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I’ve often told my students that I do not find a word in Middle English that will do for our word “lonely,” and my guess is that the sad state to which it refers didn’t really exist. If you think about it, unless you’re Dante in the dark woods, and that’s presented as an unusual and temporary condition, every time we see people in the literature of the High Middle Ages, they’re either in a boisterous group walking along to Canterbury, or they’re celebrating New Years’ Day at the court of King Arthur when a big Green Knight appears, eager to play a challenge-game, or they’re following Piers the Plowman who apportions fair work for everybody. It’s in the late Middle Ages, and mostly in the Renaissance that you get the literary loners, like Hamlet, brooding. But it’s also in the Renaissance that piety turns inward, with a strong emphasis on the state of your soul; and this is true of both Protestants and Catholics. So for the first time, we not only get hymns that are interior meditations; we come to expect that that’s what most hymns will be. And that’s true of our beautiful and noble Hymn of the Week, “Be Still, My Soul,” almost always sung to the stately melody Finlandia, by the patriotic Finnish composer, Jean Sibelius.
“Be Still, My Soul” was originally a German hymn, by one Katharina von Schlegel, “Stille, mein Wille,” which means, “Be still, my will.” The idea was that our will gets in the way of true piety. We want, we want, we want! But one of the great 19th century translators of German hymns, Jane Borthwick, turned that “will” to “soul,” while changing the meter of the original, which was a dactylic hippity-hippity-hippity-hippy, hippity-hippity-hippity-hop. That works better in German than in English. Miss Borthwick made the lines iambic pentameter, and the effect, as I hope you will see, is stately, measured, thoughtful. And that’s in harmony with the meaning of the poem. Some days, as I’m sure you’ve all experienced, everything seems to conspire to disturb your peace. We’re not talking about mere annoyances here. A loved one is seriously ill. A friend has turned against you. Your business has taken a hit. You’ve just learned that you have a sickness that will be with you the rest of your life. It’s then that the verse from the Psalms may come to mind, the verse that inspired the hymn: “Be still, and know that I am God.”
“All things,” says Saint Paul, “work together for good to them that love God.” We aren’t the authors of our lives, because we aren’t the authors of the universe. That doesn’t mean that we do nothing. “Be still, my soul,” we say, meaning that we should not fret, and it’s that peaceful confidence that enables us to act most wisely and effectually. God is the one who provides: meaning, literally, that he sees ahead, for all the future is present to him. He has guided the past; why should we doubt that he shall guide the things to come? The author recalls that scene on the Sea of Galilee, when the disciples were in a boat and they got caught in a terrific storm, such as often strikes that great lake, and while they were fretting and fearing that they would all be lost, Jesus was sleeping. When they woke him up, he asked them where their faith was, and he commanded the wind and the waves to be still. If he can do that with the Sea of Galilee, he can settle also the weather of our hearts. Wind and waves? Death itself cannot daunt him. It is but a handful of sand, a breeze in the grass, a passing cloud that hardly casts a shadow. Praise God now, says the poet; begin it here on earth, and be confident that you will hear those words you long to hear: “Well done, good and faithful servant!”
Be still, my soul: the Lord is on thy side. Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain. Leave to thy God to order and provide; In every change, He faithful will remain. Be still, my soul: thy best, thy heavenly Friend Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end. Be still, my soul: thy God doth undertake To guide the future, as He has the past. Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake; All now mysterious shall be bright at last. Be still, my soul: the waves and winds still know His voice Who ruled them while He dwelt below. Be still, my soul: when dearest friends depart, And all is darkened in the vale of tears, Then shalt thou better know His love, His heart, Who comes to soothe thy sorrow and thy fears. Be still, my soul: thy Jesus can repay From His own fullness all He takes away. Be still, my soul: the hour is hastening on When we shall be forever with the Lord, When disappointment, grief, and fear are gone, Sorrow forgot, love’s purest joys restored. Be still, my soul: when change and tears are past All safe and blessed we shall meet at last. Be still, my soul: begin the song of praise On earth, believing, to Thy Lord on high; Acknowledge Him in all thy words and ways, So shall He view thee with a well-pleased eye. Be still, my soul: the Sun of life divine Through passing clouds shall but more brightly shine.
Word & Song by Anthony Esolen is an online magazine devoted to reclaiming the good, the beautiful, and the true. We publish six essays each week, on words, classic hymns, poems, films, and popular songs, as well a weekly podcast for paid subscribers, alternately Poetry Aloud or Anthony Esolen Speaks. Paid subscribers also receive audio-enhanced posts and on-demand access to our full archive, and may add their comments to our posts and discussions. To support this project, please join us as a free or paid subscriber. We value all of our subscribers, and we thank you for reading Word and Song!
This is going to sound odd but I don't always open my Word and Song post because I know it will touch me too much:) I'm looking forward to some marathon days when I just read / listen to Word and Song and catch up when I'm feeling a little less whatever it is people feel when they are walking a beloved one to the door of the veil and then walk back alone. I'm very grateful the angel on my shoulder prompted me to open today as this hymn is exactly what I needed to hear. Blessings to you both:)
Another song by the 2nd Chapter of Acts, 'The Easter Song' I actually like better performed by Keith Green (deceased)--even though he was rabidly anti-Catholic, he did some great music.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mG8Tko3BzHk