CHAPTER XI: PICTURES AND CONCEITS.
PICTURES AND CONCEITS.
Where the whole range of hymnody is so largely picturesque, it may seem superfluous to mark any hymns in particular as pictures. But there are Welsh verses--many of them not found in the ordinary hymn-book--which are so popular, that it would be unfair to leave them unmentioned. They are folk-songs--more often recited than sung. Some striking picture or pretty conceit has appealed successfully to public favour, and passes down from generation to generation, the name of the author being either lost or doubtful. __________________________________________________________________
The late Rev. Paxton Hood has made the name and style of CHRISTMAS EVANS familiar to English readers. He allowed his fancy free range in allegory; and this verse admirably represents the boldness of his style:
On Calvary together
Two flames were seen to shine;
A flame of love for sinners,
A flame of wrath Divine:
Their smoke on high ascended,
And hid the stars of light;--
Between the two flames, dying,
Was Jesus--wondrous sight! __________________________________________________________________
The author of the next verse was the Rev. David Davies, Ebenezer, Swansea:
Golgotha! the greatest battle
Ever fought was on its height;
There the Lamb without a weapon
Crushed the dragons in His might:
There He thirsted, there He languished,
Overcoming hell's despite;
Yet within His heart a fountain
That can wash the Ethiop white. __________________________________________________________________
Anonymous are the two following verses, given as examples of the poetry of quaint conceits--after the manner much affected by such writers as Herrick, and Crashaw, and George Herbert. The first is a conceit on Christ as the Rock:
Come and see! A Rock appears,
Bound by men with swords and spears:
Come and see! Alone and still
Hangs a Rock upon the hill:
In a rock a Rock is laid,
Till three days their course have made:
Spite of stone and soldiery,
From the rock a Rock breaks free. __________________________________________________________________
The second is a conceit on Christ as the San:
In sight of the sun was stricken
The Sun on Calvary's height;
The Sun made the sun to darken--
Was it not a wondrous sight?
The Sun without sun was buried,
And lay in the silent tomb,
Till the two suns rose together,
When the third day's dawn was come. __________________________________________________________________
Thomas Williams (Bethesda'r Fro)
The author of the next verse is the Rev. Thomas Williams, Bethesda'r Fro, already referred to:
May He who once at midday
Sat down by Jacob's well,
In passing through Samaria--
Now come with us to dwell:
Athirst to save the people
Was Jesus Christ of yore;
Athirst is He in heaven
To save yet many more. __________________________________________________________________
Dr. Phillips (Newaddlwyd)
The name of Dr. PHILLIPS, Neuaddlwyd, can never be separated from the history of religion in Wales during the first half of the present century. He was a pioneer of education--especially in the training of young men for the ministry. It was pre-eminently a labour of love; his influence therefore on his pupils, and through them on the churches, was immense. He was an enthusiast of foreign missions, and had the pleasure of ordaining three young men out of his own Church as missionaries. He was born in the parish of Llanvihangel-ar-Arth, Caermarthenshire, March 29, 1772, and died December 2, 1842. A few single verses of his are very popular--none more so than the one translated thus:
Once again the world shall see
Him who went to Calvary,
Sitting throned in high command,
With the balance in His hand:
All of every time and place
Shall be weighed before His face:
Seek, my soul, the pearl most rare,
That will turn the balance there! __________________________________________________________________
[74]Dr. Phillips (Newaddlwyd)
The River of Death--a favourite picture of every Welsh hymn-writer--is the theme of the next verse:
I must cross a mighty river,
Deep between two worlds it flows;
And the sounding of its waters
Are these many earthly woes:
In its waves in sorest anguish
I shall very soon be found--
Oh! for Christ as my foundation!
Then my feet shall touch the ground. __________________________________________________________________
Titus Lewis
A variation on the same theme is the following:
Seek thou, my soul, in earnest,
The Rock to build upon,
The only place of resting,
The sure foundation-stone:
How sweet within the river
The Rock that will not fail,
When every storm is breaking
This soul of mine so frail.
The author of the latter was the Rev. TITUS LEWIS, a celebrated Baptist minister. He was born at Cilgerran, Pembrokeshire, Feb. 21, 1774, and died at Caermarthen, May 1, 1811. He was a contemporary and co-worker with Christmas Evans, and he spent his brief life in unwearied labours for the pulpit and for native literature. He had very few advantages of early education, and yet he wrote a Political and Religious History of Great Britain, he published a Welsh-English Dictionary, and had most to do with translating Dr. Gill's commentary into Welsh, as well as several other works. __________________________________________________________________
John Roberts (J. R.)
Another variation on the same theme is from the pen of the Rev. JOHN ROBERTS, Conway--a brother of [75]S. R., and better known also by his initials as J. R.:
A weary traveller
Beside the River stood;
His lamp was in his hand,
And shone across the flood:
It brought the other shore in sight,
Where many angels walked in white.
In fear he took his steps
Down to the water's brim;
But through the darkness vast
Clear shone the lamp for him:
And through the surge the angels bright
Can see him coming in its light.
Behold, his great High Priest
Among the shining throng!
And He is coming down
To break the current strong:
The land in safety he hath won,
That needs not any lamp or sun. __________________________________________________________________
[76]Samuel Roberts (S. R.)
S. R. himself is the author of this song--
Afar on the ocean, one dark and cold night,
A little boat sailed without star or moon-light;
The roar of the wind and the rush of the wave
That night even frightened the heart of the brave.
The child of the captain was free from alarm,
All happy and merry he dreaded no harm:--
'In spite of the wild waves what is there to fear?
We are sure to reach home--for my father doth steer.'
Oh, dear child of heaven, what makes thee afraid?
When high seas are raging be thou not dismayed
When wildest and blackest the great depths appear,
Thy life is still safe--for thy Father doth steer.
Rejoicing eternal for thee is at hand;
Thy loved ones are waiting on yonder fair strand:
Thy home is the mansion that shineth so clear,
And Canaan is nearing--thy Father doth steer.
Then spread forth thy sails to the favouring breeze,
The bosom of Jesus will soon give thee ease:
Thine anchor is safe, and thy Captain is here,
Thy boat's in the haven--thy Father doth steer. __________________________________________________________________
To close this chapter of pictures and conceits, we give this spiritual romance in miniature, from the pen of a living writer--Mr. WILLIAM JONES (Ehedydd Ial), Llandegla:
The sky became at noon
As black as very night;
With neither sun nor moon,
Nor any star of light:
And from the cloud stern Justice hurled
Its lightning through the darkened world.
With guilty fears beset,
My conscience cried dismayed;
And ne'er shall I forget
That bitter cry for aid:
In agony I turned and fled,
Not knowing where to hide my head.
I reached the Law's strait door,
Hoping to find release;
I pleaded, faint and sore,
For refuge and for peace:
'Flee for thy life,' she said, 'from me,
To the Son of Man on Calvary!'
Fleeing, I tried to flee,
Amid the thunders' roar;
The lightning followed me,
Like some red host of war:
I came at last to Calvary--
There Jesus only could I see.
What though my flesh be grass,
And all my bones but clay,
I'll sing where lightnings pass--
'God took my sins away!'
The Rock of Ages--there I've stood:
Quenched are the lightnings in His blood! __________________________________________________________________