Word & Song by Anthony Esolen

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"Bridge over Troubled Water"
Paul Simon can be described as a poet with a head full of music. He was heavily influenced by the ballads of his early youth and the folk music revival…
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Debra Esolen
25
Prayer for My Daughter
The poet is awake late at night overlooking the sea, as a storm rages outside. It’s not that he fears for himself, but his little child, a baby girl…
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Anthony Esolen
10
8:29
What Wondrous Love Is This?
When I arrived in Chapel Hill, NC, as a new graduate student in English, I had never heard a single Appalachian hymn, nor was I aware that there were…
10
"Mama Tried"
What better place to look for "justice" than in a good old-fashioned Country & Western song?  Give a listen!
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Debra Esolen
22
My New Year's Resolution
Anthony Esolen Speaks / Read or listen now.
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Anthony Esolen
14
9:21
Leader of the Band
Dan Fogelberg's Tribute to His Father
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Debra Esolen
9
"Men of Harlech"
Songs such as this have fallen out of favor in our times. But they teach us to meet with courage whatever battles we are called upon to fight.
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Debra Esolen
14
"In the Bleak Midwinter"
Jesus says we must become as little children to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, and if a hymn like this one doesn’t help us along that road, I don’t know…
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Anthony Esolen
12
Be Still My Soul
When piety turns inward, the resulting hymnody shows a strong emphasis on interior meditations such as we find in our noble Hymn of the Week, “Be Still…
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Anthony Esolen
18
Of the Father's Love Begotten
Those ancient Christian hymns, bless them, end with no end.  Their words of glory to the Trinity return to the beginning, evermore and evermore.
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Anthony Esolen
17
Matins
George Herbert’s “Matins” is really a kind of dramatic poem, because the poet isn’t the only one awake at dawning. God has anticipated him!
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Anthony Esolen
3
5:05
Revisiting: "My Country, 'Tis of Thee"
"America," written in 1831 by seminarian, Samuel Francis Smith, was intended to be sung as a hymn, for that is what the song is.
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Anthony Esolen
1
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