Canada -- Fiction; World War, 1914-1918 -- Canada -- Fiction
“Now we shall have a truly GREAT hymn, a hymn you must sing in a truly
great way, in what we call the grand style, number three hundred and
sixty-seven.”
Then in a voice, deep, thrilling, vibrant with a noble emotion, he read
the words:
“When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of Glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.”
They sang the verse, and when they had finished he stood looking at them
in silence for a moment or two, then announced solemnly:
“Friends, that will not do for this hymn. Sing it with your hearts.
Listen to me.”
Then he sang a verse in a deep, strong baritone.
“Now try.”
Timidly they obeyed him.
“No, no, not at all,” he shouted at them. “Listen.”
Again with exquisitely distinct articulation and in a tone rich in
emotion and carrying in it the noble, penetrating pathos of the great
words in which is embodied the passion of that heart subduing world
tragedy. He would not let them try it again, but alone sang the hymn to
the end. By the spell of his voice he had gripped them by the heart. The
giggling girls in the front seat sat gazing at him with open mouths and
lifted eyes. From every corner of the room faces once dull were filled
with a great expectant look.
“You will never sing those words as you should,” he cried, “until you
know and feel the glory of that wondrous cross. Never, never, never.”
His voice rose in a passionate crescendo.
After he had finished singing the last great verse, he let his eyes
wander over the benches until they rested upon the face of the lad on
the side bench near him.
“Aha, boy,” he cried. “You can sing those words. Try that last verse.”
The boy stared, fascinated, at him.
“Sing the last verse, boy,” commanded the evangelist, “sing.”
As if impelled by another will than his own, the boy slowly, with his
eyes still fastened on the man's face, threw back his head and began to
sing. His voice rose, full, strong, in a quaint imitation in method of
articulation and in voice production of the evangelist himself. At the
third line of the verse the evangelist joined in great massive tones,
beating time vigorously in a rallentando.
“Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.”
The effect was a great emotional climax, the spiritual atmosphere was
charged with fervour. The people sat rigid, fixed in their places,
incapable of motion, until released by the invitation of the leader,
“Let us pray.” The boy seemed to wake as from a sleep, glanced at his
mother, then at the faces of the people in the room, sat down, and
quickly covered his face with his hands and so remained during the
prayer.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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