Hymnal revision, per se, I don't mind. Ralph Vaughan Williams had not been born when the first hymnal was compiled, so obviously there had to be new ones.
But, I have a problem.
Lord Christ, when first thou camest to men
Upon a cross they bound thee
And mocked thy saving kingship then
By thorns with which they crowned thee.
has been modified in the Hymnal 1982 by
Lord Christ, when first thou camest to earth
with no other alterations.
You will note that "earth" does not rhyme with "then."
Further, in the same hymn, we have (in the new version):
and all those nations' pride, o'erthrown
Went down to dust beside thee
replacing
and all a nation's pride, o'erthrown
Went down to dust beside thee.
This refers to the actual destruction of the Temple. The revised version is utterly meaningless.
Furthermore, the hymns are things that people actually wrote (as to be poems), not created by some soulless collective, so modifying them to fit our stupid politically correct needs is artless and utterly lacking in aesthetic sense. But we have shown that these revisions are cruel and ignorant, as well as meaningless. I hate these people.
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