In the previous post when I said "I hope your Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, et al was a good one and that the New Year will turn out to be one of your very best ever" I was not purposely overlooking all of the Hindus, Muslims, and Buddhists among my vast (yeah, right) reading audience. Never fear, I know you are out there somewhere and if by some chance one of you should run across this post some day, I hasten to add that I omitted your major holidays for a perfectly sound reason: This is December and they occur at other times of the year.
Let's do a little exploring.
Here's what Wikipedia has to say about Diwali:
"Dipavali (IAST: Dīpāvalī), commonly known as Diwali (/dɪˈwɑːliː/), is the Hindu festival of lights, with variations celebrated in other Indian religions such as Jainism and Sikhism. It symbolises the spiritual victory of Dharma over Adharma, light over darkness, good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance. Diwali is celebrated during the Hindu lunisolar months of Ashvin (according to the amanta tradition) and Kārtika – between mid-October and mid-November. The celebrations generally last five or six days.
"Diwali is connected to various religious events, deities and personalities, such as being the day Rama returned to his kingdom in Ayodhya with his wife Sita and his brother Lakshmana after defeating the demon king Ravana. It is also widely associated with Lakshmi, the goddess of prosperity, and Ganesha, the god of wisdom and the remover of obstacles. Other regional traditions connect the holiday to Vishnu, Krishna, Durga, Shiva, Kali, Hanuman, Kubera, Yama, Yami, Dhanvantari, or Vishvakarman."
So since Diwalie means festival of lights, is it the Hindi version of Hanukkah? In a word, no.
Moving right along, in Vietnam things get a bit complicated.
According to Wikipedia, "Tết (Vietnamese: [tet̚˧˦], chữ Hán: 節), short for Tết Nguyên Đán (chữ Hán: 節元旦; literally 'Feast of the first day') is the most important celebration in Vietnamese culture. Tết celebrates the arrival of spring based on the Vietnamese calendar and usually falls between late January and 20 February in the Gregorian calendar. Tết Nguyên Đán is not to be confused with Tết Trung Thu. "Tết" itself only means festival but it would generally refer to the Lunar New Year in Vietnamese, as it is often seen as the most important festival amongst the Vietnamese and the Vietnamese diaspora, with Tết Trung Thu regarded as the second-most important."
I never knew until just now that Vietnamese folks think Spring begins somewhere between late January and 20 February. Live and learn.
I know so little about other cultures. It is so interesting to be learning about some of them at this late date, by which I mean this late date in my life of 84.75 years, not this late date in 2025.
I don't want to strain your patience or your good will, so a discussion of other holidays such as Eid (which this year occurred back in June) will have to wait until another time.
So there you have it, my 70th post for the year 2025, tying the 70 posts I created in 2024. Back in the good old days of 2012 and 2008 this blog grew by over 200 posts per year.
Maybe it will again, but as my mother used to say, don't hold your breath.
Saturday, December 27, 2025
Friday, December 26, 2025
Fast away the old year passes
In other years on this blog, the period between Christmas and the New Year has been devoted to certain esoteric but such intereting (to me) subjects as the music of Jonathan and Darlene Edwards (actually Paul Weston and Jo Stafford), Auld Lang Syne Festivals of my own creation, the highbrow operatic comedy of Anna Russell, and such like. If you have never heard of any of them, they are all at various places in the archives list in the sidebar and with a few strategically placed clicks here and there (concentrating on the months of December in each yer) could be experienced either again or for the first time. It's strictly up to you. I can't do all of the work. I'm old and feeble. You don't have to agree so readily.
This year I'm on a different tack. Having recently discussed herein the effect of the winter solstice on the amount of daylight and darkness at various latitudes on our planet, I was hit with the sudden urge to know just how long a day is on the other planets of our solar system plus Pluto, which used to be considered a planet but has been downgraded by those in the know to dwarf planet status.
So I looked it up.
