Milton begins Paradise Lost with an invocation, asking the heavenly muse to sing, through him, to describe the fall of mankind, and "justify the ways of God to men."
And chiefly thou O Spirit, that doest prefer
Before all temples the upright heart and pure,
Instruct me, for thou know'st; thou from the first
Wast present, and with mighty wings outspread
Dove-like sat'st brooding on the vast abyss
And mad'st it pregnant: what in me is dark
Illumine, what is low raise and support;
That to the height of this great argument
I may assert eternal providence,
And justify the ways of God to men.
Milton makes it clear here he is talking about the Holy Spirit of God - God Himself. The imagery is striking - a dove-like spirit who sits on a nest of darkness, giving birth to creation. That the Holy Spirit descended on Christ like a dove at his baptism was known, but this is a fresh and surprising take, and connotes creation and annointing at the same time. Milton feels he has a serious task and needs substantial help to complete it.
What an inspiration Milton is, and moreover, the footnotes to Paradise Lost. There is a richness and knowledge there that rewards and delights a careful reader. Every word is chosen for the multiple levels of meaning, for the sound is produces, the tone it creates, and the number of syllables and accents of the word.
In PL, Milton makes the argument that God was just and generous in sentencing sinful man and angels. In a much tighter structure, the author of "Before the Throne of God Above" describes the role of Christ as intercessor between man and God, especially in defense against the accuser who has been after Adam since Paradise.
This hymn is even better than I ever realized, in fact, it's just about perfect. I know this because I observe its excellencies, and when I try to think of a single improvement that could be made, I can't! I will point out a few things here that are technical and lend to the overall greatness of this hymn.
Before the throne of God above
I have a strong and perfect plea.
A great high Priest whose Name is Love
Who ever lives and pleads for me.
My name is graven on His hands,
My name is written on His heart.
I know that while in Heaven He stands
No tongue can bid me thence depart.
First of all, the message is perfectly clear. Second, it is memorable. In the first four lines, the P sound is allierated four times. In lines 5-7, note the repetition of sounds in the words "graven," "written," and "while in." In the same lines, the H sound is alliterated 6 times. The last line is a concise eight syllables, whereas a roundabout way would be to say that "There is nothing anyone can say that would make me have to leave heaven," which is 18 syllables. Similar structures of repetition and conciseness are repeated in the other stanzas. This is a hymn that helps people guard their minds and hearts against Satan's attacks. It is worth putting the effort into good writing for such a purpose.
"Still, My Soul Be Still" is a modern hymn by Keith and Kristyn Getty and Stuart Townend that urges the soul to take comfort in God's abiding presence.
Still my soul be still
And do not fear
Though winds of change may rage tomorrow
God is at your side
No longer dread
The fires of unexpected sorrow
God You are my God
And I will trust in You and not be shaken
Lord of peace renew
A steadfast spirit within me
To rest in You alone
I love the meter of this song. The number of syllables per line in the first verse are 5, 4, 9, 5, 4, 9, as though the first two short statements add up to the third, and so on. I also love the allusions to scripture that capture a large amount of meaning in just a few words. "The fires of unexpected sorrow" is a great line and I am not sure what to say about it. "Lord of peace renew/ a steadfast spirit within me/ to rest in You alone" is a very interesting lyrics. We know him to be the Prince of Peace. We know the Psalmist's cry in Psalm 51 to have a right spirit renewed. What is new here is the plea for renewal to trust. It's beautiful.
"Less Like Scars" by Sara Groves is a similarly introspective song.
It's been a hard year
But I'm climbing out of the rubble
These lessons are hard
Healing changes are subtle
But every day it's
Less like tearing, more like building
Less like captive, more like willing
Less like breakdown, more like surrender
Less like haunting, more like remember
In the word "rubble," Groves communicates a great deal of information. Her world is in ruins - it has been destroyed or is in decay. She is like a natural disaster victim. The rhyme of "subtle" and "rubble" is nice. I've never heard it before. Nothing wrong with "love" and "above," but something new gets my attention; makes me listen. Ultimately this song is about something quite hard to describe, but she does it by negative and positive descriptions. Not so much this, but that. In later verses, she says "less like a prison, more like my room/ less like a casket, more like a womb." She makes each word count by choosing words that convey a great deal of information.
