Part 9 (2/2)

1. The heavens & the fyrmamente do wondersly declare The glory of G.o.d omnipotent his workes and what they are.

2. Ech daye declareth by his course an other daye to come And By the night we know lykwise a nightly course to run.

3. There is no laguage tong or speche where theyr sound is not heard, In al the earth and coastes thereof theyr knowledge is conferd.

4. In them the lord made royally a settle for the sunne Where lyke a Gyant joyfully he myght his iourney runne.

5. And all the skye from ende to ende he compast round about No man can hyde hym from his heate but he wll fynd hym out

In order to show the liberties taken with the text we can compare with it the Genevan edition printed in 1556. The second verse of that presumptuous rendering reads,--

”The wonderous works of G.o.d appears by every days success The nyghts which likewise their race runne the selfe same thinges expresse.”

The fourth,--

”In them the lorde made for the sunne a place of great renoune Who like a bridegrome rady-trimed doth from his chamber come.”

The expression ”rady-trimed,” meaning close-shaven, is often instanced as one of the inelegancies of Sternhold, but he surely ought not to be held responsible for the ”improvements” of the Genevan edition published after his death.

The Genevan editors also invented and inserted an extra verse:--

”And as a valiant champion who for to get a prize With joye doth hast to take in hande some n.o.ble enterprise.”

The fifth verse is thus altered:--

”And al the skye from ende to ende he compa.s.seth about, Nothing can hyde it from his heate but he wil finde it out.”

I cannot express the indignation with which I read these belittling and weakening alterations and interpolations; they are so unjust and so degrading to the reputation of Sternhold. It seems worse than forgery--worse than piracy; for instead of stealing from the defenceless dead poet, it foists upon him a spurious and degrading progeny; there is no word to express this tinkering libellous literary crime.

Cromwell had a prime favorite among these psalms; it was the one hundred and ninth and is known as the ”cursing psalm.” Here are a few lines from it:--

”As he did cursing love, it shall betide unto him so, And as he did not blessing love it shall be farre him fro, As he with cursing clad himselfe so it like water shall Into his bowels and like oyl Into his bones befall.

As garments let it be to him to cover him for aye And as a girdle wherewith he may girded be alway.”

Another authority gives the ”cursing psalm” as the nineteenth of King James's version; but there is nothing in ”The heavens declare the glory of G.o.d,” &c. to justify the nickname of ”cursing.”

It is said when the tyrannical ruler Andros visited New Haven and attended church there that (Sternhold and Hopkins' Version being used) the fearless minister very inhospitably gave out the fifty-second psalm to be sung. The angry governor, who took it as a direct insult, had to listen to the lining and singing of these words, and I have no doubt they were roared out with a l.u.s.ty will:--

1. Why dost thou tyrant boast thyself thy wicked deeds to praise Dost thou not know there is a G.o.d whose mercies last alwaies?

2. Why doth thy mind yet still deuise such wisked wiles to warp?

Thy tongue untrue, in forging lies is like a razer sharp.

4. Thou dost delight in fraude & guilt in mischief bloude and wrong: Thy lips have learned the flattering stile O false deceitful tongue.

5. Therefore shall G.o.d for eye confounde and pluck thee from thy place.

Thy seed and root from out the grounde and so shall thee deface;

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