Scanning F. S. Key ("The Star-Spangled Banner"): Anacrusis vs. Acephaly

[grammarian1976]

Greetings,

I've been studying the difference between acephaly (which I understand
to be the _omission_ of one or more unstressed syllables from the first
foot of any given line of metrical verse) and anacrusis (which I
understand to be the _addition_ of one or more unstressed syllables to
the first foot of any given line of metrical verse).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anacrusis

I believe that this Wikipedia article on anacrusis gets the two mixed up
in citing as an example of anacrusis the opening "O!" of "The Star-
Spangled Banner" (the first stanza of Francis Scott Key's "Defence of
Fort M'Henry"). The first line, with the "O!," has fewer syllables than
do the surrounding lines, which I scan as being in anapestic tetrameter:

x ⸍ x x ⸍ x x ⸍ x x ⸍ [11 syllables]
O! say can you see by the dawn's early light,
x x ⸍ x x ⸍ x x ⸍ x x ⸍ x [13 syllables]
What so proud | ly we hail'd | at the twi | light's last gleam ing,
x x ⸍ x x ⸍ x x ⸍ x x ⸍ [12 syl.]
Whose broad stripes | and bright stars | through the per | ilous fight,
x x ⸍ x x ⸍ x x ⸍ x x ⸍ x [13 syl.]
O'er the ram | parts we watched, | were so gal | lantly streaming?

The 13-syllable lines above, I scan as having a feminine ending. The only
line in which I have not placed foot markings is the first. That the line has
only 11 syllables seems to be a sign the "O!" is not an addition to the
overall metrical pattern. I take the first foot of the first line to involve,
rather, acephaly, the first unstressed syllable having been omitted:

(x) x ⸍ x x ⸍ x x ⸍ x x ⸍
O! say | can you see | by the dawn's | early light,

Am I right that Wikipedia is wrong -- that it's acephaly, not anacrusis?

Thank you.

[David Kleinecke]

Your scanning of the poem is off. You didn't follow Wikipedia.

But I think your idea is correct. That "O" is one syllable less than the
meter expects. It should be two "short" syllables. I am not expert on
metrics but I would describe the situation as one where two shorts
combine (rather than either add or subtracting)

[grammarian1976]

My scansion marks ceased to align with the syllables with which they are
associated as soon as I clicked "post message." Let me try the all-caps
method instead. Because I don't want to indicate that "O!" is stressed in
my scansion, it appears in lowercase below.

(x) o SAY | can you SEE | by the DAWN'S | ear ly LIGHT
what so PROUD | ly we HAIL'D | at the TWI | light's last GLEAM ing,
whose broad STRIPES | and bright STARS | through the PER | i lous FIGHT
o'er the RAM | parts we WATCHED | were so GAL | lant ly STREAM ing

The symbol "(x)" indicates the missing syllable in the first anapestic foot
in the line of anapestic tetrameter, the meter I understand the poem to have.
I have rendered some words with spaces in the middle to show clearly their
syllabic divisions, which I seem unable to display more conventionally.

>
> But I think your idea is correct. That "O" is one syllable less than the
> meter expects. It should be two "short" syllables. I am not expert on
> metrics but I would describe the situation as one where two shorts
> combine (rather than either add or subtracting)

That's an interesting way of looking at it: two shorts combining. Thank you.
The postulation of an additional silent syllable which has been omitted does
feel a bit artificial to me. For what it's worth, I started down this line of inquiry
when I tried, frustratingly, to identify the meter in which this hymn was written.
I now take it to have acephaly at the beginning of every line. That is, I take every
line of the hymn to be prosodically parallel to line 1 of "The Star-Spangled Banner."

(x) im MOR | tal in VI | si ble GOD | on ly WISE
(x) in LIGHT | in ac CESS | i ble HID | from our EYES
(x) most BLESS | ed most GLOR | ious the AN | cient of DAYS
(X) al MIGH | ty vic TOR | ious thy GREAT | name we PRAISE.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immortal,_Invisible,_God_Only_Wise

[Jerry Friedman]

I agree with you completely. Also I'm not clear on when an anacrusis
in iambic pentameter gives the impression of a trochee.

Acephaly is very common in anapestic meter. There once was a
man from Nantucket / Who kept all his cash in a bucket...

--
Jerry Friedman

[Jerry Friedman]

On Tuesday, August 17, 2021 at 11:45:33 AM UTC-6, grammar...@gmail.com wrote:
...