Chris Rice uses the metaphor of choice words to describe the potential value of each new day in "Life Means So Much" (this is one of my favorite pop songs ever).
Every day is a journal page
Every man holds a quill and ink
And there's plenty of room for writing in
All we do and believe and think
So will you compose a curse
Or will today bring the blessing
Fill the page with rhyming verse
Or some random sketching
He uses a journal filling with pages as a metaphor for life. Curse vs. blessing reminds me that I can be intentional about how I harm or help. Rhyming verse vs. random sketching is a potent way of describing the difference between a well-lived or haphazard lifestyle. Note the alliteration in "compose a curse" and "bring a blessing." Also, metrically, note how "or some random sketching" seems to be lacking a few syllables to fit the line. This could be coincidental, but in my opinion it serves the meaning of the lyric well because it seems lacking in execution. The chorus is simple, asking God to help us making the days count, just as a good writer makes his words count.
Reliant K is a band I could go on and on about. If I could choose only one word to describe their lyrics, "clever" is what I would choose. Unlike the other songs I've mentioned here so far, you have to listen hard to catch what they're saying because it all goes by so fast, as in the bridge and chorus of "Be My Escape."
And I've been housing all this doubt and insecurity
And I've been locked inside that house
All the while You hold the key
And I've been dying to get out
And that might be the death of me
And even though, there's no way in knowing where to go,
Promise I'm going because
I gotta get outta here
I'm stuck inside this rut that I fell into by mistake
I gotta get outta here
And I'm begging You,
I'm begging You,
I'm begging You to be my escape.
There is a lot going on here, literarily. I particularly like the uses of "house" and "death/dying." There is a poetry term for what they're doing - using the same word with different meanings (Shakespeare did it all the time) - but I can't remember what it is. I think it does a good job telling the listener that harboring doubt and insecurity can be its own prison, and that sometimes a certain kind of death is required for freedom.
I'll end with Switchfoot's "Let Your Love Be Strong," which I find achingly beautiful and evocative.
As the dead moon rises, and the freeways sigh
Let the trains watch over the tides and the mist
Spinning circles in our skies tonight
Let the trucks roll in from Los Angeles
Maybe our stars are unanimously tired
Let the wars begin, let my strength wear thin
Let my fingers crack, let my world fall apart
Train the monkeys on my back to fight
Let it start tonight
When my world explodes, when my stars touch the ground
Falling down like broken satellites
Let your love be strong, and I don't care what goes down
Let your love be strong enough to weather through the thunder cloud
Fury and thunder clap like stealing the fire from your skies
All of that I am hanging on
All of my world resting on your love
I've done a little editing here - the first verse and chorus are missing. In the first quoted stanza, I imagine the author sitting on a park somewhere just outside of L.A., feeling very fatigued and projecting this feeling onto the world around him - the moon becomes the "dead moon," the freeways "sigh," and the stars are tired. I'll never ever get over the rhyming of "Los Angeles" with "unanimous." One of my favorite word choices. Ever. This stanza reminds me of Wordsworth's "Daffodils," about the weight of all this weary, unintelligible world. Tired as he is of the tired world, the author says God's strong love is enough for him. The second stanza I've quoted is underscored by snare drums to emphasize the war theme. If the weary world should be torn apart, with him in it, God's love is enough. I also love the balance of heavy themes with the somewhat lighthearted resignation expressed by, "I don't care what goes down." It's slang, but it also works into the lyric, as he has mentioned stars falling around him. It has two meanings, so again, it's a phrase that really counts.
I hope all of these musings over my favorite songs help to illustrate what some worthy word choices look like, over a range of styles and centuries.
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