English Congregational Hymns in the Eighteenth Century - Paperback

by Madeleine Forrell Marshall (Author), Janet M. Todd (Author)

Historians of the English congregational hymn, focusing on its literary or theological aspects, have usually found the genre out of step with the rationalist era that produced it. This book takes a more balanced approach to the work of four writers and concludes that only eighteenth- century Britain, with its understanding of public verse, common truth, and the utility of poetry, could have invented the English hymn as we know it. The early hymns sought to inspire, teach, stir, and entertain co

Author Biography

Madeleine F. Marshall is associate professor of English at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez.

Janet Todd is associate professor of English at Rutgers University.