Written for Sewall’s _Collection_, 1820. Included in _Lyra Sacra Americana_, 1868. 23. _When this song of praise shall cease_ (Anticipation of Death) Written for a collection of hymns printed at the end of a _Sunday School Liturgy_, prepared by James Lombard, of Utica, New York, in 1859. Included in Bryant’s privately printed _Hymns_, 1869, and in Stevenson’s (British) _School Hymnal_, 1889. 24. _When the blind suppliant in the way_ (Opening the eyes of the blind) Dated 1874. Included in the Methodist Episcopal _Hymnal_, New York, 1878. 25. _Whither, midst falling dew_, (Divine Guidance) This is one of Bryant’s best known poems, entitled “To a Waterfowl,” and dated 1836, and is in no sense a hymn, although included in Martineau’s _Hymns_, 1873. 26. _Wild was the day, the wintry sea_, (The Pilgrim Fathers) Included in Longfellow and Johnson’s _Hymns of the Spirit_, 1864. Putnam, _Singers and Songs_, etc., p. 123 reports a hymn beginning _Ancient of Days! except Thou deign_, “written for the dedication of Rev. R. C. Waterston’s church in Boston,” and another hymn beginning _Lord, from whose glorious presence came_, written “at the request of a friend, Mr. Hiram Barney, for the opening of an Orthodox Congregational Church,” but does not print the text of either, and neither appears to have been included in any Collection. As indicated in the foregoing list, the text of several of Bryant’s hymns is found with the opening line altered from the original, either by the author himself, or, presumably, with his consent, so that it is impossible to say which is the correct or authorized form, and frequently no more than approximate date of composition can be given. The early flowering of Bryant’s gifts as a poet, promoted by a fortunate combination of circumstances, quickly brought him widespread recognition in both Great Britain and America, which deepened into respect for his fine character as he advanced in age. The writings of no other American poet of his period were so eagerly searched by compilers of hymn books, who sometimes included verses which were meditative, poems rather than hymns, e.g., nos. 8, 10, 20 and 25 in the above list. Bryant’s mind was cool and meditative, and his hymns are correct and smoothly flowing, but seldom touched with lyric fire, and none of them quite reach the highest level. They express an attitude towards religion characteristic of the intellectual life of his time but now largely passed away. No. 16 is still included in several leading hymn collections of the 20^th century; nos. 11 and 18 are in the Unitarian _New Hymn and Tune Book_, 1914; and nos. 12 and 18 are in _Hymns of the Spirit_, 1937. J. 189-190, 1682 H.W.F.