Wednesday, October 7, 2009

For Credit: Amazing Grace

You may be familiar with this famous eighteenth-century poem:



If you click on the image, you can see it in a more readable format (though in its original 18th-century context).

You may be more familiar with the poem when it is presented like this:



You may also be familiar with the Elvis version. Then there's this even lower-brow version, which includes the ubiquitous bagpipes:


Most of the prominent gospel versions of the song sacrifice the intelligibility of the lyrics to brilliant musical innovation around this much-loved text--but here's the incomparable Al Green:


Have another look at those lyrics, which were penned towards the end of the period covered by our course. At the time it was written, the music we associate with the song was unknown. Many people would have first encountered this text by reading the printed words, rather than by hearing it sung. (If you are interested in the history of this song and how the words and music came to be matched up, the Library of Congress has an excellent timeline.)

Consider it, then, as an eighteenth-century literary text to situate alongside our other readings on Enlightenment views of God and religion (click here for a more readable version of the lyrics). Does this poem seem to be on a completely different ideological planet, or can you perceive continuities between the language John Newton (the author of these verses) uses and our other readings?

Be specific, cite relevant text, and be kind and collegial in disagreeing with your classmates.

Deadline: Friday (10/9), start of class.
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2 comments:

Alonzo Rico said...

It is very likely that John Newton read Samuel Johnson's "The Vanity of Human Wishes" because he uses similar words such as "snares" and "hope and fear" just as Johnson used in his introduction of "Human Wishes". Furthermore, it seems as though Newton took Johnson's conclusion into great consideration. For example, Newton says "That sav'd a wretch like me! / I once was lost, but now am found; / Was blind, but now I see". Newton, who was rigorously active in slave trading, turned his life to God during a close encounter with death, but remained an active member of slave-activities. Therefore, Newton's "Amazing Grace" was nothing more than a vain literary attempt to reach a higher plan of existence that would enable him to be closer to God. However, it is considerably different in tone when compared to Isaac Newton's beliefs.

October 8, 2009 at 12:48 PM
Cara Leo said...

Furthermore, this poem seems to reflect more of Johnson's ideas . Newton states, "Yes, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
And mortal life shall cease;
I shall possess, within the veil,
A life of joy and peace." At the end of Johnson's poem, The Vanity of Human Wishes, he writes, "Counts death kind Nature's signal of retreat; These goods for man the laws of Heav'm ordain." In both peoms, death and going to heaven releases people from the torments of life and many trials one must face throughout life. Also, both poems leave the fate of people to the will of God. In Johnson, it says, "secure whate'er he gives, he gives the best" and in Newton, it says,"The Lord has promised good to me." Even through the many problems one sees throughout life, God will grant them some happiness and eventually release them into eternal happiness in heaven.

October 8, 2009 at 11:04 PM

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