Into my favorite (British: favourite) search engine I entered the phrase "the length of a day on each planet and Pluto" and with the kind assistance of AI received the following answer almost immediately:
"The length of a day on each planet and Pluto is as follows:
• Mercury: 58.6 Earth days
• Venus: 243 Earth days
• Earth: 23 hours, 56 minutes
• Mars: 24 hours, 37 minutes
• Jupiter: 9 hours, 55 minutes
• Saturn: 10 hours, 33 minutes
• Uranus: 17 hours, 14 minutes
• Neptune: 15 hours, 57 minutes
• Pluto: 6.4 Earth days (6 days, 9 hours, 36 minutes)"
(end of AI's contribution to this post, and with the exception of the rather clunky "is as follows" AI's contribution was, if true, extremely informative)
So now you know. By "length of a day" I meant how long it takes said heavenly body to complete one rotation on its axis. Some of the tilts of planetary axes from vertical are so staggering as to make one's head swim. You can look them up if you are of a mind to. The randomness of our nearest neighbors would seem to indicate that a heavenly toddler was playing with dreidels (a Jewish game using spinning tops for those who don't know) and leaving them scattered about at the end of play time.
The size of a planet and its nearness to or distance from the sun (one astronomical unit (AU) equals 93,000,000 miles) seem to have no effect whatsoever on the planet's characteristics. For instance, Mercury (closest to the sun) and Pluto (farthest from the sun) are approximately the same size but Mercury's day, in round figures, is slightly less than two months and Pluto's day is slightly less than one week. Who knew? A day on Earth lasts from January 1st to January 2nd. A day on Venus, which is almost the same size as Earth, lasts from January 1st to what we would call August 31st. And the largest planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune) are veritable whirling dervishes. I wonder what centrifugal force feels like on a place so big that spins so fast.
I guess we'll never know, or maybe we (our species collectively) will know long after our generation has shuffled off this mortal coil.
My job here, as always, is to provoke your grey matter into wondering about things on your own and investigating the ramifications thereof to your heart's content.
In other words, my work here is finished.
At least for today.
I'm off to enjoy me some Jonathan and Darlene Edwards, Anna Russell insulting coloratura sopranos ("they have resonance where their brains ought to be"), Kenny G, the young Aretha Franklin, offkey musical saws, and (as Andy Griffith used to say) I don't know wha all, but the possibilities are endless.
One more post in the next five days will put this year's post count at 70, perhaps not as impressive as others (other years, other people) but pretty good for an old, feeble guy if I do say so myself.
I hope your Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, et al was a good one and that the New Year will turn out to be one of your very best ever. We are looking forward to meeting a fourth great-grandchild in 2026.
Peace on earth, goodwill to men.
God knows we could use some.
This year I'm on a different tack. Having recently discussed herein the effect of the winter solstice on the amount of daylight and darkness at various latitudes on our planet, I was hit with the sudden urge to know just how long a day is on the other planets of our solar system plus Pluto, which used to be considered a planet but has been downgraded by those in the know to dwarf planet status.
So I looked it up.
Into my favorite (British: favourite) search engine I entered the phrase "the length of a day on each planet and Pluto" and with the kind assistance of AI received the following answer almost immediately:
"The length of a day on each planet and Pluto is as follows:
• Mercury: 58.6 Earth days
• Venus: 243 Earth days
• Earth: 23 hours, 56 minutes
• Mars: 24 hours, 37 minutes
• Jupiter: 9 hours, 55 minutes
• Saturn: 10 hours, 33 minutes
• Uranus: 17 hours, 14 minutes
• Neptune: 15 hours, 57 minutes
• Pluto: 6.4 Earth days (6 days, 9 hours, 36 minutes)"
(end of AI's contribution to this post, and with the exception of the rather clunky "is as follows" AI's contribution was, if true, extremely informative)
So now you know. By "length of a day" I meant how long it takes said heavenly body to complete one rotation on its axis. Some of the tilts of planetary axes from vertical are so staggering as to make one's head swim. You can look them up if you are of a mind to. The randomness of our nearest neighbors would seem to indicate that a heavenly toddler was playing with dreidels (a Jewish game using spinning tops for those who don't know) and leaving them scattered about at the end of play time.
The size of a planet and its nearness to or distance from the sun (one astronomical unit (AU) equals 93,000,000 miles) seem to have no effect whatsoever on the planet's characteristics. For instance, Mercury (closest to the sun) and Pluto (farthest from the sun) are approximately the same size but Mercury's day, in round figures, is slightly less than two months and Pluto's day is slightly less than one week. Who knew? A day on Earth lasts from January 1st to January 2nd. A day on Venus, which is almost the same size as Earth, lasts from January 1st to what we would call August 31st. And the largest planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune) are veritable whirling dervishes. I wonder what centrifugal force feels like on a place so big that spins so fast.
