Various Denominations' Attitudes toward Hymns
- High versus Low Church
- The Plymouth Brethren
- The Disappearance of Hell from Revival Hymns in the 1870s
- Luther and the Influence of Hymns translated from the German
- Latin Hymns and their relation to specific denominations
The Hymn as a Literary Form
- Introduction: “The Victorian Hymn” by J. R. Watson
- Rhetoric and Structure
- Relations to Secular Poetry
- Sentimentality in Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Hymns
- The Relation of Hymns to Music
Political and Social Contexts
- The Importance of Hymns
- Gender Matters: Women Authors and Translators
- Empire, Class, and Society in Later Victorian Hymns
- Sales and circulation
Authors
[See also authors of individual hymns listed below.]
- Sarah Flower Adams
- Robert Bridges
- G. K. Chesterton
- William Croft
- F. W. Faber
- Dora Greenwell
- Frances Ridley Havergal
- Reginald Heber, Bishop of Calcutta
- Scott Holland
- Cecil Frances Humphreys (later Alexander)
- Thomas Toke Lynch
- Edward Hayes Plumptre
- Anna Laetitia Waring
- Walter Chalmers Smith (1824-1908)
- Isaac Watts (1674-1748)
- Charles Wesley (1707-88)
- William Whiting (1825-1878)
- Isaac Williams
Individual Hymns
- Anonymous, "Jerusalem, my happy home" (commentary)
- Anonymous, "Lord! may the inward grace abound" (commentary)
- William Cowper, "Old Testament Gospel" (commentary)
- Joseph Griggs, "Behold! a Stranger's at the door!" (commentary)
- Reginald Heber, “From Greenland's Icy Mountains” (text and commentary)
- Reginald Heber, “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty.”
- Reginald Heber, “Brightest and best of the sons of the morning” (text)
- Reginald Heber, “Lord of mercy and of might” (text)
- Julia Ward Howe, Battle Hymn of the Republic" (commentary)
- William Montague Toplady, "Rock of Ages; other mentions and Fairbairn's criticism.
- William Montague Toplady, "Deathless principle, arise! (second example)
- John Newton, Olney Hymns (commentary)
- Walter Chalmers Smith, "Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise (commentary)
- Isaac Watts, "Captain and Conqueror" (commentary)
- Isaac Watts, "Go, worship at Immanuel's feet" (commentary)
- Isaac Watts, "There is a land of pure delight" (commentary)
- William Whiting, "Eternal Father, Strong to Save" (commentary)
- William Williams, "Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah!" (commentary)
Bibliography: E-Texts and Resources
The Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology. Ed. J.R. Watson and Emma Hornby. Web. 6 June 2020.
Heber, Reginald. The Poetical Works. Boston: Little, Brown, 1853. Internet Archive, from a copy in the University of Michigan. Web. 6 June 2020.
Hymns Ancient & Modern, New Standard. Full Music Edition including Hymn Guide to the Three Year Lectionary, CLC 2000.
Wesley, John. A Collection of Hymns, for the Use of the People Called Methodists. London: John Mason, 1779. Internet Archive, from a copy in Robarts Library, University of Toronto. Web. 10 August 2025.
Bibliography: Secondary Materials
Brawley, Benjamin. History of the English hymn. New York: Abingdon Press, c.1932.
Hutchings, Arthur. "J. B. Dykes: Amateur or Professional?" Bulletin of the Hymn Society 138, 8.12 (1977): 209-15.
Luff, Alan. Welsh Hymns and Their Tunes: Their Background and Place in Welsh History and Culture. London: Stainer & Bell, 1990.
Miles, Alfred H., ed. The Poets and the Poetry of the Century. Vol. X: Sacred Moral, and Religious Verse. London: Hutchinson, 1898. 505-10. Google Books. Free ebook.
Morgan, Robert J. Near to the Heart of God: Meditations on 366 Best-Loved Hymns. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Revell, 2010.
Tamke, Susan S. Make a Joyful Noise unto the Lord. Athens, Ohio, 1978.
Watson, J.R. The English hymn: a critical and historical study. Oxford: Clarendon Press; New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 1997.
Last modified 10 August 2025