Short Name: | Cecil Frances Alexander |
Full Name: | Alexander, Cecil Frances, 1818-1895 |
Birth Year: | 1818 |
Death Year: | 1895 |
As a small girl, Cecil Frances Humphries (b. Redcross, County Wicklow, Ireland, 1818; Londonderry, Ireland, 1895) wrote poetry in her school's journal. In 1850 she married Rev. William Alexander, who later became the Anglican primate (chief bishop) of Ireland. She showed her concern for disadvantaged people by traveling many miles each day to visit the sick and the poor, providing food, warm clothes, and medical supplies. She and her sister also founded a school for the deaf. Alexander was strongly influenced by the Oxford Movement and by John Keble's Christian Year. Her first book of poetry, Verses for Seasons, was a "Christian Year" for children. She wrote hymns based on the Apostles' Creed, baptism, the Lord's Supper, the Ten Commandments, and prayer, writing in simple language for children. Her more than four hundred hymn texts were published in Verses from the Holy Scripture (1846), Hymns for Little Children (1848), and Hymns Descriptive and Devotional ( 1858).
Bert Polman
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Alexander, Cecil Frances, née Humphreys, second daughter of the late Major John Humphreys, Miltown House, co. Tyrone, Ireland, b. 1823, and married in 1850 to the Rt. Rev. W. Alexander, D.D., Bishop of Derry and Raphoe. Mrs. Alexander's hymns and poems number nearly 400. They are mostly for children, and were published in her Verses for Holy Seasons, with Preface by Dr. Hook, 1846; Poems on Subjects in the Old Testament, pt. i. 1854, pt. ii. 1857; Narrative Hymns for Village Schools, 1853; Hymns for Little Children, 1848; Hymns Descriptive and Devotional, 1858; The Legend of the Golden Prayers 1859; Moral Songs, N.B.; The Lord of the Forest and his Vassals, an Allegory, &c.; or contributed to the Lyra Anglicana, the S.P.C.K. Psalms and Hymns, Hymns Ancient & Modern, and other collections. Some of the narrative hymns are rather heavy, and not a few of the descriptive are dull, but a large number remain which have won their way to the hearts of the young, and found a home there. Such hymns as "In Nazareth in olden time," "All things bright and beautiful," "Once in Royal David's city," "There is a green hill far away," "Jesus calls us o'er the tumult," "The roseate hues of early dawn," and others that might be named, are deservedly popular and are in most extensive use. Mrs. Alexander has also written hymns of a more elaborate character; but it is as a writer for children that she has excelled.
- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)
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Alexander, Cecil F., née Humphreys, p. 38, ii. Additional hymns to those already noted in this Dictionary are in common use:—
1. Christ has ascended up again. (1853.) Ascension.
2. His are the thousand sparkling rills. (1875.) Seven Words on the Cross (Fifth Word).
3. How good is the Almighty God. (1S48.) God, the Father.
4. In [a] the rich man's garden. (1853.) Easter Eve.
5. It was early in the morning. (1853.) Easter Day.
6. So be it, Lord; the prayers are prayed. (1848.) Trust in God.
7. Saw you never in the twilight? (1853.) Epiphany.
8. Still bright and blue doth Jordan flow. (1853.) Baptism of Our Lord.
9. The angels stand around Thy throne. (1848.) Submission to the Will of God.
10. The saints of God are holy men. (1848.) Communion of Saints.
11. There is one Way and only one. (1875.) SS. Philip and James.
12. Up in heaven, up in heaven. (1848.) Ascension.
13. We are little Christian children. (1848.) Holy Trinity.
14. We were washed in holy water. (1848.) Holy Baptism.
15. When of old the Jewish mothers. (1853.) Christ's Invitation to Children.
16. Within the Churchyard side by side. (1848.) Burial.
Of the above hymns those dated 1848 are from Mrs. Alexander's Hymns for Little Children; those dated 1853, from Narrative Hymns, and those dated 1875 from the 1875 edition of Hymns Ancient & Modern.
Several new hymns by Mrs. Alexander are included in the 1891 Draft Appendix to the Irish Church Hymnal.
--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, Appendix, Part II (1907)
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Alexander, Cecil F. , p. 38, ii. Mrs. Alexander died at Londonderry, Oct. 12, 1895. A number of her later hymns are in her Poems, 1896, which were edited by Archbishop Alexander.
