sunday; Eighth Sunday after Trinity Sunday Lyrics: 1 O kjære Sjæl, som vanker I Verdens Mørke om, Og har saa ringe Tanker Om Herrens strenge Dom, O tænk dig om engang! For Jesu Død og Smerte Læg denne Sag paa Hjerte, At Evighed er lang. 2 Her skal dit Sind forandres I Bøn og Kamp og Strid, Og anderledes vandres, End hid til denne Tid; Din Jesu Leve-Art Guds Ord dig ikke dølger, Saa lær, at du ham følger Sandfærdig, frisk og snart! 3 Den Vei, i Synd at glædes, Den Satans egen Sti, Den Vei skal ret begrædes Hver stund, man gik deri. Du vellystfulde Vei, Farvel med dine Gange, Om andre paa dig prange, Jeg siger evig nei. 4 Den rette Vei jeg ynder, Som gaar til Himlens Land, Paa den jeg og begynder At vandre, hvad jeg kan, At dræbe Kjød og Blod, Og syndens Lyst forsage, Og har det end sin Plage, Saa er dog Enden god. 5 O Jesus, se, hvor farlig Er vores Vandringsfærd, Hjælp, at vi vandre varlig, Og vær os altid nær! Viis os, hvordan vi skal I dine Fodspor træde, Saa kan vi snart os glæde I Himlens Brudesal! Languages: Norwegian

Paa Jorden er en liden Hjord

Author: Bertel Ægidius Hymnal: Salmebog for Lutherske Kristne i Amerika #495 (1919) Topics: Eighth Sunday after Trinity Sunday; Eighth Sunday after Trinity Sunday Lyrics: 1 Paa Jorden er en liden Hjord, Som haver for sig Herrens Ord Udi den kristne Kirke, Men deriblandt man finde skal Til denne Dag et ringe Tal, Som Gud i Sandhed dyrke. 2 Hør, Menneske! dit kristen Navn Kun da er dig til Trøst og Gavn, Naar du som Kristen lever; Hvi pryder du dermed din Sag, Og gjør dog ei paa Naadens Dag, Hvad Gud af dig udkræver? 3 Du roser dig af Daabens Pagt, Men ilde tager du i Agt, At du i Naaden bliver; Endnu du ikke fare lod Synd, Satan, Verden, Kjød og Blod, Det Onde, du bedriver. 4 Du horer vel Guds sande Ord, Du kommer og til Herrens Bord, Og tager Kristi Gaver, Men hvor er dog den søde Lugt, Som er den bedrings gode Frugt, De sande Kristne haver? 5 Din Bøn gaar spildt udaf din Mund, Naar den ei gaar af Hjertens Grund Og ud af Troens Kilde; Dit Herre! Herre! nytter ei, Naar du vil gaa din egen Vei, Som er at gjøre ilde. 6 Hvor herlig er du bryllupsklædt? Hvor er din Tro, Retfærdighed, Og et taalmodigt Hjerte? Hvor er dog din sagtmodig Aand, Din Kjærlighed og Hjælpehaand Udi din Næstes Smerte? 7 Er du end skjult for Mennesker, Dog Herrens Øine grant dig ser, I Vrede han dig møder; Vil du ei lade Hykleri Og dig fra Synden gjøre fri, Til Helved han dig støder. 8 O, derfor søg den Herre Krist Og vogt dig vel for Djævlens List, Til Verden dig ei hænge; Fornægt dig selv, korsfæst dit Kjød, Med Bøn og Haab i Nød og Død Søg ind til Gud at trænge. 9 O Jesus, kjære Herre Gud, All Syndens Lyst driv fra os ud, Oplys os allesammen! Regjer os ved din Helligaand, Og led os ved din Naade-Haand Til Himlens Glæde! Amen. Languages: Norwegian

