The Story of the Hymns and TunesButterworth, Hezekiah
Religion
The Story of the Hymns and Tunes
Butterworth, Hezekiah
Hymns -- History and criticism; Religious poetry
Perhaps the most notable feature in the early hymnology of the Oriental
Church was its Resurrection songs. Being hymns of joy, they called forth
all the ceremony and spectacle of ecclesiastical pomp. Among them--and
the most ancient one of those preserved--is the hymn of John of
Damascus, quoted in the second chapter (p. 54). This was the
proclamation-song in the watch-assemblies, when exactly on the midnight
moment at the shout of "Christos egerthe!" ([Greek: Christos egerthe].)
"Christ is risen!" thousands of torches were lit, bells and trumpets
pealed, and (in the later centuries) salvos of cannon shook the air.
Another favorite hymn of the Eastern Church was the "_Salve, Beate
Mane_," "Welcome, Happy Morning," of Fortunatus. (Chap. 10, p. 357.) This
poem furnished cantos for Easter hymns of the Middle Ages. Jerome of
Prague sang stanzas of it on his way to the stake.
An anonymous hymn, "_Poneluctum, Magdelena_," in medieval Latin rhyme,
is addressed to Mary Magdelene weeping at the empty sepulchre. The
following are the 3d and 4th stanzas, with a translation by Prof. C.S.
Harrington of Wesleyan University:
Gaude, plaude, Magdalena!
Tumba Christus exiit!
Tristis est peracta scena,
Victor mortis rediit;
Quem deflebas morientem,
Nunc arride resurgentem!
Alleluia!
Tolle vultum, Magdalena!
Redivivum aspice;
Vide frons quam sit amoena,
Quinque plagas inspice;
Fulgent, sic ut margaritae,
Ornamenta novae vitae.
Alleluia!
* * * * *
Magdalena, shout for gladness!
Christ has left the gloomy grave;
Finished is the scene of sadness;
Death destroyed, He comes to save;
Whom with grief thou sawest dying,
Greet with smiles, the tomb defying.
Hallelujah!
Lift thine eyes, O Magdalena!
Lo! thy Lord before thee stands;
See! how fair the thorn-crowned forehead;
Mark His feet, His side, His hands;
Glow His wounds with pearly whiteness!
Hallowing life with heavenly brightness!
Hallelujah!
The hymnaries of the Christian Church for seventeen hundred years are so
rich in Easter hallelujahs and hosannas that to introduce them all would
swell a chapter to the size of an encyclopedia--and even to make a
selection is a responsible task.
Simple mention must suffice of Luther's--
In the bonds of death He lay;
--of Watts'--
He dies, the Friend of sinners dies;
--of John Wesley's--
Our Lord has gone up on high;
--of C.F. Gellert's--
Christ is risen! Christ is risen!
He hath burst His bonds in twain;
--omitting hundreds which have been helpful in psalmody, and are,
perhaps, still in choir or congregational use.
"CHRIST THE LORD IS RISEN TODAY"
Begins a hymn of Charles Wesley's and is also the first line of a hymn
prepared for Sunday-school use by Mrs. Storrs, wife of the late Dr.
Richard Salter Storrs of Brooklyn, N.Y.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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