--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, New Supplement (1907)
See also in:
Texts by Cecil Frances Alexander (134)![]() | As | Authority Languages | Instances |
---|---|---|---|
لا تفعل الإثم ولا تنطق بقول غضب | Cecil F. Alexander (Author) | Arabic | 1 |
പട്ടണ-വാതിലപ്പുറം (Paṭṭaṇa-vātilappuṟaṁ) | Cecil F. Alexander (Author) | Malayalam | 2 |
قد بدا في بيت لحم | Cecil F. Alexander (Author) | Arabic | 1 |
يسوع نادى حينما | Cecil F. Alexander (Author) | Arabic | 1 |
A cada flor que se abre | Cecil Frances Alexander (Author) | Spanish | 2 |
A gentle and a holy child | Cecil F. Alexander (Author) | English | 4 |
Adda napintas a turod | Cecil Frances Alexander (Author) | Tagalog | 2 |
All creatures bright and beautiful | Cecil F. Alexander (Author) | English | 2 |
All things beautiful and fair | Mrs. C. F. Alexander (Author) | English | 2 |
Each little flower that opens | Cecil F. Alexander (Author) | English | 273 |
At Nazareth in olden time | Cecil Frances Alexander (Author) | 4 | |
Auferstanden, auferstanden, Sagt es allen | Cecil Frances Alexander (Author) | German | 2 |
Beyond the wicked [holy] city wall | Cecil F. Alexander (Author) | English | 8 |
ഭംഗിയേറും സൃഷ്ടികൾ (Bhaṅgiyēṟuṁ sr̥ṣṭikaḷ) | Cecil Frances Alexander (Author) | Malayalam | 2 |
Blessed are the pure in heart, They have loved the better part | Mrs. Cecil F. Alexander (Author) | English | 5 |
Blessed were they who, in the days of old | Cecil Frances Alexander (Author) | English | 2 |
Christ be with me, Christ within me | Cecil Frances Alexander (1818-1895) (Version by) | English | 10 |
Christ is kind and gentle | Cecil F. Alexander (Author) | English | 5 |
Christian children must be holy | Cecil F. Alexander (Author) | English | 13 |
Come to our joyous marriage feast | Cecil Frances Alexander (Author) | English | 2 |
Cristo chama nos tumultos | Cecil Frances Humphreys Alexander (Author) | Portuguese | 2 |
Cristo llama del tumulto | Cecil Frances Alexander, 1818-1895 (Author) | Spanish | 3 |
Day by day the little daisy | Cecil Frances Alexander (Author) | English | 2 |
Dear Lord, on this Thy servant's day | Cecil Frances Alexander (Author) | 2 | |
Desde el cielo Cristo llama | Cecil Frances Alexander (Author) | Spanish | 5 |
Çdo lule t’but’ që hapet | Cecil Frances Alexander (Author) | Albanian | 2 |
Do no sinful action | C. F. Alexander (Author) | English | 57 |
Each day we live the Christian life | Cecil Frances Alexander (Author) | English | 2 |
En Belén hubo un establo | Cecil Frances Alexander (Author) | Spanish | 2 |
En el Calvario, con dolor | Cecil Alexander (Author) | Spanish | 2 |
En la reĝa Betlehemo | Cecil Frances Alexander (Author) | Esperanto | 2 |
EN lando malproksime for | Cecil Frances Alexander (Author) | 6 | |
Es steht ein' Hügel weit von hier | Cecil F. Alexander (Author) | German | 1 |
Every morning the red sun | Mrs. Cecil F. Alexander (1830-1895) (Author) | English | 53 |
For all Thy saints, a noble throng | Cecil Francis Alexander, 1818-1895 (Author) | English | 8 |
Forgive them, O my Father | Cecil F. Alexander, 1823-1895 (Author) | English | 26 |
Forsaken once, and thrice denied | Cecil F. Alexander (Author) | English | 9 |
From out the cloud of amber light | Cecil Frances Alexander (Author) | 2 | |
He cometh, on your hallowed board | Cecil Frances Alexander (Author) | 2 | |
He is coming, He is coming, Not as once He came before | Cecil F. Alexander (Author) | English | 38 |
He is risen, He is risen; Tell it out with joyful voice | Cecil F. Alexander (Author) | English | 99 |
He pu'u omao aia ma o | Cecil F. Alexander (Author) | Hawaiian | 3 |
Hea Iesu ia kakou la | Cecil Frances Alexander (Author) | Hawaiian | 3 |
Here, Savior, we would come | Cecil F. Alexander (Author) | English | 1 |