> For what it's worth, I started down this line of inquiry
> when I tried, frustratingly, to identify the meter in which this hymn was written.
> I now take it to have acephaly at the beginning of every line. That is, I take every
> line of the hymn to be prosodically parallel to line 1 of "The Star-Spangled Banner."
>
> (x) im MOR | tal in VI | si ble GOD | on ly WISE
> (x) in LIGHT | in ac CESS | i ble HID | from our EYES
> (x) most BLESS | ed most GLOR | ious the AN | cient of DAYS
> (X) al MIGH | ty vic TOR | ious thy GREAT | name we PRAISE.
>
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immortal,_Invisible,_God_Only_Wise

In a situation like that, I'd be tempted to say it's a special meter consisting of
an iamb followed by three anapests. Likewise I'd say the first two lines of each
verse of "O Worship the King" each scan as an iamb, then an anapest, then an
iamb, then an anapest, and the third and fourth lines are the same as in
"Immortal, Invisible".

--
Jerry Friedman

[Jerry Friedman]

...

I replaced the "Banner" in the Wikiparticle with

Tyger, Tyger, burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
/Could/ frame they fearful symmetry?

--
Jerry Friedman

[Peter T. Daniels]

> I replaced the "Banner" in the Wikiparticle with
>
> Tyger, Tyger, burning bright
> In the forests of the night,
> What immortal hand or eye
> /Could/ frame they fearful symmetry?

You dare!

[grammarian1976]

Wonderful!

Also I'm not clear on when an anacrusis
> in iambic pentameter gives the impression of a trochee.

That's very interesting. I'd been conceiving of anacrusis on the
analogy of lead-in notes in music, which I believe are always
unstressed. On that analogy, a trochee-like anacrusis would be
misleading indeed.

>
> Acephaly is very common in anapestic meter. There once was a
> man from Nantucket / Who kept all his cash in a bucket...
>

Awesome. Thank you, Jerry. I felt as if it were common, but I wasn't sure,
being so new to metrical analysis. I had been wondering how to analyze
the metrical pattern I know from limericks, so this is quite a bonus for
me in this thread. I guess it's the two middle lines that confirm anapestic:

(x) there ONCE | was a MAN | from nan TUCK et ....[anapestic trimeter w/ acephaly + feminine ending]
(x) who KEPT | all his CASH | in a BU | cket ....[anapestic trimeter w/ acephaly + feminine ending]
but his DAUGH | ter named NAN ....[anapestic dimeter]
ran a WAY | with a MAN ....[anapestic dimeter]
(x) and AS | for the BU | cket nan TUCK et ....[anapestic trimeter w/ acephaly + feminine ending]

> --
> Jerry Friedman

[grammarian1976]

I like that analysis. I didn't realize that it was "kosher" to scan lines as having
mixed meters, though your interpretation reminds me a bit of how Alfred Corn
analyzes Frost's "The Road Not Taken" (which he describes as _logoaedic_), with
the difference that Frost's intermixing of anapestic feet in that poem do not seem
to follow a pattern, but give the impression of spontaneity.

> --
> Jerry Friedman

[Jerry Friedman]

All perfectly kosher. This was all invented in classical times, and classical
Greek meters, adopted in Latin, mixed different feet. So you have to scan English
the same way for the few poems that imitate classical meters [*].

Your description of "Immortal, Invisible" as acephalous anapestic trimeter
is certainly fine too. I'd say that you do have to use meters with mixed feet
for "O Worship the King" and (more hymn association) "Come, Thou
Almighty King". On the other hand, for lyrics, it might be better to give the
rhythm of the tune when possible.

[*] Such as "Lines Written During a Period of Insanity" by William Cowper,
"The Day of Judgment" by Isaac Watts, "The Offense" (section 1) by James
Wright, "Hendecasyllabics" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, and "Choriambics", by
A. C. Swinburne.

--
Jerry Friedman

[Peter T. Daniels]

On Thursday, August 19, 2021 at 10:28:19 AM UTC-4, Jerry Friedman wrote:

> Your description of "Immortal, Invisible" as acephalous anapestic trimeter
> is certainly fine too. I'd say that you do have to use meters with mixed feet
> for "O Worship the King" and (more hymn association) "Come, Thou
> Almighty King".

The last, not a good hymn tune, because it comes to a perfect cadence at
the end of (nearly?) every line.

("Immortal, invisible" is one of the best.)

[Jerry Friedman]

I mean tetrameter.

> is certainly fine too.

