I got ahold of Soli Deo Gloria's edition of The Psalms and Hymns of Isaac Watts...hmmm, so tasty. And it looks like it was reconstituted from an older edition, because it's got older-style fonts (you know, rounded serifs, more circles and curves in the letters) and fade marks on the pages, as if they had been photocopied. A cool look. Makes you want to take the dust jacket off, so that it looks even older. I look forward to going through it, especially the psalms. There's no music included, but I don't mind. The music would be meaningless (though perhaps not one day)...gimme the poetry. I've seen that he has two versions of one of my favorites: Psalm 122. Only read one so far, saving the second for later.



One bit has be confused. The dustjacket says that "on the day of Watts' death, Matthew Arnold declared Watts' 'When I Survey The Wondrous Cross' to be the finest hymn in the English language." 'Cept, uh...Watts died in 1748, and Google tells me Arnold was born in 1822. Perhaps they meant that Arnold made that declaration on an anniversary of his death. I could probably Google that too.



Arnold...what a snot. I like a lot of his poetry, but I grew to dislike him when I read some of his criticism. Still, if you've read Dover Beach, then you're ready to read this beaut by Anthony Hecht.