His are the thousand sparkling rills | C. F. Alexander (Author) | English | 21 |
Ho, Wicoḣaŋ ṡica | Mrs. C. F. Alexander, 1823-95 (Author) | Dakota | 2 |
How good is the Almighty God | Cecil F. Alexander (Author) | 2 | |
I bind myself to God today | Cecil F. Alexander (1818-1895) (Alterer) | 5 | |
I bind this day to me for ever | Ho, Wicoḣaŋ ṡica (Translator and Paraphraser) | 2 | |
I Bind unto myself today | Cecil Frances Alexander (Paraphraser) | English | 51 |
I think when I read that sweet story of old (Luke) | Mrs. Jemima Thompson Luke (1813- ) (Author) | English | 2 |
Ich kenne einen stillen Ort | Cecil F. Alexander (Author) | 2 | |
If hasty hand or bitter tongue | Cecil Frances Alexander (Author) | English | 2 |
In the rich man's garden ground | Cecil Frances Alexander (Author) | 3 | |
It was early in the morning of the first day of the week | Cecil F. Alexander (Author) | English | 2 |
ജീവതത്തിൻ ആഴി മീതെ (Jīvatattin āḻi mīte) | Cecil Frances Alexander (Author) | Malayalam | 2 |
Jerusalem, why are thy voices dumb? | Cecil Frances Alexander (Author) | English | 2 |
Jesus, Holy, undefiled, Listen to a little child | Cecil F. Alexander (Author) | English | 2 |
Jesus calls us from the worship | Cecil Frances Alexander (Author) | 2 | |
Jesus calls us, Jesus calls us | Cecil F. Alexander (Author) | 3 | |
Jesus calls us, o'er the tumult | Cecil F. Alexander (Author) | English | 826 |
Jesus came to earth from heaven, Who is God | Cecil Frances Alexander (Author) | 2 | |
Jesus nehesevamaenė | Cecil Frances Alexander (Author) | Cheyenne | 2 |
Las flores y los pájaros Dios sólo pudo hacer | Cecil Frances Alexander (Author) | Spanish | 3 |
Las flores y los pájaros criaturas son de Dios | Cecil Frances Alexander (Author) | Spanish | 3 |
每朶開放的小花 (Měi duǒ kāifàng de xiǎohuā) | Cecil Frances Alexander (Author) | Chinese | 4 |
Maranatha, He is coming, Not as once He came before | Cecil F. Alexander, 1858, abr. (Author) | 3 | |
Najiŋ! najiŋ ce! Iye ḥca | Cecil Frances Alexander (Author) | Dakota | 2 |
Ni Jesus ayabannatay | Cecil F. Alexander (Author) | Tagalog | 2 |
Numa estrebaria rude | Cecil Frances Alexander (Author) | Portuguese | 2 |
O come, dear child, along with me | Cecil Frances Alexander (Author) | 8 | |
O, ever on our earthly path | Cecil F. Alexander (Author) | 3 | |
O for the pearly gates of heaven | Cecil Frances Alexander (Author) | English | 8 |
O happy home where thou art loved the dearest | Mrs. Alexander (Translator) | English | 9 |
O Jesus, bruised and wounded more | Cecil F. Alexander (Author) | English | 20 |
O Lord, the Holy Innocents | Cecil F. Alexander (Author) | English | 15 |
O monte verde ali está | Cecil Frances Humphreys Alexander (Author) | 2 | |
O Son of God, in glory crowned | C. F. Alexander (Author) | English | 10 |
On the dark hill's western side | Cecil Frances Alexander (Author) | 2 | |
Once in Bethlehem of Judah | Cecil Frances Alexander (Author) | English | 16 |
Once in royal David's city Stood a lowly cattle-shed | Mrs. Cecil Frances Alexander (1823- ) (Author) | English | 324 |
Pain and toil are over now | Cecil F. Alexander (Author) | English | 8 |
രാജൻ ദാ-വീദൂരിൽ പണ്ടു (Rājan dā-vīdūril paṇṭu) | Cecil Frances Alexander (Author) | Malayalam | 2 |
Savior, blessed Savior, Listen while we sing | Mrs. C. F. Alexander (Author) | English | 2 |
Savior, to Thy cottage home | Mrs. C. F. Alexander (Author) | 2 | |
Saw ye never in the meadows | Cecil Frances Alexander (Author) | English | 4 |
Saw you never, in the twilight | Mrs. Cecil Frances Alexander (1823- ) (Author) | English | 73 |
So be it, Lord, the prayers are prayed | Cecil Frances Alexander (Author) | 3 | |
Souls in heathen darkness lying | Mrs. Cecil F. Alexander (Author) | English | 53 |
Spirit of God, that moved of old | Cecil F. Alexander (Author) | English | 21 |
Still bright and blue doth Jordan flow | Cecil F. Alexander (Author) | 4 | |
The angels stand round thy throne | Cecil F. Alexander (Author) | English | 5 |
The blind man, in his darkness | Cecil F. Alexander (Author) | English | 6 |
The board is spread with meats divine | Cecil Frances Alexander (Author) | 2 | |
The eternal [golden] gates lift up their heads | Cecil F. Alexander (Author) | English | 122 |
The faithful men of every land | Cecil F. Alexander (Author) | 4 | |
The flower that in the lowly vale | Cecil Frances Alexander (Author) | English | 2 |
The heavenly Father loves the birds | Cecil F. Alexander (Author) | 3 | |
The roseate hues of early dawn | Alexander (Author) | English | 101 |
The saints of God are holy men | Cecil F. Alexander (Author) | 2 | |
The sick man in his chamber | Cecil Frances Alexander (Author) | 2 | |
The Son of God, so high, so great | Cecil Frances Alexander (Author) | English | 9 |
The sunset falls on Isaac's tent | Cecil Frances Alexander (Author) | English | 2 |
The waving fields of yellow corn | Cecil Frances Alexander (Author) | English | 2 |
The wildflowers in their beauty | Cecil Frances Alexander, 1818-95 (Author (vv. 2 alt., 5, and refrain)) | English | 2 |
The wise men to thy cradle throne | Cecil F. Alexander (Author) | 8 | |
There are no little things on earth | Cecil Frances Alexander (Author) | English | 2 |
There is a green hill far away | Cecil F. Alexander (Author) | English | 585 |
There is one way, and only one | Cecil F. Alexander (Author) | English | 9 |
There was a little lowly upper room | Cecil Frances Alexander (Author) | 2 | |
There's many a happy household band | Cecil Frances Alexander (Author) | English | 2 |
Thou Power and Peace, in whom we find | Cecil Frances Alexander (Author) | 10 | |
Through many a far and foreign land | Cecil Frances Alexander (Author) | English | 2 |
Thy Temple is not made with hands | Cecil F. Alexander (Author) | English | 9 |
Un monte hay más allá del mar | Cecil Frances Alexander (Author) | Spanish | 4 |
Una vez en un establo | Cecil Frances Alexander (Author (st. 1-2, 4-6)) | Spanish | 3 |
Unnipi taja s'a etan | Cecil Frances Alexander (Author) | Dakota | 2 |
Up in heaven, up in heaven | Cecil F. Alexander (Author) | English | 12 |
We are but little children weak (Alexander) | Cecil F. Alexander (Author) | English | 52 |
We are little Christian children, we can run, and talk, and play | Cecil Frances Humphreys Alexander (Author) | English | 21 |
We may not know, we cannot tell | Cecil Frances Alexander (Author (attributed to)) | 1 | |
We need thee, Savior, when dear eyes are closing | Cecil F. Alexander (Author) | 3 | |
We see the leaves fall withered from the trees | Cecil Frances Alexander (Author) | English | 2 |
We seek a land of more delight | Cecil Frances Alexander (Author) | English | 2 |
We walk amid a world of beauteous things | Cecil Frances Alexander (Author) | English | 2 |
We were washed in holy water | Cecil F. Alexander (Author) | 4 | |
When Christ came down on earth of old | Cecil F. Alexander (Author) | English | 6 |
When Jesus came to earth of old | Cecil Frances Alexander (Author) | English | 6 |
When of old the Jewish mothers | Cecil F. Alexander (Author) | English | 15 |
When wounded sore the stricken soul | Cecil Frances Alexander (Author) | English | 77 |
Why do we say, Thy kingdom come | Cecil F. Alexander (Author) | 4 | |
Within the churchyard, side by side | Cecil Frances Alexander (Author) | English | 3 |
Within the temple's hallowed walls | Cecil F. Alexander (Author) | English | 5 |
遠山迢迢,其色青青,(Yuǎnshān tiáotiáo, qí sè qīngqīng,) | Cecil F. H. Alexander (Author) | Chinese | 2 |