O hvilken Ære

Author: Brorson Hymnal: Salmebog for Lutherske Kristne i Amerika #166 (1919) Topics: Eighth Sunday after Trinity Sunday Lyrics: 1 O hvilken Ære, For Tanken alt for stor, Hans Barn at være, Som i det Høie bor! Naar man er bleven Til Herren ret omvendt, Fra Verden reven, Med Jesus ret bekjendt, I Himlen skreven Med Lammets røde Prent! 2 O hvilket Smykke Fra Himlene er det, O hvilken Lykke Er denne Barneret! Naar, hvad os skader, Vi kan for Thronen gaa, Og sige: Fader, dit Barn du hjælpe maa! O Gud, hvor lader Det deilig der at staa! 3 Hvo kan udsige, Hvad Kristi Kraft formaar, Naar Himlens Rige I Sjælen ret opgaar! Naar i mig brænder Men Jesu Kjærlighed, Og mig omspender Som Himlen selv saa bred, Hvor jeg mig vender Og tænker op og ned! 4 O, jeg har fundet Lyksalighedens Stand, Og sødt forvundet Min første Jødsels Band! O hvor fornøiet Er nu min arme Sjæl, Før dybt nedbøiet Til Jorden som en Træl, Nu høit ophøiet Med sin Immanuel! 5 O surt fortjente Min Sjæles Frydestund! O søde Rente Af Jesu Pinsels Pund! Er Førstegrøden Saa meget sød og kjær, Hvad Engle-Føden, Som mig skal times der, Naar efter Døden Jeg rigtig hjemme er! 6 Naar jeg skal tage Mod Dødens sidste Bud, Da kan jeg drage Med Glæde til min Gud, Hans Haand skal lindre Mig Dødens Kamp og Sved, Hvad kan det hindre, At Støvet falder ned, Hist skal det tindre I evig Herlighed! Languages: Norwegian

