1. As the storm retreating, (Peace after storm)
Dated 1888.
2. By law from Sinai’s clouded steep, (Sabbath rest)
3. God be with thee! Gently o’er thee (Inward Peace)
Dated 1889.
4. Hast thou heard it, O my brother? (The Challenge of Life)
Dated 1902.
5. In the lonely midnight (Christmas)
6. Lord, who dost the voices bless
Written for the ordination of Rev. Benjamin R. Bulkeley at Concord, Massachusetts, 1882.
7. My country, to thy shore, (Hymn for the Nation)
Dated 1912.
8. Thou rulest, Lord, the lights on high (Universal Praise)
Dated 1911.
9. To hold thy glory, Lord of all, (Dedication of a Church)
Dated 1911.
10. When the world around us throws, (Lent)
Dated 1899.
11. When thy heart, with joy o’erflowing (Brotherhood)
Dated 1891.
Three other hymns by him, included in Amore Dei, have not come into general use, viz.:
12. Glory be to God on high, (Universal Worship)
Dated 1889.
13. I long did roam afar from home,
Dated 1889.
14. My heart of dust was made,
Of the above all from nos. 1 to 11 are included in the New Hymn and Tune Book, 1914, and, except no. 9, in Hymns of the Spirit, 1937, which also includes no. 12. Nos. 5, 11 and 12 are in the Pilgrim Hymnal, 1934.
J. 1728 H.W.F.
Willis, Love Maria (Whitcomb), Hancock, New Hampshire, June 9, 1824—November 26, 1908, Elmira, New York. She married Frederick L. E. Willis, M.D., of Boston, in 1858. She was for some years one of the editors of The Banner of Light, Boston, and of Tiffany’s Monthly Magazine, and was a frequent contributor to these and other periodicals. She wrote a number of hymns, one of which, beginning,
Father, hear the Prayer I offer (Aspiration)
was published in Tiffany’s Monthly in 1859. In Longfellow and Johnson’s Hymns of the Spirit, 1864, it was considerably rewritten, with the opening line changed to read,
Father, hear the prayer we offer,
and was cited as “Anon.” This 1864 text came into considerable use in various collections in England, and was included in The English Hymnal as late as 1906. It has also had wide use in America and will be found in almost all Unitarian hymn books since 1864, most recently in the New Hymn and Tune Book, 1914, and in Hymns of the Spirit, 1937.