--
Jerry Friedman

[grammarian1976]

Jerry, if you wouldn't mine, I'd really like to have your metrical take (or the metrical
take of anyone else here who may be interested) on the meter of the hymn
"Be Thou My Vision," as rendered into English verse by Eleanor Hull from the
original, which was in Old Irish.

"BE | thou my VI | sion, o LORD | of my HEART;
NOUGHT | be all ELSE | to me SAVE | that thou ART.
THOU | my best THOUGHT | by DAY | or by NIGHT,
WAK | ing or SLEEP | ing, my PRE | sense my LIGHT."
https://hymnary.org/text/be_thou_my_vision_o_lord_of_my_heart

I'm seeing anaphalous anapestic tetrameter, with only one syllable
(and that stressed) in the first foot. I'm also seeing an iamb in the third foot
of the third line. (In the melody, that iamb is concealed by the fact that "thought"
is stretched over two beats.) Is that accurate, would you say?

Thank you!

[David Kleinecke]

I see half lines
"BE | thou my VISION

o LORD | of my HEART;
NOUGHT | be all ELSE
to me SAVE | that thou ART.
THOU | my best THOUGHT
by DAY | or by NIGHT,
WAK | ing or SLEEPing,
my PRE | sense my LIGHT."

I think the underlying foot is any number of unstresssed
followed by a stress.

It would be interesting to see the Old Irish. When I
translate Old Irish I try to follow the OI metric and
end up doing odd things. Fascinating language.

The metric I propose is that of Piers Plowman (I
have never tried tracing it back into AS. And, yes,
Ireland is not England - but Ireland is close and
infested with Vikings.

[Jerry Friedman]

On Thursday, October 7, 2021 at 12:06:09 PM UTC-6, grammar...@gmail.com wrote:
...

> Jerry, if you wouldn't mine, I'd really like to have your metrical take (or the metrical
> take of anyone else here who may be interested) on the meter of the hymn
> "Be Thou My Vision," as rendered into English verse by Eleanor Hull from the
> original, which was in Old Irish.
>
> "BE | thou my VI | sion, o LORD | of my HEART;
> NOUGHT | be all ELSE | to me SAVE | that thou ART.
> THOU | my best THOUGHT | by DAY | or by NIGHT,
> WAK | ing or SLEEP | ing, my PRE | sense my LIGHT."
> https://hymnary.org/text/be_thou_my_vision_o_lord_of_my_heart
>
> I'm seeing anaphalous anapestic tetrameter, with only one syllable
> (and that stressed) in the first foot.

I agree, though catalectic dactylic tetrameter would be just as good
a description. (And you meant "acephalous", right?)

> I'm also seeing an iamb in the third foot
> of the third line. (In the melody, that iamb is concealed by the fact that "thought"
> is stretched over two beats.) Is that accurate, would you say?

I feel sure that in the version I learned, the third line started
"Thou and thou only". That seems to have been lifted from a later
verse.

--
Jerry Friedman

[Jerry Friedman]

On Thursday, October 7, 2021 at 12:52:20 PM UTC-6, dklei...@gmail.com wrote:
> On Thursday, October 7, 2021 at 11:06:09 AM UTC-7, grammar...@gmail.com wrote:

...

> > Jerry, if you wouldn't mine, I'd really like to have your metrical take (or the metrical
> > take of anyone else here who may be interested) on the meter of the hymn
> > "Be Thou My Vision," as rendered into English verse by Eleanor Hull from the
> > original, which was in Old Irish.
> >
> > "BE | thou my VI | sion, o LORD | of my HEART;
> > NOUGHT | be all ELSE | to me SAVE | that thou ART.
> > THOU | my best THOUGHT | by DAY | or by NIGHT,
> > WAK | ing or SLEEP | ing, my PRE | sense my LIGHT."
> > https://hymnary.org/text/be_thou_my_vision_o_lord_of_my_heart
> >
> > I'm seeing anaphalous anapestic tetrameter, with only one syllable
> > (and that stressed) in the first foot. I'm also seeing an iamb in the third foot
> > of the third line. (In the melody, that iamb is concealed by the fact that "thought"
> > is stretched over two beats.) Is that accurate, would you say?
> I see half lines
> "BE | thou my VISION
> o LORD | of my HEART;
> NOUGHT | be all ELSE
> to me SAVE | that thou ART.
> THOU | my best THOUGHT
> by DAY | or by NIGHT,
> WAK | ing or SLEEPing,
> my PRE | sense my LIGHT."

> I think the underlying foot is any number of unstresssed
> followed by a stress.

Any number as long as it's 2, except for one foot in the third
line.