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W. H. Havergal

1793 - 1870 Person Name: W.H. Havergal Topics: The Church Year Eighth Sunday after Trinity; The Church Year Eighth Sunday after Trinity Composer of "[O that the Lord would guide my ways]" in The Lutheran Hymnary Havergal, William Henry, M.A, son of William Havergal, was born at High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, 1793, and was educated at St. Edmund's Hall, Oxford (B.A. 1815, M.A. 1819). On taking Holy Orders he became in 1829 Rector of Astley, Worcestershire; in 1842, Rector of St. Nicholas, Worcester; and in 1860, Rector of Shareshill, near Wolverhampton. He was also Hon. Canon in Worcester Cathedral from 1845. He died April 18, 1870. His hymns, about 100 in all, were in many instances written for special services in his own church, and printed as leaflets. Several were included in W. Carus Wilson's Book of General Psalmody, 1840 (2nd ed., 1842); and in Metrical Psalms & Hymns for Singing in Churches, Worcester, Deighton, 1849, commonly known as the Worcester Diocesan Hymn Book, and of which he was the Editor. In Life Echoes, 1883, his hymns are given with those of Miss Havergal. Of those in common use the greater part are in Mercer, and Snepp's Songs of Grace & Glory. Although his hymns are all good, and two or three are excellent, it is not as a hymnwriter but as a musician that Canon Havergal is best known. His musical works and compositions included, in addition to numerous individual hymn tunes and chants, the Gresham Prize Service, 1836; the Gresham Prize Anthem, 1845; Old Church Psalmody, 1849; History of the Old 100th Psalm tune, 1854, &c. He also reprinted Ravenscroft’s Psalter of 1611. His hymns in common use include:— 1. Blessed Jesus, lord and Brother. School Festivals, 1833. Published in Life Echoes, 1883. 2. Brighter than meridian splendour. Christ the glory of His Church. 1830. Published in W. C. Wilson's Book of General Psalms, 1840; the Worcester Psalms & Hymns, 1849, &c. 3. Christians, awake to joy and praise. Christmas Carol, c. 1860. Printed on broadsheet, with music by the author, and sold on behalf of the Lancashire Cotton Distress Fund. 4. Come, Shepherds, come, 'tis just a year. Christmas Carol. 1860. Published in Snepp's Songs of Grace & Glory, 5. For ever and for ever, Lord. Missions, 1866, for the Church Mission Society. Published in Snepp's Songs of Grace & Glory, 1872, and the Life Echoes, 1883. 6. Hallelujah, Lord, our voices. Sunday. 1828. Published in W. C. Wilson's Book of General Psalms, 1840; the Worcester Psalms & Hymns, 1849; Life Echoes, 1883, &c. 7. Heralds of the Lord of glory. Missions. First sung in Astley Church, Sep. 23, 1827. Published in Miss Havergal's Starlight through the Shadows, 1880; Snepp's Songs of Grace & Glory, 1872, &c. 8. Hosanna, raise the pealing hymn. Praise to Christ, 1833, and first sung in Astley Church, June 9, 1833. Published in W. C. Wilson's Book of General Psalmody, 1840; the Worcester Psalms & Hymns, 1849; Life Echoes 1883, &c. 9. How vast the field of souls. Missions. 1858. Printed for Shareshill Church Miss. Anniversary, 1863, and published in Snepp's Songs of Grace & Glory, 1872, and the Life Echoes, 1883. 10. In doubt and dread dismay. Missions. Written in 1837, and published in W. C. Wilson's Book of General Psalmody, 1840; the Worcester Psalms & Hymns, 1849, &c. 11. Jerusalem the golden, The home of saints shall be. Heaven. Published in Life Echoes, 1883. 12. My times are in Thy hand, Their best, &c. 1860. Published in Snepp's Songs of Grace & Glory, 1872, the Records of the author's life and work, and Life Echoes, 1883. The editor of the Records says (p. 159) "this hymn has been much appreciated, and well illustrates the devotional and cheerful spirit of the writer." 13. No dawn of holy light. Sunday. 1825. Printed in 1831 on a leaflet, and published in W. C. Wilson's Book of General Psalmody, 1840; the Worcester Psalms & Hymns, 1849; Life Echoes, 1883, &c. 14. Our faithful God hath sent us. Harvest. Written at Shareshill in 1863, for a Harvest Festival. Published in Snepp's Songs of Grace & Glory 1872, and Life Echoes, 1883. 15. Shout, 0 earth! from silence waking. Praise to Jesus for Redemption. 1841. Published in the Worcester Psalms & Hymns, 1849; Snepp's Songs of Grace & Glory, 1872, &c. 16. So happy all the day. Christmas Carol, c. 1834. Published in Snepp's Songs of Grace & Glory, 1872. 17. Soon the trumpet of salvation. Missions. 1826. Published in Snepp's Songs of Grace & Glory, 1872. 18. To praise our Shepherd's [Saviour's] care. The Good Shepherd. Written after witnessing the death of Elizabeth Edwards, aged 12, of St. Nicholas, Worcester, and printed as a leaflet. Published in W. C. Wilson's Book of General Psalmody, 1840; the Worcester Psalms & Hymns, 1849; Life Echoes, &c, 1883. The author also published a Memoir of the child. 19. Widely 'midst the slumbering nations. Missions. 1828. Published in the Worcester Psalms & Hymns, 1849; Snepp's Songs of Grace & Glory, 1872, &c. In addition to these hymns, his carols, "How grand, and how bright," "Our festal morn is come," and others are annotated under their respective first lines. Most of these carols and hymns were reprinted in Christmas Carols & Sacred Songs, Chiefly by the Rev. W. H. Havergal, London, Nisbet, 1869. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907) ===================== Havergal, W. H., p. 498, i. Other hymns are: — 1. Lord, if judgments now are waking. Second Advent. Published in W. Carus Wilson's Book of General Psalmody, 1840; in Kennedy, 1863, &c. 2. Remember, Lord, Thy word of old displayed. Missions. "Composed for a special prayer-meeting for missionary labourers, held in the author's schoolroom, in the parish of St. Nicholas's, Worcester." (W. F. Stevenson's Hymns for Church and Home, 1873, where the original text is also given.) It must be noted that No. 17, at p. 498, ii., "Soon the trumpet of salvation," was first published in A Collection of Original Airs adapted to Hymns, &c, 1826. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, Appendix, Part II (1907)

