Latest Vital Sparks. Thou art pitiful and kind: Semantic drift in The Sacred Harp, part 1

[Will Fitzgerald]

My latest Vital Sparks, thanks to Rowan Simms.

Vital Sparks: Thou art pitiful and kind

Semantic Drift in The Sacred Harp, part 1

Find it at: https://vitalsparks.beehiiv.com/p/vital-sparks-thou-art-pitiful-and-kind

And send me your examples!

Best,

Will

[Karen Willard]

The tune PISGAH is on pg 58 in the Cooper Sacred Harp and the phrase with the Denson word "bowels" says "in the fullness of thy love".

Karen Willard

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[Will Fitzgerald]

Karen,

Do you know when that change was first made in the Cooper edition? 

Will

[Karen Willard]

It is that way in the very first edition, 1902.

Karen

[Matt Bell]

Great example on Arbacoochee.  Not in the SH, but there's also this one: https://hymnary.org/text/lord_at_thy_feet_in_dust_i_lie  "O may thy bowels move."

Matt Bell

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[Brady Santoro]

I would contend that the greatest Dr. Watts-ism of them all can be found in the rather infamous "Cha­ri­ty to the poor; or, pi­ty to the af­flict­ed", from his 1719 edition of the Psalms (here Psalm 41, as also rendered, with less pathos, in the Old and New Versions). With the revival chorus "Halle, hallelujah, my God has set me free" that is sometimes added to this song, it is very clear why the speaker is "afflicted". He expresses, of course, a very noble sentiment in this text and one that is quite true to the original, but as our friends at Hymnary.org have demonstrated, it would be hard to use this hymn in contemporary worship, as heartfelt as it may be. For those of you who are well familiar with this gem, here it is again, but if you have not encountered it before, below are the first two verses.

Blest is the man whose bow­els move,
And melt with pi­ty to the poor,
Whose soul by sym­pa­thiz­ing love,
Feels what his fel­low saints en­dure.

His heart con­trives for their re­lief
More good than his own hands can do;
He in the time of ge­ne­ral grief,
Shall find the Lord has bow­els, too.

In the bowels of mutual love,

B.

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[Jim Pfau]

When I pointed this out to one of our local singers many years ago, he shouted out, in mock astonishment, "COOPER'S GOT NO BOWELS!"

Jim

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