> It would be interesting to see the Old Irish.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Be_Thou_My_Vision#Original_Old_Irish_Text

> When I
> translate Old Irish I try to follow the OI metric and
> end up doing odd things. Fascinating language.

These languages you know are adding up!

> The metric I propose is that of Piers Plowman (I
> have never tried tracing it back into AS. And, yes,
> Ireland is not England - but Ireland is close and
> infested with Vikings.

I'd say this is far more regular than Piers Plowman.

--
Jerry Friedman

[David Kleinecke]

[I made a little error and this may proceeded by a
garble. Sorry]

I am aware of studies of the metrics of alliterative
verse in the Viking Era. My feeling is they are chasing
something that doesn't exist. I haven't studied the old
poetry just Piers Plowman but the "meter" seems to
be the same - four beats per line and as many weak
beats between them as you please.

There must of plenty of this kind of poetry in Ireland
by the Middle Irish period. I observe the Irish poem
is probably not Old Irish but rather Middle Irish. The
traditional author is a pious fiction and we don't know
who wrote it or when.

Be THOU my VISION o LORD of my HEART;
Nought be ALL ELSE to me SAVE that thou ART.
Thou my BEST THOUGHT by DAY or by NIGHT,

[Jerry Friedman]

OK, I see you're not considering the tune, though the words
were written to be sung to the tune, not to be read on their own.
In that case I might emphasize the first "thou" less and the
other two more than you did. I'd also emphasize "Nought".

(I didn't note before that grammarian should have written
"thy presence", not "my presense".)

--
Jerry Friedman

[David Kleinecke]

I was under the impression the tune was not historically
connected with the poem.

[Jerry Friedman]

...

> I was under the impression the tune was not historically
> connected with the poem.

Hm. It seems I made a false assumption. The original version of
the poem was written before it was connected with the tune.

On the other hand, I can see snippets of Eleanor Hull's /The
Poem-Book of the Gael/ from 1913 (not 1912, when Wikipedia
says her verse version first appeared), and in one of them a
couplet doesn't fit the tune nearly as well.

With the High King of Heaven, after victory won,
May I reach heaven's joys, O Bright heaven's Sun.

https://books.google.com/books?id=nz8-AQAAMAAJ&q=%22Eleanor+Hull%22+%22ruler+of+all%22&dq=%22Eleanor+Hull%22+%22ruler+of+all%22&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi_is63tbvzAhXxl2oFHchwAmsQ6AF6BAgDEAI

(Weird capitalization.)

Other bits I can see are the same as the current version or more
similar, but I suspect the version quoted here has been adapted
a bit to fit the tune.

By the way, the 1913 version had "Naught is all else to me", not
"Nought be all else to me".

--
Jerry Friedman

[Snidely]

Thursday, Jerry Friedman murmurred ...

> I agree, though catalectic dactylic tetrameter would be just as good
> a description. (And you meant "acephalous", right?)

See, this is why I like AUE.

Given past homework results, I would "decode" different feet each time
I re-analysed a poem. I can't keep time, either.

/dps

--
Ieri, oggi, domani

[grammarian1976]

On Thursday, October 7, 2021 at 7:46:46 PM UTC-7, Jerry Friedman wrote:
> On Thursday, October 7, 2021 at 12:06:09 PM UTC-6, grammar...@gmail.com wrote:
> ...
> > Jerry, if you wouldn't mine, I'd really like to have your metrical take (or the metrical
> > take of anyone else here who may be interested) on the meter of the hymn
> > "Be Thou My Vision," as rendered into English verse by Eleanor Hull from the
> > original, which was in Old Irish.
> >
> > "BE | thou my VI | sion, o LORD | of my HEART;
> > NOUGHT | be all ELSE | to me SAVE | that thou ART.
> > THOU | my best THOUGHT | by DAY | or by NIGHT,
> > WAK | ing or SLEEP | ing, my PRE | sense my LIGHT."
> > https://hymnary.org/text/be_thou_my_vision_o_lord_of_my_heart
> >
> > I'm seeing anaphalous anapestic tetrameter, with only one syllable
> > (and that stressed) in the first foot.
> I agree, though catalectic dactylic tetrameter would be just as good
> a description. (And you meant "acephalous", right?)

Wonderful. Thank you. (Sorry for the typos: yes, I did mean "acephalous,"
and I meant to type "mind" rather than "mine," too.) I think I like your
alternative ("catalectic dactylic tetrameter") better, since, at least when
the poem/hymn is accompanied by its melody, it has a waltz-like quality.