Charles Wesley

1707 - 1788 Person Name: C. Wesley Topics: Eighth Sunday after Trinity Author of "O for a heart to praise my God" in Church Book Charles Wesley, M.A. was the great hymn-writer of the Wesley family, perhaps, taking quantity and quality into consideration, the great hymn-writer of all ages. Charles Wesley was the youngest son and 18th child of Samuel and Susanna Wesley, and was born at Epworth Rectory, Dec. 18, 1707. In 1716 he went to Westminster School, being provided with a home and board by his elder brother Samuel, then usher at the school, until 1721, when he was elected King's Scholar, and as such received his board and education free. In 1726 Charles Wesley was elected to a Westminster studentship at Christ Church, Oxford, where he took his degree in 1729, and became a college tutor. In the early part of the same year his religious impressions were much deepened, and he became one of the first band of "Oxford Methodists." In 1735 he went with his brother John to Georgia, as secretary to General Oglethorpe, having before he set out received Deacon's and Priest's Orders on two successive Sundays. His stay in Georgia was very short; he returned to England in 1736, and in 1737 came under the influence of Count Zinzendorf and the Moravians, especially of that remarkable man who had so large a share in moulding John Wesley's career, Peter Bonier, and also of a Mr. Bray, a brazier in Little Britain. On Whitsunday, 1737, [sic. 1738] he "found rest to his soul," and in 1738 he became curate to his friend, Mr. Stonehouse, Vicar of Islington, but the opposition of the churchwardens was so great that the Vicar consented that he "should preach in his church no more." Henceforth his work was identified with that of his brother John, and he became an indefatigable itinerant and field preacher. On April 8, 1749, he married Miss Sarah Gwynne. His marriage, unlike that of his brother John, was a most happy one; his wife was accustomed to accompany him on his evangelistic journeys, which were as frequent as ever until the year 1756," when he ceased to itinerate, and mainly devoted himself to the care of the Societies in London and Bristol. Bristol was his headquarters until 1771, when he removed with his family to London, and, besides attending to the Societies, devoted himself much, as he had done in his youth, to the spiritual care of prisoners in Newgate. He had long been troubled about the relations of Methodism to the Church of England, and strongly disapproved of his brother John's "ordinations." Wesley-like, he expressed his disapproval in the most outspoken fashion, but, as in the case of Samuel at an earlier period, the differences between the brothers never led to a breach of friendship. He died in London, March 29, 1788, and was buried in Marylebone churchyard. His brother John was deeply grieved because he would not consent to be interred in the burial-ground of the City Road Chapel, where he had prepared a grave for himself, but Charles said, "I have lived, and I die, in the Communion of the Church of England, and I will be buried in the yard of my parish church." Eight clergymen of the Church of England bore his pall. He had a large family, four of whom survived him; three sons, who all became distinguished in the musical world, and one daughter, who inherited some of her father's poetical genius. The widow and orphans were treated with the greatest kindness and generosity by John Wesley. As a hymn-writer Charles Wesley was unique. He is said to have written no less than 6500 hymns, and though, of course, in so vast a number some are of unequal merit, it is perfectly marvellous how many there are which rise to the highest degree of excellence. His feelings on every occasion of importance, whether private or public, found their best expression in a hymn. His own conversion, his own marriage, the earthquake panic, the rumours of an invasion from France, the defeat of Prince Charles Edward at Culloden, the Gordon riots, every Festival of the Christian Church, every doctrine of the Christian Faith, striking scenes in Scripture history, striking scenes which came within his own view, the deaths of friends as they passed away, one by one, before him, all furnished occasions for the exercise of his divine gift. Nor must we forget his hymns for little children, a branch of sacred poetry in which the mantle of Dr. Watts seems to have fallen upon him. It would be simply impossible within our space to enumerate even those of the hymns which have become really classical. The saying that a really good hymn is as rare an appearance as that of a comet is falsified by the work of Charles Wesley; for hymns, which are really good in every respect, flowed from his pen in quick succession, and death alone stopped the course of the perennial stream. It has been the common practice, however for a hundred years or more to ascribe all translations from the German to John Wesley, as he only of the two brothers knew that language; and to assign to Charles Wesley all the original hymns except such as are traceable to John Wesley through his Journals and other works. The list of 482 original hymns by John and Charles Wesley listed in this Dictionary of Hymnology have formed an important part of Methodist hymnody and show the enormous influence of the Wesleys on the English hymnody of the nineteenth century. -- Excerpts from John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907) ================== Charles Wesley, the son of Samuel Wesley, was born at Epworth, Dec. 18, 1707. He was educated at Westminster School and afterwards at Christ Church, Oxford, where he graduated M.A. In 1735, he took Orders and immediately proceeded with his brother John to Georgia, both being employed as missionaries of the S.P.G. He returned to England in 1736. For many years he engaged with his brother in preaching the Gospel. He died March 29, 1788. To Charles Wesley has been justly assigned the appellation of the "Bard of Methodism." His prominence in hymn writing may be judged from the fact that in the "Wesleyan Hymn Book," 623 of the 770 hymns were written by him; and he published more than thirty poetical works, written either by himself alone, or in conjunction with his brother. The number of his separate hymns is at least five thousand. --Annotations of the Hymnal, Charles Hutchins, M.A., 1872.

