Dictionary of Hymnology
Learn hymn terms, meters, forms, and the history behind Christian worship music — curated for hymn lovers, worship leaders, and students.
A beautiful land by faith I see
Hymn
A popular nineteenth-century Sunday School hymn about Heaven, first published anonymously in 1862 and later a…
A charge to keep I have
Hymn
Charles Wesley's famous hymn of personal responsibility, first published in 1762 and based on Leviticus 8:35.
A debtor to mercy alone
Hymn
Augustus Montague Toplady's celebrated hymn on the assurance of faith, first published in the Gospel Magazine…
A few more years shall roll
Hymn
Horatius Bonar's celebrated New Year's hymn of pilgrimage, first printed in 1842 for his Kelso congregation a…
A fountain of Life and of Grace
Hymn
Charles Wesley's 1762 invitation hymn based on Revelation 22:17, expressing the free gift of the living water…
A glance from heaven, with sweet effect
Hymn
John Newton's 1775 nature hymn reflecting on lightning in the night, published in the Olney Hymns and include…
A glory in the word we find
History
An early nineteenth-century cento focusing on the Holy Scriptures, published in John Campbell's 1837 collecti…
A good High Priest is come
History
John Cennick's 1744 hymn on the priesthood of Christ, compiled by George Whitefield and John Rippon for wides…
A little child the Saviour came
Hymn
William Robertson’s beautiful 1861 baptismal hymn, which was historically misattributed in American hymnals t…
A little flock! So calls He thee
Hymn
Horatius Bonar's expansive 1857 poem on the Church, published in Hymns of Faith and Hope and adapted into var…
A little ship was on the sea
Hymn
Dorothy Ann Thrupp’s highly popular nineteenth-century children's hymn illustrating the biblical narrative of…
A little while—our Lord shall come
Hymn
James George Deck's influential 1841 Advent hymn, rooted in Plymouth Brethren hymnody and adopted across prom…
A look to Jesus saves the soul
History
Albert Midlane’s 1862 conversion hymn, featured in Gospel Echoes and compiled across several late Victorian r…
A mourning class, a vacant seat
Hymn
An anonymous 1835 Sunday School hymn composed to comfort classmates after the death of a fellow student, wide…
A Patre Unigenitus
History
An anonymous Latin Epiphany hymn originating between the tenth and thirteenth centuries, notable for its uniq…
A pilgrim through this lonely world
Hymn
Sir Edward Denny's solemn 1839 Passiontide hymn detailing Christ's earthly isolation, popular within Plymouth…
A solis ortus cardine (Coelius Sedulius)
History
Coelius Sedulius's landmark fifth-century alphabetical acrostic poem on the life of Christ, which shaped medi…
A solis ortus cardine (Translations and Structural Variants)
History
An index of the nineteenth-century English and German translations of Coelius Sedulius's hymn, detailing the …
A thousand oracles divine
Hymnology
An overview of Charles Wesley's intensely dogmatic Trinitarian hymn, tracing its publication history, denomin…
A voice upon the midnight air
Hymnology
A publication summary of the anonymous Passiontide hymn 'A voice upon the midnight air,' charting its origin …
A debtor to mercy alone
Hymn
Augustus Montague Toplady's celebrated hymn on the assurance of faith, first published in the Gospel Magazine…
A few more years shall roll
Hymn
Horatius Bonar's celebrated New Year's hymn of pilgrimage, first printed in 1842 for his Kelso congregation a…
A fountain of Life and of Grace
Hymn
Charles Wesley's 1762 invitation hymn based on Revelation 22:17, expressing the free gift of the living water…
A glance from heaven, with sweet effect
Hymn
John Newton's 1775 nature hymn reflecting on lightning in the night, published in the Olney Hymns and include…
A glory in the word we find
History
An early nineteenth-century cento focusing on the Holy Scriptures, published in John Campbell's 1837 collecti…
A good High Priest is come
History
John Cennick's 1744 hymn on the priesthood of Christ, compiled by George Whitefield and John Rippon for wides…
A little child the Saviour came
Hymn
William Robertson’s beautiful 1861 baptismal hymn, which was historically misattributed in American hymnals t…
A little flock! So calls He thee
Hymn
Horatius Bonar's expansive 1857 poem on the Church, published in Hymns of Faith and Hope and adapted into var…
A little ship was on the sea
Hymn
Dorothy Ann Thrupp’s highly popular nineteenth-century children's hymn illustrating the biblical narrative of…
A little while—our Lord shall come
Hymn
James George Deck's influential 1841 Advent hymn, rooted in Plymouth Brethren hymnody and adopted across prom…
A look to Jesus saves the soul
History
Albert Midlane’s 1862 conversion hymn, featured in Gospel Echoes and compiled across several late Victorian r…
A mourning class, a vacant seat
Hymn
An anonymous 1835 Sunday School hymn composed to comfort classmates after the death of a fellow student, wide…
A Patre Unigenitus
History
An anonymous Latin Epiphany hymn originating between the tenth and thirteenth centuries, notable for its uniq…
A pilgrim through this lonely world
Hymn
Sir Edward Denny's solemn 1839 Passiontide hymn detailing Christ's earthly isolation, popular within Plymouth…
A solis ortus cardine (Coelius Sedulius)
History
Coelius Sedulius's landmark fifth-century alphabetical acrostic poem on the life of Christ, which shaped medi…
A solis ortus cardine (Translations and Structural Variants)
History
An index of the nineteenth-century English and German translations of Coelius Sedulius's hymn, detailing the …
A thousand oracles divine
Hymnology
An overview of Charles Wesley's intensely dogmatic Trinitarian hymn, tracing its publication history, denomin…
A voice upon the midnight air
Hymnology
A publication summary of the anonymous Passiontide hymn 'A voice upon the midnight air,' charting its origin …