I guess we'll never know, or maybe we (our species collectively) will know long after our generation has shuffled off this mortal coil.
My job here, as always, is to provoke your grey matter into wondering about things on your own and investigating the ramifications thereof to your heart's content.
In other words, my work here is finished.
At least for today.
I'm off to enjoy me some Jonathan and Darlene Edwards, Anna Russell insulting coloratura sopranos ("they have resonance where their brains ought to be"), Kenny G, the young Aretha Franklin, offkey musical saws, and (as Andy Griffith used to say) I don't know wha all, but the possibilities are endless.
One more post in the next five days will put this year's post count at 70, perhaps not as impressive as others (other years, other people) but pretty good for an old, feeble guy if I do say so myself.
I hope your Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, et al was a good one and that the New Year will turn out to be one of your very best ever. We are looking forward to meeting a fourth great-grandchild in 2026.
Peace on earth, goodwill to men.
God knows we could use some.
Sunday, December 21, 2025
Today is the winter solstice
...in earth's northern hemisphere and also in the southern hemisphere although it is probably called something else there. Maybe kylie in Sydney will enlighten us.
It is the day with the least amount of daylight all year (the "shortest day") in the northern hemisphere and the day with the most amount of sunlight all year (the "longest day") in the southern hemisphere. It is also the first day of winter in the northern hemisphere and the first day of summer in the southern hemisphere.
Just for the record, sunrise in Canton, Georgia, today occurred at 7:40AM and sunset occurred at 5:32PM, a daylight period of 9 hours, 52 minutes. Because earth's axis is tilted approximately 23 and a half degrees off vertical, sunrise and sunset times vary according to one's latitude on the planet. Since Atlanta is at 33.75 North latitude and Sydney is at 33.87 South latitude, one would expect Sydney's daylght hours to complement Atlanta's daylight hours, adding up to 24 hours, and one would be right. I checked. The sun rose at 5:41AM today in Sydney and it set at 8:06PM, a daylight period of 14 hours, 25 minutes. That Atlanta's daylight and Sydney's daylight on solstice day added together does not equal exactly 24 hours--it equals 24 hours, 17 minutes--can be attributed to minor differences in the two cities' distances above and below the equator. On winter solstice day, everybody north of the Arctic circle experienced 24 hours of darkness, and everybody south of the Antarctic Circle experienced 24 hours of daylight. On summer solstice day in June, the very opposite is true.
These fascinating/boring facts (pick one) have been brought to you by your intrepid correspondent, rhymeswithplague, and there's a lot more where that came from.
PS - I do apologize for ignoring Beethoven's birthday this year.
It is the day with the least amount of daylight all year (the "shortest day") in the northern hemisphere and the day with the most amount of sunlight all year (the "longest day") in the southern hemisphere. It is also the first day of winter in the northern hemisphere and the first day of summer in the southern hemisphere.
Just for the record, sunrise in Canton, Georgia, today occurred at 7:40AM and sunset occurred at 5:32PM, a daylight period of 9 hours, 52 minutes. Because earth's axis is tilted approximately 23 and a half degrees off vertical, sunrise and sunset times vary according to one's latitude on the planet. Since Atlanta is at 33.75 North latitude and Sydney is at 33.87 South latitude, one would expect Sydney's daylght hours to complement Atlanta's daylight hours, adding up to 24 hours, and one would be right. I checked. The sun rose at 5:41AM today in Sydney and it set at 8:06PM, a daylight period of 14 hours, 25 minutes. That Atlanta's daylight and Sydney's daylight on solstice day added together does not equal exactly 24 hours--it equals 24 hours, 17 minutes--can be attributed to minor differences in the two cities' distances above and below the equator. On winter solstice day, everybody north of the Arctic circle experienced 24 hours of darkness, and everybody south of the Antarctic Circle experienced 24 hours of daylight. On summer solstice day in June, the very opposite is true.
These fascinating/boring facts (pick one) have been brought to you by your intrepid correspondent, rhymeswithplague, and there's a lot more where that came from.
PS - I do apologize for ignoring Beethoven's birthday this year.
Saturday, December 6, 2025
From the archives: Yes, Virginia, there is a St. Nicholas
...and today, December 6, happens to be the day when people in many places around the world honor him. He looked nothing like the mental image you probably have of his direct descendant, Santa Claus. We have a poem called “A Visit From St. Nicholas” (written in 1823 by either Clement Clark Moore or someone else) and twentieth-century artist Haddon Sundblom’s depiction of him for The Coca-Cola Company’s Christmas advertising in 1931 to thank for that. (I would include Sundblom’s picture of your mental image here, Virginia, except that the aforementioned Coca-Cola Company owns the copyright.)
According to Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia, the real St. Nicholas was born around 270 A.D. and died on this date in the year 343 in what is now the country of Turkey. He is the patron saint of sailors, fishermen, merchants, archers, children, the falsely accused, pawnbrokers, thieves, and students in Greece, Belgium, Bulgaria, Georgia, Russia, the Republic of Macedonia, Slovakia, Serbia, and Montenegro. He is also the patron saint of several cities, among which are Barranquilla in Colombia, Bari in Italy, Amsterdam in the Netherlands, and Beit Jala in the West Bank of Palestine. In 1809, the New York Historical Society convened and named Sancte Claus the patron saint of Nieuw Amsterdam, the Dutch name for New York, so Saint Nicholas could also be considered the patron saint of New York.
Start spreadin’ the news.
To see Wikipedia’s very interesting articles about Saint Nicholas and Santa Claus, click here and here.
[Editor's Note. This post was originally published on December 6, 2007. —RWP]
According to Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia, the real St. Nicholas was born around 270 A.D. and died on this date in the year 343 in what is now the country of Turkey. He is the patron saint of sailors, fishermen, merchants, archers, children, the falsely accused, pawnbrokers, thieves, and students in Greece, Belgium, Bulgaria, Georgia, Russia, the Republic of Macedonia, Slovakia, Serbia, and Montenegro. He is also the patron saint of several cities, among which are Barranquilla in Colombia, Bari in Italy, Amsterdam in the Netherlands, and Beit Jala in the West Bank of Palestine. In 1809, the New York Historical Society convened and named Sancte Claus the patron saint of Nieuw Amsterdam, the Dutch name for New York, so Saint Nicholas could also be considered the patron saint of New York.
Start spreadin’ the news.
To see Wikipedia’s very interesting articles about Saint Nicholas and Santa Claus, click here and here.
[Editor's Note. This post was originally published on December 6, 2007. —RWP]
Monday, November 24, 2025
Harper Lee
...was the obvious answer to Jeopardy!'s rare triple-stumper Final Jeopardy question one night last week. The three contestants, Gen-Z members all, failed to give the right anwer, stunning older members of the viewing audience. Gen-Z'ers may know a lot of things we seniors know nothing about, but let it never be forgot that once there was a spot, one brief and shining moment that was known as Camelot that the converse is also true. Seniors know a lot of things about which the Gen-Z'ers haven't a clue.
Thus it is now, and thus has it ever been, that the older generation pities the younger generation even as the younger generation ignores and despises the older generation. I don't say look down their noses at; that would be going a bridge too far.
It's Thanksgiving Week in the U.S.A. and Canada (I don't know whether it is also true elsewhere) and the whole holiday season is upon us once again. I don't include Halloween in 'the whole holiday season' even though judging from the decorations in their yards, many of my neighbors did.
Our whole family, or as many of them as can make it, will be gathering on Thursday at the home of our firstborn who lives about an hour's drive away from us. I'm hoping and praying for you and yourfamily friends entourage rag-tag collection of humanity the same thing I am hoping and praying for our own group, that a good time will be had by all, that all tummies will be full, and that all attendees will make the trip there and back again *waves to Bilbo Baggins* safely.
I recognize that blogposts from here have been sparse this month. I shall endeavor to pick up the pace apace.
T.T.F.N. *waves to Tigger, Pooh, A.A. Milne et al*
Thus it is now, and thus has it ever been, that the older generation pities the younger generation even as the younger generation ignores and despises the older generation. I don't say look down their noses at; that would be going a bridge too far.
It's Thanksgiving Week in the U.S.A. and Canada (I don't know whether it is also true elsewhere) and the whole holiday season is upon us once again. I don't include Halloween in 'the whole holiday season' even though judging from the decorations in their yards, many of my neighbors did.
Our whole family, or as many of them as can make it, will be gathering on Thursday at the home of our firstborn who lives about an hour's drive away from us. I'm hoping and praying for you and your
I recognize that blogposts from here have been sparse this month. I shall endeavor to pick up the pace apace.
T.T.F.N. *waves to Tigger, Pooh, A.A. Milne et al*
Thursday, November 20, 2025
A little more about the Battle Hymn Of The Republic, plus two unrelated postscripts
There is one bit of housekeeping to do, specifically:
In the preceding post, I happened to mention that references to passages in the Bible are numerous in the Battle Hymn. In a comment, Australian reader kylie tai reckoned as how a list of the biblical references would be good because she wanted to know how many she recognised. She then said she would ask chat gpt. I replied that I am old school and have never used chat gbt and asked her to let us know what she found out.
Lo and behold, she did.
In a subsequent comment, kylie sent what can only be described as gobs of information. Here it is with reference numbers added by moi for ease of discussion, if any should ensue:
Copied and pasted direct from my (kylie's) chatgpt search:
1. “the glory of the coming of the Lord” Isaiah 40:5 (OT); Revelation 1:7 (NT)
2. “trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored” Isaiah 63:1–6 (OT); Revelation 14:19–20; Revelation 19:15 (NT)
3. “loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword” Deuteronomy 32:41 (OT); Isaiah 27:1 (OT); Revelation 19:15 (NT)
4. “His truth is marching on” Revelation 19:11 (NT)
5. “builded Him an altar” Genesis 8:20; Genesis 12:7–8; Psalm 43:4 (OT)
6. “His righteous sentence” Psalm 9:7–8 (OT); Daniel 7:10 (OT)
7. “His day is marching on” Zephaniah 1:14–15; Malachi 4:1 (OT)
8. “fiery gospel writ in burnished rows of steel” Jeremiah 23:29 (OT); Ephesians 6:17 (NT)
9. “As ye deal … so … shall My grace deal” Matthew 7:2; Romans 12:19 (NT)
10. “Hero, born of woman” Genesis 3:15 (OT); Galatians 4:4 (NT)
11. “crush the serpent with His heel” Genesis 3:15 (OT)
12. “sounded forth the trumpet…” 1 Corinthians 15:52; 1 Thessalonians 4:16; Revelation 8–11 (NT)
13. “sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment seat” Matthew 3:12 (NT imagery from John the Baptist); Hebrews 4:12–13; 2 Corinthians 5:10 (NT)
14. “Christ was born… in the beauty of the lilies” Poetic; lilies echoed in Matthew 6:28–29 (NT)
15. “He died to make men holy” Hebrews 10:10; 1 Peter 2:24 (NT)
16. “coming like the glory of the morning” Matthew 24:27; Malachi 4:2 (OT/NT)
17. “the world shall be His footstool” Psalm 110:1 (OT); Isaiah 66:1 (OT); Acts 2:35; Hebrews 1:13 (NT)
18. “the soul of Time His slave” Theological/poetic; echoes Revelation 1:8; 2 Peter 3:8 (NT)
(end of chat gpt's list)
I was duly impressed and replied to kylie, "Wow!"
I have never used chat gpt for anything even though its popularity is undeniable. On the spectrum of human resistance to change, I probably lie somewhere between a pseudo-troglodyte (that is, without the cave) and a neo-Luddite (that is, without the property damage). Perhaps I will have to go with the flow and reconsider. I am reminded of a famous couplet by the English poet Alexander Pope (1688-1744):
"Be not the first by which the new is tried,
Nor yet the last to lay the old aside."
Dear reader, help me to make up my mind. Give me some input. Do you use chat gpt? Why or why not?
P.S. -- Mrs. RWP (the lovely Ellie) and I saw the film Wicked on television last night for the first time. At least I now know who Ariana Grande is. Please share your thoughts on Wicked also, if you have any.
P.P.S. -- We also watched our old favorite Jeopardy! for the first time in several months. I was able to answer two questions that not a single one of the Gen Z contestants could, Who is Kenny Rogers? and What is Hadassah?
In the preceding post, I happened to mention that references to passages in the Bible are numerous in the Battle Hymn. In a comment, Australian reader kylie tai reckoned as how a list of the biblical references would be good because she wanted to know how many she recognised. She then said she would ask chat gpt. I replied that I am old school and have never used chat gbt and asked her to let us know what she found out.
Lo and behold, she did.
In a subsequent comment, kylie sent what can only be described as gobs of information. Here it is with reference numbers added by moi for ease of discussion, if any should ensue:
Copied and pasted direct from my (kylie's) chatgpt search:
1. “the glory of the coming of the Lord” Isaiah 40:5 (OT); Revelation 1:7 (NT)
2. “trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored” Isaiah 63:1–6 (OT); Revelation 14:19–20; Revelation 19:15 (NT)
3. “loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword” Deuteronomy 32:41 (OT); Isaiah 27:1 (OT); Revelation 19:15 (NT)
4. “His truth is marching on” Revelation 19:11 (NT)
5. “builded Him an altar” Genesis 8:20; Genesis 12:7–8; Psalm 43:4 (OT)
6. “His righteous sentence” Psalm 9:7–8 (OT); Daniel 7:10 (OT)
7. “His day is marching on” Zephaniah 1:14–15; Malachi 4:1 (OT)
8. “fiery gospel writ in burnished rows of steel” Jeremiah 23:29 (OT); Ephesians 6:17 (NT)
9. “As ye deal … so … shall My grace deal” Matthew 7:2; Romans 12:19 (NT)
10. “Hero, born of woman” Genesis 3:15 (OT); Galatians 4:4 (NT)
11. “crush the serpent with His heel” Genesis 3:15 (OT)
12. “sounded forth the trumpet…” 1 Corinthians 15:52; 1 Thessalonians 4:16; Revelation 8–11 (NT)
13. “sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment seat” Matthew 3:12 (NT imagery from John the Baptist); Hebrews 4:12–13; 2 Corinthians 5:10 (NT)
14. “Christ was born… in the beauty of the lilies” Poetic; lilies echoed in Matthew 6:28–29 (NT)
15. “He died to make men holy” Hebrews 10:10; 1 Peter 2:24 (NT)
16. “coming like the glory of the morning” Matthew 24:27; Malachi 4:2 (OT/NT)
17. “the world shall be His footstool” Psalm 110:1 (OT); Isaiah 66:1 (OT); Acts 2:35; Hebrews 1:13 (NT)
18. “the soul of Time His slave” Theological/poetic; echoes Revelation 1:8; 2 Peter 3:8 (NT)
(end of chat gpt's list)
I was duly impressed and replied to kylie, "Wow!"
I have never used chat gpt for anything even though its popularity is undeniable. On the spectrum of human resistance to change, I probably lie somewhere between a pseudo-troglodyte (that is, without the cave) and a neo-Luddite (that is, without the property damage). Perhaps I will have to go with the flow and reconsider. I am reminded of a famous couplet by the English poet Alexander Pope (1688-1744):
"Be not the first by which the new is tried,
Nor yet the last to lay the old aside."
Dear reader, help me to make up my mind. Give me some input. Do you use chat gpt? Why or why not?
P.S. -- Mrs. RWP (the lovely Ellie) and I saw the film Wicked on television last night for the first time. At least I now know who Ariana Grande is. Please share your thoughts on Wicked also, if you have any.
P.P.S. -- We also watched our old favorite Jeopardy! for the first time in several months. I was able to answer two questions that not a single one of the Gen Z contestants could, Who is Kenny Rogers? and What is Hadassah?
Sunday, November 16, 2025
Be jubilant, my feet! and other ruminations
Here it is the middle of November already and I haven't produced a single blogpost all month. I am losing it, people.
Let me remedy that right now. I woke up this morning with the words to Julia Ward Howe's "Battle Hymn Of The Republic" on my mind. The mind is a peculiar, unpredictable thing. Who can know it?
Anyway, here are the lyrics, with a few observations afterward:
1. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord;
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;
He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword:
His truth is marching on.
(Chorus)
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
His truth is marching on.
2. I have seen Him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps,
They have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps;
I can read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps:
His day is marching on.
(Chorus)
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
His truth is marching on.
3. I have read a fiery gospel writ in burnished rows of steel:
"As ye deal with My contemners, so with you My grace shall deal";
Let the Hero, born of woman, crush the serpent with His heel,
Since God is marching on.
(Chorus)
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
His truth is marching on.
4. He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat;
He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment-seat;
Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him! Be jubilant, my feet!
Our God is marching on.
(Chorus)
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Our God is marching on.
5. In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,
With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me.
As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free,
While God is marching on.
(Chorus)
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Our God is marching on.
6. He is coming like the glory of the morning on the wave,
He is Wisdom to the mighty, He is Succour to the brave,
So the world shall be His footstool, and the soul of Time His slave,
Our God is marching on.
(Chorus)
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Our God is marching on!
(end of song)
So it turns out that Julia Ward Howe wrote six verses in all, although the sixth verse is neve heard nowadays. I cannot resist saying that on the seventh verse, Julia rested.
I don't know why, but during the last quarter of the 20th century, many public performances of "Battle Hymn of the Republic" substituted the lyric "As He died to make men holy, let us live to make men free" in the fifth verse in place of Howe's original lyric "let us die to make men free." In the 21st century, the original lyric is being sung more and more. I could be wrong, but my guess is that the destruction of the World Trade Towers in New York City on September 11, 2001, had a lot to do with reverting to the original lyric.
It has always fascinated me that Julia wrote "Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him! Be jubilant, my feet!" in verse four, the opposite of what a more prosaic writer might have exhorted (that one's soul should be jubilant and one's feet should be swift). Julia Ward Howe was anything but prosaid.
It saddens me that people of the 19th-century seem to have been far more familiar with Scripture, if Julia Ward Howe is any example, than most people of the 20th and 21st centuries. References to passages in the Bible are numerous in the Battle Hymn. It is another sign of cultural decline.
I thought perhaps the song was on my mind because we might be near the anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania in 1863, but I looked it up and that battle occurred in July. Then I thought of Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address at the dedication of the battlefield later that year, the address which ends with "that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birh of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." I looked up that date too. It was November 19th. Three days from today.
Near the beginning of this post I said that the mind is a peculiar, unpredictable thing.
I will end with a Scripture reference: We are fearfully and wonderfully made.
Let me remedy that right now. I woke up this morning with the words to Julia Ward Howe's "Battle Hymn Of The Republic" on my mind. The mind is a peculiar, unpredictable thing. Who can know it?
Anyway, here are the lyrics, with a few observations afterward:
1. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord;
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;
He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword:
His truth is marching on.
(Chorus)
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
His truth is marching on.
2. I have seen Him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps,
They have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps;
I can read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps:
His day is marching on.
(Chorus)
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
His truth is marching on.
3. I have read a fiery gospel writ in burnished rows of steel:
"As ye deal with My contemners, so with you My grace shall deal";
Let the Hero, born of woman, crush the serpent with His heel,
Since God is marching on.
(Chorus)
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
His truth is marching on.
4. He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat;
He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment-seat;
Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him! Be jubilant, my feet!
Our God is marching on.
(Chorus)
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Our God is marching on.
5. In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,
With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me.
As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free,
While God is marching on.
(Chorus)
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Our God is marching on.
6. He is coming like the glory of the morning on the wave,
He is Wisdom to the mighty, He is Succour to the brave,
So the world shall be His footstool, and the soul of Time His slave,
Our God is marching on.
(Chorus)
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Our God is marching on!
(end of song)
So it turns out that Julia Ward Howe wrote six verses in all, although the sixth verse is neve heard nowadays. I cannot resist saying that on the seventh verse, Julia rested.
I don't know why, but during the last quarter of the 20th century, many public performances of "Battle Hymn of the Republic" substituted the lyric "As He died to make men holy, let us live to make men free" in the fifth verse in place of Howe's original lyric "let us die to make men free." In the 21st century, the original lyric is being sung more and more. I could be wrong, but my guess is that the destruction of the World Trade Towers in New York City on September 11, 2001, had a lot to do with reverting to the original lyric.
It has always fascinated me that Julia wrote "Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him! Be jubilant, my feet!" in verse four, the opposite of what a more prosaic writer might have exhorted (that one's soul should be jubilant and one's feet should be swift). Julia Ward Howe was anything but prosaid.
It saddens me that people of the 19th-century seem to have been far more familiar with Scripture, if Julia Ward Howe is any example, than most people of the 20th and 21st centuries. References to passages in the Bible are numerous in the Battle Hymn. It is another sign of cultural decline.
I thought perhaps the song was on my mind because we might be near the anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania in 1863, but I looked it up and that battle occurred in July. Then I thought of Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address at the dedication of the battlefield later that year, the address which ends with "that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birh of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." I looked up that date too. It was November 19th. Three days from today.
Near the beginning of this post I said that the mind is a peculiar, unpredictable thing.
I will end with a Scripture reference: We are fearfully and wonderfully made.
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