William Cowper

1731 - 1800 Topics: Eighth Sunday after Trinity Author of "O for a closer walk with God" in Church Book William Cowper (pronounced "Cooper"; b. Berkampstead, Hertfordshire, England, 1731; d. East Dereham, Norfolk, England, 1800) is regarded as one of the best early Romantic poets. To biographers he is also known as "mad Cowper." His literary talents produced some of the finest English hymn texts, but his chronic depression accounts for the somber tone of many of those texts. Educated to become an attorney, Cowper was called to the bar in 1754 but never practiced law. In 1763 he had the opportunity to become a clerk for the House of Lords, but the dread of the required public examination triggered his tendency to depression, and he attempted suicide. His subsequent hospitalization and friendship with Morley and Mary Unwin provided emotional stability, but the periods of severe depression returned. His depression was deepened by a religious bent, which often stressed the wrath of God, and at times Cowper felt that God had predestined him to damnation. For the last two decades of his life Cowper lived in Olney, where John Newton became his pastor. There he assisted Newton in his pastoral duties, and the two collaborated on the important hymn collection Olney Hymns (1779), to which Cowper contributed sixty-eight hymn texts. Bert Polman ============ Cowper, William, the poet. The leading events in the life of Cowper are: born in his father's rectory, Berkhampstead, Nov. 26, 1731; educated at Westminster; called to the Bar, 1754; madness, 1763; residence at Huntingdon, 1765; removal to Olney, 1768; to Weston, 1786; to East Dereham, 1795; death there, April 25, 1800. The simple life of Cowper, marked chiefly by its innocent recreations and tender friendships, was in reality a tragedy. His mother, whom he commemorated in the exquisite "Lines on her picture," a vivid delineation of his childhood, written in his 60th year, died when he was six years old. At his first school he was profoundly wretched, but happier at Westminster; excelling at cricket and football, and numbering Warren Hastings, Colman, and the future model of his versification. Churchill, among his contemporaries or friends. Destined for the Bar, he was articled to a solicitor, along with Thurlow. During this period he fell in love with his cousin, Theodora Cowper, sister to Lady Hesketh, and wrote love poems to her. The marriage was forbidden by her father, but she never forgot him, and in after years secretly aided his necessities. Fits of melancholy, from which he had suffered in school days, began to increase, as he entered on life, much straitened in means after his father's death. But on the whole, it is the playful, humorous side of him that is most prominent in the nine years after his call to the Bar; spent in the society of Colman, Bonnell Thornton, and Lloyd, and in writing satires for The Connoisseur and St. James's Chronicle and halfpenny ballads. Then came the awful calamity, which destroyed all hopes of distinction, and made him a sedentary invalid, dependent on his friends. He had been nominated to the Clerkship of the Journals of the House of Lords, but the dread of appearing before them to show his fitness for the appointment overthrew his reason. He attempted his life with "laudanum, knife and cord,"—-in the third attempt nearly succeeding. The dark delusion of his life now first showed itself—a belief in his reprobation by God. But for the present, under the wise and Christian treatment of Dr. Cotton (q. v.) at St. Albans, it passed away; and the eight years that followed, of which the two first were spent at Huntingdon (where he formed his lifelong friendship with Mrs. Unwin), and the remainder at Olney in active piety among the poor, and enthusiastic devotions under the guidance of John Newton (q. v.), were full of the realisation of God's favour, and the happiest, most lucid period of his life. But the tension of long religious exercises, the nervous excitement of leading at prayer meetings, and the extreme despondence (far more than the Calvinism) of Newton, could scarcely have been a healthy atmosphere for a shy, sensitive spirit, that needed most of all the joyous sunlight of Christianity. A year after his brother's death, madness returned. Under the conviction that it was the command of God, he attempted suicide; and he then settled down into a belief in stark contradiction to his Calvinistic creed, "that the Lord, after having renewed him in holiness, had doomed him to everlasting perdition" (Southey). In its darkest form his affliction lasted sixteen months, during which he chiefly resided in J. Newton's house, patiently tended by him and by his devoted nurse, Mrs. Unwin. Gradually he became interested in carpentering, gardening, glazing, and the tendance of some tame hares and other playmates. At the close of 1780, Mrs. Unwin suggested to him some serious poetical work; and the occupation proved so congenial, that his first volume was published in 1782. To a gay episode in 1783 (his fascination by the wit of Lady Austen) his greatest poem, The Task, and also John Gilpin were owing. His other principal work was his Homer, published