> > I'm also seeing an iamb in the third foot
> > of the third line. (In the melody, that iamb is concealed by the fact that "thought"
> > is stretched over two beats.) Is that accurate, would you say?
> I feel sure that in the version I learned, the third line started
> "Thou and thou only". That seems to have been lifted from a later
> verse.
>

The versions I have found online of the lyrics vary slightly but in
ways that matter from a metrical standpoint. The truest set of lyrics
seems to be the one that is featured in the Wikipedia image, which has
"Thou my best thought in the day and the night" as the third line, rather than
"Thou my best thought by day or by night." The original thus scans much
easier! The "Thou and thou only" line is the third line of the fourth stanza:

BE thou my | VI sion, o | LORD of my | HEART, x x
NOUGHT be all | ELSE to me, | SAVE that thou | ART ; x x
THOU my best | THOUGHT in the | DAY and the | NIGHT, x x
WAK ing or | SLEE ping, thy | PRE sence my | LIGHT. x x

BE thou my | WIS dom, be | THOU my true | WORD, x x
I ev er | WITH thee and | THOU with me, | LORD ; x x
THOU my great | FA ther, and | I thy dear | SON, x x
THOU in me | DWE lling and | I with thee | ONE. x x

BE thou my | BREAST-plate, my | SWORD for the | FIGHT, x x
BE thou my | AR mour, and | BE thou my | MIGHT x x ;
THOU my soul’s | SHEL ter, and | THOU my high | TOW’R, x x
RAISE thou me | HEAV’N ward, o | POW’R of my | POW’R. x x

RI ches i | HEED not nor | MAN’S emp ty | PRAISE, x x
THOU mine in | HER i tance | THROUGH all my | DAYS ; x x
THOU and thou | ON ly, the | FIRST in my | HEART, x x
HIGH king of | HEA ven, my | TREA sure thou | ART ! x x

HIGH king of | HEAV’N when the | BA ttle is | DONE, x x
GRANT heav en’s | JOYS to me, | O bright heav’n’s | SUN ! x x
HEART of my | OWN heart, what | EV er be | FALL, x x
STILL be my | VI sion, o | RU ler of | ALL. x x

> --
> Jerry Friedman

[Peter T. Daniels]

On Saturday, October 9, 2021 at 4:42:50 AM UTC-4, grammar...@gmail.com wrote:

> The versions I have found online of the lyrics vary slightly but in
> ways that matter from a metrical standpoint. The truest set of lyrics
> seems to be the one that is featured in the Wikipedia image, which has
> "Thou my best thought in the day and the night" as the third line, rather than
> "Thou my best thought by day or by night." The original thus scans much
> easier! The "Thou and thou only" line is the third line of the fourth stanza:

Frequently in hymnals you'll find "alt." by the author's name. That means
an editor has touched up the lyric maybe to better fit the tune, maybe to
eliminate now-unacceptable or archaic diction, etc.

Incidentally, I don't know this hymn at all. It wasn't used in either
Presbyterian church or Episcopal school.

[Jerry Friedman]

The 1913 version of the poem (which may not be the truest
version of the hymn lyrics) may be what's here:

https://books.google.com/books?id=3urCDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT172

I t doesn't show me the final couplet, but I can see that in the 1913
book, and it's the same as what you quote.

David's got a point that if you read some of those lines in
isolation, not knowing the tune, you might scan them
differently.

I EV er | with THEE and | THOU with ME, | Lord ;

--
Jerry Friedman

[Jerry Friedman]

...

> > > > Be THOU my VISION o LORD of my HEART;
> > > > Nought be ALL ELSE to me SAVE that thou ART.
> > > > Thou my BEST THOUGHT by DAY or by NIGHT,
> > > > WAKing or SLEEPing, my PREsense my LIGHT."
>
> > > OK, I see you're not considering the tune, though the words
> > > were written to be sung to the tune, not to be read on their own.
> > > In that case I might emphasize the first "thou" less and the
> > > other two more than you did. I'd also emphasize "Nought".
> ...
> > I was under the impression the tune was not historically
> > connected with the poem.

