Oliver Wendell Holmes

Oliver Wendell Holmes
www.hymntime.com/tch
Short Name: Oliver Wendell Holmes
Full Name: Holmes, Oliver Wendell, 1809-1894
Birth Year: 1809
Death Year: 1894

Holmes, Oliver Wendell, M.D, LL.D., son of the Rev. Abiel Holmes, D.D. of Cambridge, U.S.A., was born at Cambridge, Aug. 29, 1809, and educated at Harvard, where he graduated in 1829. After practising for some time in Boston, he was elected in 1847 to the chair of Anatomy, in Harvard. His writings in prose and verse are well known and widely circulated. They excel in humour and pathos. Although not strictly speaking a hymnwriter, a few of his hymns are in extensive use, and include:—
1. Father of mercies, heavenly Friend. Prayer during war.
2. Lord of all being, throned afar. God's Omnipresence. This is a hymn of great merit. It is dated 1848.
3. 0 Lord of hosts, Almighty King. Soldiers’ Hymn. Dated 1861.
4. 0 Love divine that stoop'st to share. Trust. 1859.
Of these Nos. 2 and 4 are in his Professor at the Breakfast Table, and are in common use in Great Britain, in Martineau's Hymns, 1873, and others. In 1886 the D.C.L. degree was conferred upon Professor Holmes by the University of Oxford. He was a member of the Unitarian body. He died Oct 7, 1894. [Rev. F. M. Bird, M.A.]

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

==================

Holmes, O. W. , p. 530, i. His Songs in Many Keys was published in 1861, his Poems, 1869, and the Cambridge edition of his Complete Poetical Works, 1895. Additional hymns of his have come into common use of late, including:—
1. Land where the banners wave last in the sun. [American National Hymn.] Appeared in his Songs in Many Keys, 1861 (7th ed. 1864, p. 289) as "Freedom, our Queen."
2. Lord, Thou hast led us as of old. [Promised Unity.] In his Before the Curfew and other Poems, chiefly occasional, Boston, 1888, as "An hymn set forth to bo sung by the Great Assembly at Newtown [Mass.]." In the Complete Poetical Works it is dated 1886. The hymn "Soon shall the slumbering morn awake," in Hymns for Church and Home, Boston, 1895, is composed of stanzas v.-vii.
3. Our Father, while our hearts unlearn The creeds that wrong Thy name. [Fruits of the Spirit.] Written for the 25th Anniversary Reorganization of the Poston Young Men's Christian Union, May 31, 1893. In his Complete Poetical Works, 1895, p. 298, Horder's Worship Song, 1905, and other collections.
4. Thou gracious [God] Power Whose mercy lends. [Reunion.] "Written for the annual meeting of the famous class '29, Harvard University, in 1869. ln the Methodist Hymn Book, 1904, it begins "Thou gracious God, Whose mercy lends." [Rev. L. F. Benson, D.D.]

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, New Supplement (1907)


Texts by Oliver Wendell Holmes (29)AsAuthority LanguagesInstancessort descending
O Lord, I am not worthyOliver Wendel Holmes (Author)English1
A triple health to friendship, science, artOliver Wendell Holmes (Author)2
Angel of love, for every griefOliver Wendell Holmes (Author)English2
Behold not him we knewOliver Wendell Holmes (Author)2
Father of all life, near and farOliver Wendell Holmes (Author)2
Lord of all life, below, aboveOliver Wendell Holmes (Author)English2
Not in the world of light aloneOliver Wendell Holmes (Author)English2
O say, can you see, by the dawn's early lightOliver Wendell Holmes (Author (v. 5))English2
வேதனை நோவுற்றோர்கெல்லாமே (Vētaṉai nōvuṟṟōrkellāmē)Oliver Wendell Holmes (Author)Tamil2
We trust and fear, we question and believeOliver Wendell Holmes (Author)English2
What flower is this that greetsOliver Wendell Holmes (Author)English2
Who is the Shepherd sent to leadOliver Wendell Holmes (Author)2
Why linger round the sunken wrecksOliver W. Holmes (Author)English2
God bless our fathers' land, Keep her in heart and handOliver Wendell Holmes (Author)English3
Not charity we askOliver Wendell Holmes (Author)English3
Soon shall the slumbering morn awakeOliver Wendell Holmes (Author)3
The waves unbuild the wasting shoreOliver Wendell Holmes (Author)English3
Though scattered far the flock may strayOliver Wendell Holmes (Author)3
This is the ship of pearl, which, poets feignOliver Wendell Holmes (Author)English4
Dio, reĝanta en ĉiel'Oliver Wendell Holmes (Author)5
Father of mercies, heavenly FriendOliver Wendell Holmes (Author)5
Land where the banners wave last in the sunOliver Wendell Holmes (Author)English5
Sun of our life, thy quickening [wakening] rayOliver Wendell Holmes (Author)English15
Our Father, while our hearts unlearnOliver Wendell Holmes (Author)English22
Angel of peace, thou hast wandered too longOliver Wendell Holmes (Author)English31
O Lord of hosts, Almighty KingOliver Wendell Holmes (Author)English50
Thou gracious Power, whose mercy lendsO. W. Holmes (Author)English67
O Love Divine, that stooped to shareOliver Wendell Holmes (Author)English250
Lord of all being; throned afarOliver Wendell Holmes, 1809-1894 (Author)English398

See also...

Data Sources

Suggestions or corrections? Contact us