Another six days' work is done. J. Stennett. [Sunday.] This poem "On the Sabbath" appeared as one of his "Miscellany Poems," in his Works, 1732, vol. iv. pp. 231-234, in 14 stanzas of 4 lines. In its full form it is unknown to any hymnal: but centos therefrom are in modern collections, nearly all beginning with the first stanza as above:—
1. A cento in 6 stanzas in the Bristol Baptist Collection of Ash and Evans, 1769, from whence it has passed through a series of Baptist Hymnals to the Baptist Psalms and Hymns, 1858, No. 819, and other modern collections. It is composed of stanzas i., x., xi., xii., and xiii., with a stanza introduced as the second, "Come, bless the Lord, whose love assigns," &c, the authorship of which has not been traced. The cento, "Come, bless the Lord," &c, in Stowell's Selection, 1831-77, is compiled from the Baptist Psalms & Hymns text.
2. Another cento which was given in Williams and Boden's Collection, 1801, No. 451, and thence through various collections to the Leeds Hymn Book, 1853, the New Congregational Hymn Book, No. 753, and others. It is the above cento with the omission of the original stanza xii., "With joy," &c.
3. A third cento, in Bickersteth's Christian Psalmody, 1833, No. 280, in 4 stanzas, being i., x., and xiii. of the original, and the added stanza, "Come, bless the Lord," &c, as in No. i., is sometimes repeated in modern collections.
4. A fourth is given in Harland's Church Psalter, No. 22, Windle's Metrical Psalter, &c, No. 19, and others. It is composed of Stennett’s stanzas i., x., xi., and xiii.
5. The last cento is repeated in the Islington Psalms & Hymns, 1862, No. 357, with the omission of stanza xi. of the original.
6. A sixth cento, beginning, "Again our weekly labours end," and consisting of stanzas i., x., xi., and xiii. of Stennett, re-written for Cotterill's Selection, 1810, No. 97, is given in several collections, old and new.
7. The seventh cento begins, "Another week its course has run." It is a slightly altered form of Stennett’s stanzas i., x., xi., and xiii., and is included in the Harrow School Collection.
Most of these centos are in common use in America and other English-speaking countries.
-- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)
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