> Hm. It seems I made a false assumption. The original version of
> the poem was written before it was connected with the tune.
>
> On the other hand, I can see snippets of Eleanor Hull's /The
> Poem-Book of the Gael/ from 1913 (not 1912, when Wikipedia
> says her verse version first appeared), and in one of them a
> couplet doesn't fit the tune nearly as well.
>
> With the High King of Heaven, after victory won,
> May I reach heaven's joys, O Bright heaven's Sun.
>
> https://books.google.com/books?id=nz8-AQAAMAAJ&q=%22Eleanor+Hull%22+%22ruler+of+all%22&dq=%22Eleanor+Hull%22+%22ruler+of+all%22&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi_is63tbvzAhXxl2oFHchwAmsQ6AF6BAgDEAI
>
> (Weird capitalization.)
>
> Other bits I can see are the same as the current version or more
> similar, but I suspect the version quoted here has been adapted
> a bit to fit the tune.

...

Not that that affects the first four lines. But there's so much triple
rhythm throughout, and the hymn lines begin so consistently with
stressed syllables (much less consistently in the poem lines), that
I think it's reasonable to say that the meter of the hymn is dactylic,
with variations, especially a trochee instead of a dactyl in the second
foot (or end of the first half-line).

--
Jerry Friedman

[Jerry Friedman]

On Saturday, October 9, 2021 at 7:21:26 AM UTC-6, Peter T. Daniels wrote:
> On Saturday, October 9, 2021 at 4:42:50 AM UTC-4, grammar...@gmail.com wrote:
>
> > The versions I have found online of the lyrics vary slightly but in
> > ways that matter from a metrical standpoint. The truest set of lyrics
> > seems to be the one that is featured in the Wikipedia image, which has
> > "Thou my best thought in the day and the night" as the third line, rather than
> > "Thou my best thought by day or by night." The original thus scans much
> > easier! The "Thou and thou only" line is the third line of the fourth stanza:

> Frequently in hymnals you'll find "alt." by the author's name. That means
> an editor has touched up the lyric maybe to better fit the tune, maybe to
> eliminate now-unacceptable or archaic diction, etc.

I did not know that, though it's certainly what happened in "Once to Every
Man and Nation", as we discussed a couple years ago.

> Incidentally, I don't know this hymn at all. It wasn't used in either
> Presbyterian church or Episcopal school.

...

I'm somewhat surprised. I learned it at my faintly Episcopalish
private school, and when searching GB for "Be Thou My Vision",
I found it's the title of some hymnals and at least one book about
an Episcopal church, which suggests that the authors thought it
would be widely recognized.

--
Jerry Friedman

[Peter T. Daniels]

On Saturday, October 9, 2021 at 10:15:31 AM UTC-4, Jerry Friedman wrote:
> On Saturday, October 9, 2021 at 7:21:26 AM UTC-6, Peter T. Daniels wrote:
> > On Saturday, October 9, 2021 at 4:42:50 AM UTC-4, grammar...@gmail.com wrote:
> >
> > > The versions I have found online of the lyrics vary slightly but in
> > > ways that matter from a metrical standpoint. The truest set of lyrics
> > > seems to be the one that is featured in the Wikipedia image, which has
> > > "Thou my best thought in the day and the night" as the third line, rather than
> > > "Thou my best thought by day or by night." The original thus scans much
> > > easier! The "Thou and thou only" line is the third line of the fourth stanza:
>
> > Frequently in hymnals you'll find "alt." by the author's name. That means
> > an editor has touched up the lyric maybe to better fit the tune, maybe to
> > eliminate now-unacceptable or archaic diction, etc.
>
> I did not know that, though it's certainly what happened in "Once to Every
> Man and Nation", as we discussed a couple years ago.

We loved that one in school, with its jaunty triplets and its unusual minor key.

> > Incidentally, I don't know this hymn at all. It wasn't used in either
> > Presbyterian church or Episcopal school.
> ...
>
> I'm somewhat surprised. I learned it at my faintly Episcopalish
> private school, and when searching GB for "Be Thou My Vision",
> I found it's the title of some hymnals and at least one book about
> an Episcopal church, which suggests that the authors thought it
> would be widely recognized.

I guess our various music directors didn't care for it. Or maybe its
message or theology didn't fit with any theme-of-the-day (school)
or -week (church).

[Quinn C]

* Jerry Friedman:

It is in the version I'm familiar with (with music by Rutter). It also
has a few extra cushioning syllables:

Be thou my vision o lord of my heart;
Be all else but nought to me save that thou art.
Be thou my best thought in the day and the night,
Both waking and sleeping, thy presence my light.

<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZLKpv1wYBg>

I had asked about the meaning of the second line here years ago.

--
I don't see people ... as having a right to be idiots. It's
just impractical to try to stop them, unless they're hurting
somebody. -- Vicereine Cordelia
in L. McMaster Bujold, Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen