from his Bitter Sweet, 1858, was included in the Unitarian Hymn and Tune Book for Church and Home, Boston, 1868.
J. 529 H.W.F.
Holmes, Rev. John Haynes, D.D.; Litt. D.; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, November 29, 1879—still living. He graduated from Harvard, summa cum laude in 1902, and from the Harvard Divinity School in 1904. He received the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity from the Jewish Institute of Religion in 1930, from St. Lawrence University in 1931, and from Meadville Theological School in 1945; Doctor of Letters from Benares Hindu University, India, in 1947, and Doctor of Humanities from Rollins College, Florida, in 1951. He was installed as minister of the Third Religious Society (Unitarian), Dorchester, Massachusetts in 1904, and went to New York in 1907 as associate and successor to [Rev. Robert Collyer], q.v., minister of the Second Congregational Unitarian Society, (Church of the Messiah, now called the Community Church of New York) of which he became pastor emeritus in 1949. He withdrew from the Unitarian fellowship in 1919, not on theological grounds but because he preferred a position independent of any denominational label. Throughout his career in New York he has been an outspoken leader in many causes for social betterment, and a prolific author in prose and verse who has published a large number of books, religious and biographical, and of printed sermons. No other American author of his period has written so many fine hymns which have been widely used in this country, in England, and in Japan.
1. Accept, O Lord, this precious gift
8.6.8.6. 3 stas.
Written for dedication on October 31, 1943, of Chapel in the rebuilt Community Church.
2. Accept, O Lord, this temple,
7.6.7.6.7.6. 3 stas.
Written on the occasion of the rededication of the Community Church, December 31, 1922.
3. All hail the pageant of the years,
8.6.8.6.8.8. 5 stas. Undated
Included in Hymns of the Spirit, 1937.
4. Almighty God, beneath whose eye
C.M.D. 4 stas.
An early hymn written for Labor Day Sunday in 1910.
5. Almighty God, to whom the dark
C.M.D. 3 stas. 8 l.
A Vesper hymn written in 1906.
6. America triumphant! Brave land of pioneers.
7.6.7.6.D. 5 stas.
Written during World War I, in Hymns of the Spirit, 1937.
7. Behold, O God! our holy house,
C.M. 5 stas. September, 1919
Written on the occasion of the burning of the Community Church, September 11, 1919.
8. Be with us, Father, in this place.
Dated 1945.
9. Bless, thou, O God, this fellowship
8.6.8.6.D. 3 stas.
Written for the Installation of Rev. Dana McLean Greeley, B.D., D.D. as President of the American Unitarian Association on October 7, 1958.
10. Bright visions glow across the sky,
8.6.8.6.8.6.8.6. 3 stas.
Written by Mr. Holmes in 1947 on the occasion of his 40th anniversary as Minister of the Community Church.
11. God of the nations, near and far.
C.M. 6 stas.
Written before this country entered World War I, for a hymn contest sponsored by the Federal Council of Churches of Christ in America, for use on Peace Sunday. This hymn was widely sung in churches of many denominations.
Included in New Hymn and Tune Book, 1914, and in Hymns of the Spirit, 1937, with alteration in 2nd sta.
12. God save the people’s cause.
6.6.4.6.6.6.4. 3 stas.
Written in 1939.
13. Great Spirit of the speeding spheres,
L.M. 6 stas.
Written in 1932 on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of Mr. Holmes as minister of the Community Church.
14. Joy to our hearts! Again we meet!
8.6.8.8.6.6.6.4. 3 stas. 8 l.
A Hymn of reunion, 1920, set to the tune of Antioch.
15. O blessed isle of quiet,
7.6.8.6.D. 3 stas.
Written at the Isles of Shoals in the summer of 1930, and set to an original tune by Robert B. Buxton.
16. O Father, Thou who givest all
L.M. 4 stas.
Written for The Beacon Song and Service Book, Beacon, 1908; included in New Hymn and Tune Book, 1914, and Hymns of the Spirit, 1937.
17. O God of field and city,
7.6.7.6.7.6.7.6. 3 stas. Prompted, in 1917, by the darkly unfolding experiences of World War I.
18. O God of light and darkness,
7.6.7.6.D. 3 stas. 8 l. Undated.
19. O God, whose law from age to age
8.6.8.6.D. 4 stas. 1910.
20. O God, whose love is over all,
8.6.8.6.D. 3 stas. 1909.
21. O God, whose smile is in the sky
8.6.8.6.D. 4 stas.
Written in 1907 for the Isles of Shoals Hymn Book, 1908, in 4 stas., C.M.D. Included in the New Hymn and Tune Book, 1914, in 5 stas. of 4 l. with revisions approved by the author, and in Hymns of the Spirit, 1937.
22. Old Jubal twanged the bow-string
7.6.7.6.D. 3 stas.
Written for the 25th anniversary of Clifford Demarest as organist of the Community Church, May 10, 1936, based on Genesis 4.21. “Jubal,—father of all such as handle the harp and the pipe.” An interesting tour de force on the rise of music in praise of God.
23. Onward still and upward
6.5.6.5.D. 3 stas.
Written in 1950, and dedicated to the American Unitarian Association in celebration of the 125th anniversary (1825-1950) of its founding.
24. O Thou who in chaotic night,
8.8.8.8.8.8. 4 stas.
