English poem
_The Tune._
by Hezekiah Butterworth (1839–1905)
The music set to Kipling's hymn is Stainer's "Magdalen"--(not his "Magdalina," which is a common-metre tune)--and wonderfully fits the words and enhances their dignity. It is a grave and earnest melody in D flat, with two bars in unison at "Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet," making the utterance of the prayer a deep and powerful finale.
John Stainer, Doctor of Music, born June 6, 1840, was nine years the chorister of St. Paul's, London, and afterwards organist to the University of Oxford. He is a member of the various musical societies of the Kingdom, and a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor. His talent for sacred music is rare and versatile, and he seems to have consecrated himself as a musician and composer to the service of the church.
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Every civilized nation has its patriotic hymns. In fact what makes a nation a nation is largely the unifying influences of its common song. Even the homeless Hebrew nation is kept together by its patriotic Psalms. The ethnic melodies would fill a volume with their story. The few presented in this chapter represent their range of quality and character--defiant as the Marseillaise, thrilling as "Scots' wha hae," joyful as "The Star-spangled Banner," breezy and bold as the "Ranz de Vaches," or sweet as the "Switzers' Song of Home."
CHAPTER X.
SAILORS' HYMNS.
The oldest sailors' hymn is found in the 107th Psalm, vss. 23-30:
They that go down to the sea in ships, To do business in great waters, These see the works of the Lord, And His wonders in the deep, etc.
Montgomery has made this metrical rendering of these verses:
They that toil upon the deep, And in vessels light and frail O'er the mighty waters sweep With the billows and the gale,
Mark what wonders God performs When He speaks, and, unconfined, Rush to battle all His storms In the chariots of the wind.
The hymn is not in the collections, and has no tune. Addison paraphrased the succeeding verses of the Psalm in his hymn, "How are thy servants blessed O Lord," sung to Hugh Wilson's tune of "Avon":
When by the dreadful tempest borne High on the broken wave, They know Thou art not slow to hear, Nor impotent to save.
The storm is laid, the winds retire, Obedient to Thy will; The sea that roars at Thy command, At Thy command is still.