in 1791. The dark cloud had greatly lifted from his life when Lady Hesketh's care accomplished his removal to Weston (1786): but the loss of his dear friend William Unwin lowered it again for some months. The five years' illness of Mrs. Unwin, during which his nurse of old became his tenderly-watched patient, deepened the darkness more and more. And her death (1796) brought “fixed despair," of which his last poem, The Castaway, is the terrible memorial. Perhaps no more beautiful sentence has been written of him, than the testimony of one, who saw him after death, that with the "composure and calmness" of the face there “mingled, as it were, a holy surprise." Cowper's poetry marks the dawn of the return from the conventionality of Pope to natural expression, and the study of quiet nature. His ambition was higher than this, to be the Bard of Christianity. His great poems show no trace of his monomania, and are full of healthy piety. His fame as a poet is less than as a letter-writer: the charm of his letters is unsurpassed. Though the most considerable poet, who has written hymns, he has contributed little to the development of their structure, adopting the traditional modes of his time and Newton's severe canons. The spiritual ideas of the hymns are identical with Newton's: their highest note is peace and thankful contemplation, rather than joy: more than half of them are full of trustful or reassuring faith: ten of them are either submissive (44), self-reproachful (17, 42, 43), full of sad yearning (1, 34), questioning (9), or dark spiritual conflict (38-40). The specialty of Cowper's handling is a greater plaintiveness, tenderness, and refinement. A study of these hymns as they stood originally under the classified heads of the Olney Hymns, 1779, which in some cases probably indicate the aim of Cowper as well as the ultimate arrangement of the book by Newton, shows that one or two hymns were more the history of his conversion, than transcripts of present feelings; and the study of Newton's hymns in the same volume, full of heavy indictment against the sins of his own regenerate life, brings out the peculiar danger of his friendship to the poet: it tends also to modify considerably the conclusions of Southey as to the signs of incipient madness in Cowper's maddest hymns. Cowper's best hymns are given in The Book of Praise by Lord Selborne. Two may be selected from them; the exquisitely tender "Hark! my soul, it is the Lord" (q. v.), and "Oh, for a closer walk with God" (q. v.). Anyone who knows Mrs. Browning's noble lines on Cowper's grave will find even a deeper beauty in the latter, which is a purely English hymn of perfect structure and streamlike cadence, by connecting its sadness and its aspiration not only with the “discord on the music" and the "darkness on the glory," but the rapture of his heavenly waking beneath the "pathetic eyes” of Christ. Authorities. Lives, by Hayley; Grimshaw; Southey; Professor Goldwin Smith; Mr. Benham (attached to Globe Edition); Life of Newton, by Rev. Josiah Bull; and the Olney Hymns. The numbers of the hymns quoted refer to the Olney Hymns. [Rev. H. Leigh Bennett, M.A.] --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907) ================ Cowper, W. , p. 265, i. Other hymns are:— 1. Holy Lord God, I love Thy truth. Hatred of Sin. 2. I was a grovelling creature once. Hope and Confidence. 3. No strength of nature can suffice. Obedience through love. 4. The Lord receives His highest praise. Faith. 5. The saints should never be dismayed. Providence. All these hymns appeared in the Olney Hymns, 1779. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, Appendix, Part II (1907) ===================== Cowper, W., p. 265, i. Prof. John E. B. Mayor, of Cambridge, contributed some letters by Cowper, hitherto unpublished, together with notes thereon, to Notes and Queries, July 2 to Sept. 24, 1904. These letters are dated from Huntingdon, where he spent two years after leaving St. Alban's (see p. 265, i.), and Olney. The first is dated "Huntingdon, June 24, 1765," and the last "From Olney, July 14, 1772." They together with extracts from other letters by J. Newton (dated respectively Aug. 8, 1772, Nov. 4, 1772), two quotations without date, followed by the last in the N. & Q. series, Aug. 1773, are of intense interest to all students of Cowper, and especially to those who have given attention to the religious side of the poet's life, with its faint lights and deep and awful shadows. From the hymnological standpoint the additional information which we gather is not important, except concerning the hymns "0 for a closer walk with God," "God moves in a mysterious way," "Tis my happiness below," and "Hear what God, the Lord, hath spoken." Concerning the last three, their position in the manuscripts, and the date of the last from J. Newton in the above order, "Aug. 1773," is conclusive proof against the common belief that "God moves in a mysterious way" was written as the outpouring of Cowper's soul in gratitude for the frustration of his attempted suicide in October 1773. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, New Supplement (1907)

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