Hymns In Human Experience (Paperback)

In Human Experience by WILLIAM J. Publishers HARPER BROTHERS New York and London 1931 IRA D. SANKRY To Wife and T aughters THE GOOD OLD HYMNS There s lots of music in em, the hymns of long ago An when some gray-haired brother sings the ones I used to know 1 sorter want to take a hand I think o days gone by On Jordans stormy banks I stand and cast a wishful eye. Theres lots of music in em those dear, sweet hymns of old, With visions bright of lands of light and shining streets of gold And I hear em ringing singing, where memory dream ing stands, From Greenlands icy mountains to Indias coral strands We hardly needed singin books in them old days we knew The words, the tunes, of every one, the dear old hymn book through We had no blaring trumpets then, no organs built for show We, only sang to praise the Lord, from whom all bless ings flow An so I love the dear old hymns, and when my time shall come Before the light has left me and my singing lips are dumb If I can only hear em then, Ill pass, without a sigh, To Canaans fair and happy land f where my possessions lie FRANK L. STANTON in The Atlanta Constitution PREFACE xi I. A SINGING FAITH i II. SONGS IN THE NIGHT 29 III. HYMNS MOTHERS LOVED 52 IV. WHEN PREACHERS SING 67 V. SONGS OF SOLDIERS 80 VI. HEARD WITHIN PRISON WALLS. ... 95 VII. THE Music OF SUBMERGED LIVES. . 103 VIII. SONGS OF SALVATION 113 IX. THE OLD RUGGED CROSS 127 X. HYMNS OF YOUTH 136 XI. HYMNS AS PRAYERS 153 XII. SONGS OF THE NEGROES 165 XIII. CHRISTMAS AND EASTER MELODIES 173 XIV. FUNERAL Music 188 XV. HYMNS ON PATRIOTIC OCCASIONS. . 204 INDEX OF HYMNS 217 PREFACE HALF a million hymns, it is estimated, are writ ten in more than two hundred languages and dia lects in whichChristianity is preached. Some of these are translations, but many are original ex pressions of the Christian faith. This extraordi nary production is an impressive testimony from Christian experience. Having for many years made a study of the influence of hymns in human experience, I have during that time gleaned material from news papers, periodicals both American and British and books and to both the authors and the pub lishers of these I here express my indebtedness. Little is said in this volume concerning the origin of hymns and tunes, or of their place in literature. These aspects of the subject are well discussed in The English Hymn by Louis F. Benson, The Hymn as Literature by J. B. Reeves, The Story of the Hymns and Tunes by T. Brown and H. Butterworth, The Evolution of the English Hymn by F. J. Gillman, Stories of Great xi