143. Art thou weary, heavy laden
Stephen the Sabaite, 725-94
Tr. John M. Neale, 1818-66
A restful, appealing lyric on the theme, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” Matt. 11:28.
It is one of the few dialog hymns. [Others are “Watchman, tell us of the night” ([66]), and “Who is He in yonder stall?” ([96])]. It may be sung antiphonally, the choir singing the questions and the congregation the answers.
Neale published this hymn in his Hymns of the Eastern Church, 1862, as a translation of a Greek hymn by Stephen the Sabaite. It is a paraphrase, however, rather than a translation.
For comments on John Neale see [Hymn 67].
Hymnody in the Eastern Church reached its height in the 8th century. Stephen was a nephew of John of Damascus. At the age of 10 he was placed by his uncle in the monastery of Saint Sabas, located on a lofty cliff overhanging the ravine of the Kidron, between Jerusalem and the Dead Sea. Here he lived for more than half a century, known as Stephen the Sabaite. The monastery, many of the cells cut out of solid rock, still stands. The monks have been subjected to persecution, at various times, at the hands of Persians, Moslems, and Bedouin Arabs, and the monastery looks much like a fortress.
MUSIC. STEPHANOS was composed for this hymn by Henry W. Baker, and was first published in the appendix of the original edition of Hymns Ancient and Modern, 1868. The tune was harmonized by W. H. Monk (See [40]).
Henry Williams Baker, 1821-77, was educated at Cambridge, ordained in 1844, and served as vicar of Monkland, Herefordshire, from 1851 till his death in 1877. He was editor-in-chief of the epoch-making book, Hymns Ancient and Modern, to which he contributed several of his own hymns and tunes. As a High Churchman, he held to the doctrine of the celibacy of the clergy and was never married.