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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... scenes from the Old and New Testaments. The quantity of direct discourse in many storytelling hymns and its tone often recalls contemporary heroic and domestic drama. Such hymns become participatory religious theater, the many ...
... scenes of charismatic conversion of Wesley, and in the stage presence of Newton's preacher-hero, a dramatic inclination often indicated by a call to “Look,” “Behold,” “See,” “Hark,” or “Hear.” Finally, hymns provided more flexible means ...
... Scene before them in just and flaming Colours. [P.v] A seemingly strange item in a defense of poetry, such an opinion is not as radical as it may appear: the generally accepted instructive duty of literature has simply been translated ...
... Scenes are display'd, and pious Passions awaken'd in those Poems? The Martyrdom of Polyeucte, how doth it reign over our Love and Pity, and at the same time animate our Zeal and Devotion!” (p. xii). Love and pity, the accepted audience ...
... scenes. The supposition behind this method was that the individual was intrinsically capable of virtue or piety. He or she had the resources, which only needed focus and cultivation. This confidence in human ameliorability is apparently ...
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 |