Hosanna to the living Lord. Bishop R. Heber. [Advent.] This hymn is found in two forms and both by Heber. The first is unknown in modern hymnals, the second is in very extensive use in English-speaking countries. In 1811 Heber contributed several hymns to the Christian Observer, prefacing them with a letter in which he strongly condemned the familiarity assumed by hymn-writers with the Divine, and with divine things; and promised to remedy the defect so far as it lay in his power so to do. This letter appeared in Oct. 1811, together with four hymns, the first of which was this for Advent Sunday. The first stanza reads:—
" Hosanna to the living Lord!
Hosanna to the Incarnate Word!
Hosanna in the earth be said,
And in the heavens which he hath made.
Hosanna!"
In 1827, it appeared in Heber's posthumous Hymns, &c, p. 1, in a new and much improved form. From this revised text all existing forms of the hymn in collections for congregational use have been made. The first stanza of the revised text is:—
”Hosanna to the living Lord!
Hosanna to the Incarnate Word!
To Christ, Creator, Saviour, King,
Let earth, let heaven, Hosanna sing!
Hosanna! Lord! Hosanna in the highest!"
The full revised text is in Lord Selborne's Book of Praise, 1862, No. 141. The doxology, which is given in Hymns Ancient & Modern and other collections, was added to the hymn as early as Stretton's Church Hymns, 1850. The hymn "Hosanna, Lord, the angels cry," in Martineau's Hymns, &c, 1840, and later collections, begins with stanza ii. of this hymn.
--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)
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