Written in war time, 1918.
25. O Thou, whose presence moved before
C.M.D. 6 stas.
Written for use on the 10th anniversary of his installation as Minister of the Community Church, February 4, 1917.
26. O’er continent and ocean
7.6.8.6.D. 3 stas.
Written for a “Service of Commemoration of a Century of British American Peace,” held in the Church of the Messiah, Montreal, Canada, at a meeting of Unitarian General Conference on September 25, 1917. In Hymns of the Spirit, 1937.
27. Show us thy way, O God!
6.6.8.6. 4 stas.
Printed in The Christian Century in 1936, included in Hymns of the Spirit, 1937, with a correction by the author.
28. The Bethlehem stars are dim tonight
8.6.8.6.D. 3 stas. Dated 1925
29. The voice of God is calling
7.6.7.6.D. 4 stas.
Written in September, 1913 for the Young People’s Religious Union of Boston. In New Hymn and Tune Book, 1914. In Hymns of the Spirit, 1937; widely used in the United States, England, translated into German, Japanese and Spanish.
30. Thou God of all, whose presence dwells
8.8.8.8. 4 stas.
Written some time after World War I. Intended as a protest against nationalistic theism which induced both belligerent nations to claim a monopoly of God.
31. Thou God of all, whose Spirit moves
8.6.8.6.D 3 stas.
Printed in The Christian Century, May 29, 1940 and in The Christian Register, August, 1940.
32. Thy voice, O God, in every age
8.6.8.6.D. 3 stas.
Written for the Installation of Rev. Donald Harrington at the Community Church of New York on November 19, 1944.
33. To earth’s remote horizons
7.6.7.6.D. 4 stas.
Written in 1949 and first sung on November 27th of that year at a special service in commemoration of the retirement of Mr. Holmes from the active ministry.
34. To Thee, O God, be homage
7.6.7.6.D. 3 stas. 1945.
35. When darkness, brooding o’er the deep
8.6.8.6.D. 4 stas.
Written in 1925 on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Community Church of New York.
36. Why trust we not our God?
6.6.8.6. 5 stas.
Of the hymns listed above, Nos. 3, 6, 11, 18, 20, 23 and 29 have had the most widespread use.
H.W.F. in collaboration with J.H.H.
Holmes, Oliver Wendell, M.D., LL.D., Cambridge, Massachusetts, August 29, 1809—October 7, 1894, Boston, Massachusetts. He graduated from Harvard College in the famous Class of 1829, studied medicine and became a practitioner in Boston, and was appointed Professor of Anatomy in the Harvard Medical School in 1847. Although distinguished as a physician his fame is that of a man of letters gifted with a sense of humor which made him one of the wittiest men of his time. Besides important medical treatises he wrote essays, novels, biographical sketches, and poetry which brought him a great reputation in this country and in Great Britain. Much of his poetry is occasional verse, which he was often called upon to write, such as his “International Ode” to be sung to the tune “America” (“God Save the Queen”) on the occasion of the visit of the Prince of Wales in 1860. Oxford University gave him the honorary degree of D.C.L. in 1886. He was a member of Kings’ Chapel, (Unitarian) Boston, and two of his poems are about that church. He contributed The Autocrat at the Breakfast Table to the opening issues of The Atlantic Monthly, 1857-58, published The Professor at the Breakfast Table in 1859, The Poet at the Breakfast Table in 1872. He wrote Elsie Venner, 1861, and two other novels. His poetry was published in Songs in Many Keys, 1861; Humorous Poems, 1865; Before the Curfew, 1888; and in his Complete Poetical Works, in 1895.
Although he made a greater contribution to American hymnody than did any other of the “New England poets” of his era, except Bryant and Whittier, his hymns were incidental literary by-products, for he was not primarily a hymn writer. They include:
1. Angel of peace, thou hast tarried too long
Written in 1869.
2. Father of mercies, heavenly Friend,
A prayer in time of war. Undated but between 1861 and 1865.
3. Lead where the banners wave last to the sea,
Written as an American national anthem. It appeared in his Songs in Many Keys, 1861, entitled “Freedom, our Queen.”
4. Lord of all being, throned afar, (God’s Omnipotence)
Included in The Autocrat at the Breakfast Table, 1848, under the title of “A Sun-day Hymn.” This is his finest hymn and has had widespread use in many collections.
5. O Lord of hosts, Almighty King,
Entitled “Army Hymn,” and published in The Soldier’s Companion, a hand-book of hymns and scripture readings issued in the fall of 1861, by the American Unitarian Association, for use by soldiers in the Union Army. It is a fine hymn, but with several lines directly referring to the immediate situation which make it unsuitable for present use and which cannot be altered or dropped without mutilating the hymn. In the same collection he wrote an “Additional Verse” appended to “The Star-Spangled Banner,” beginning
When our land is illumined with Liberty’s smile,
6. O Love Divine, that stooped to share,
Written in 1859, a hymn of trust in time of doubt and sorrow.
7. Our Father, while our hearts unlearn,
The creeds that wrong thy name,
Written for the 25th Anniversary of the Boston Young Men’s Christian Union, May 31, 1893.
8. Thou gracious Power whose mercy lends,
Written in 1869 for the 40th anniversary meeting of the Harvard Class of 1829. In the Methodist Hymn Book, 1904, altered to read
Thou gracious God, etc.