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| The five minute hymn.......... |
And he really did it in five minutes flat! Think on that Andrew Lloyd Webber!
It is a most poetical hymn, actually.
The Protestant church, and most especially, its Anglican wing, has quite a portfolio of what might be called 'good' music and this simple hymn is no exception.
It is, I believe, a most moving 'poem' that may be a source of comfort to those who are bedridden and in the last few years of their life on earth.
What do you think? Of the words, I mean.......are you moved by them?
O Love that will not let me go
O Love, that wilt not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in Thee;
I give Thee back the life I owe,
That in Thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.
O Light, that followest all my way,
I yield my flickering torch to Thee;
My heart restores its borrowed ray,
That in Thy sunshine’s blaze its day
May brighter, fairer be.
O Joy, that seekest me through pain,
I cannot close my heart to Thee;
I trace the rainbow through the rain,
And feel the promise is not vain
That morn shall tearless be.
O Cross, that liftest up my head,
I dare not ask to fly from Thee;
I lay in dust life’s glory dead,
And from the ground there blossoms red
Life that shall endless be.
I rest my weary soul in Thee;
I give Thee back the life I owe,
That in Thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.
O Light, that followest all my way,
I yield my flickering torch to Thee;
My heart restores its borrowed ray,
That in Thy sunshine’s blaze its day
May brighter, fairer be.
O Joy, that seekest me through pain,
I cannot close my heart to Thee;
I trace the rainbow through the rain,
And feel the promise is not vain
That morn shall tearless be.
O Cross, that liftest up my head,
I dare not ask to fly from Thee;
I lay in dust life’s glory dead,
And from the ground there blossoms red
Life that shall endless be.
George Matheson
Note: We return to Catholic affairs tomorrow!
Yes,I have a great love for some of the old Protestant hymns,including this one.They were part of my childhood,and sung with great gusto at school.
ReplyDeleteI sang this and still love it.
ReplyDeleteAs for Lloyd Webber......
I don't think 'Kumbaya' would have taken as long as five minutes to write. And how about this, written in 1972 and still sung; it's so minimalist it makes 'Beanz Meanz Heinz' look like 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner':
ReplyDeleteFather, we adore you,
Lay our lives before you,
How we love you.
[Repeat twice, changing the first word to 'Jesus' and then 'Spirit'.]
30 seconds? And I bet he's still getting royalties off it!
John Nolan - Not even "Holy Spirit"!
ReplyDeleteWouldn't scan, I suppose.
Delete'Holy Ghost ' would scan well.
DeleteSue
Magnificent hymn and the Church is all the richer now for the Ordninariate bringing their Anglican hymns.
ReplyDeleteGlad to see Graham Kendrick has remained a proterstant.
It strikes me as well-written but superficial- a few pious thoughts strung together but that go nowhere. I'd advise him to study St Thomas Aquinas's Pange lingua gloriosi or Adoro te devote. Both are logically coherent and rich in allusion for starters. Another great hymn writer: Aurelius Prudentius. His Corde natus ex parentis is also a good model.
ReplyDeleteA bit vague. It hardly points to the essence or fullness of the Faith.
DeleteThank you all. I stand by my post but fully understand Lynda and Patricius's comments. Imagine, if you will, a dying, aged protestant who has not prayed or thought of God in the past 50 years. And then they ask for a copy of this hymn to hold as they lie awaiting death. Then the hymn appears much better than at first glance.
ReplyDelete