This is my first attempt at a villanelle. It was fairly hard, especially getting the refrains to make sense in more than one position or form. It’s not very good, in my opinion, though practice may bring me to make a finer version.

There is a fire on a hill,
Set long ago by men of old,
Burning away a bygone chill.

Twas kindled by their ancient skill
In deep forests above the wold;
There is a fire on a hill.

By its light they made mental drill
To fill their minds all they could hold,
Burning away a bygone chill.

The flame is beacon to us still,
And we proclaim with voices bold:
There is a fire on a hill.

Now we hold their high vigil,
Sounding thoughts that they had told,
Burning away a bygone chill.

Rememb’ring this our children will
Shelter their souls against the cold:
There is a fire on a hill,
Burning away a bygone chill.

There you have it. Quite an interesting style of verse if you want to challenge yourself.

If you’re interested, Jars Of Clay has a moving version of this hymn on their album, Redemption Songs.

Let us love, and sing, and wonder,

Let us praise the Savior’s name!

He has hushed the Law’s loud thunder,

He has quenched Mount Sinai’s flame:

    He has washed us with his blood,

    He has brought us nigh to God.

Let us love the Lord who bought us,

Pitied us when enemies;

Called us by his grace, and taught us,

Gave us ears, and gave us eyes:

    He has washed us with his blood,

    He presents our souls to God.

Let us sing though fierce temptations

Threaten hard to bear us down

For the Lord, our strong salvation,

Holds in view the conqu’rors crown:

    He who washed us with his blood,

    Soon will bring us home to God.

Let us wonder, grace and justice,

Join and point to mercy’s store;

When through grace in Christ our trust is,

Justice smiles; and asks no more:

    He who washed us with his blood,

    Has secured our way to God.

Let us praise, and join the chorus

Of the saints, enthroned on high;

Here they trusted him before us,

Now their praises fill the sky:

    “Thou hast washed us with thy blood,

    Thou art worthy, Lamb of God!”

Hark! the name of Jesus, sounded

Loud, from golden harps above!

Lord, we blush, and are confounded,

Faint our praises, cold our love!

    Wash our souls and songs with blood,

    For by thee we come to God.

               – John Newton

I especially like “When through grace in Christ our trust is, Justice smiles; and asks no more” a great word-picture.

A while back I stumbled my way through St. Anselm’s Proslogium. That’s the one where he lays out the ontological argument for the existence of God. It’s a very beautiful writing, even if you don’t lend credence to the points of his case. You can find it free online here.

The following quote is Anselm’s prayer at the end of the discourse, and I just found it thrilling. Anselm goes through his work outlining how the fullness of God compares to the limitedness of man, and how the absolute greatness of God necessitates his exisence. Because we can conceive of a being whom greater than which cannot be conceived, and since it is greater to exist in reality than the mind only, that being must exist truly, or else that being is not truly greater than any other that can be conceived. Here he takes that understanding of the overwhelming fullness of God, the incapacity of our understanding to grasp it, and the fact that, in the words of a song, “He is more than enough for me,” and turns it into a prayer.

“My God and my Lord, my hope and the joy of my heart, speak unto my soul and tell me whether this is the joy of which you tell us through your Son: Ask and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full (John xvi. 24). For I have found a joy that is full, and more than full. For when heart, and mind, and soul, and all the man, are full of that joy, joy beyond measure will still remain. Hence, not all of that joy shall enter into those who rejoice; but they who rejoice shall wholly enter into that joy.

Show me, O Lord, show your servant in his heart whether this is the joy into which your servants shall enter, who shall enter into the joy of their Lord. But that joy, surely, with which your chosen ones shall rejoice, eye has not seen nor ear heard, neither has it entered into the heart of man (Isaiah lxiv. 4; i Corinthians ii. 9). Not yet, then, have I told or conceived, O Lord, how greatly those blessed ones of yours shall rejoice. Doubtless they shall rejoice according as they shall love; and they shall love according as they shall know. How far they will know you, Lord, then! and how much they will love you! Truly, eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither has it entered into the heart of man in this life, how far they shall know you, and how much they shall love you in that life.

I pray, 0 God, to know you, to love you, that I may rejoice in you. And if I cannot attain to full joy in this life may I at least advance from day to day, until that joy shall come to the full. Let the knowledge of you advance in me here, and there be made full. Let the love of you increase, and there let it be full, that here my joy may be great in hope, and there full in truth. Lord, through your Son you do command, nay, you do counsel us to ask; and you do promise that we shall receive, that our joy may be full. I ask, O Lord, as you do counsel through our wonderful Counsellor. I will receive what you do promise by virtue of your truth, that my joy may be full. Faithful God, I ask. I will receive, that my joy may be full. Meanwhile, let my mind meditate upon it; let my tongue speak of it. Let my heart love it; let my mouth talk of it. Let my soul hunger for it; let my flesh thirst for it; let my whole being desire it, until I enter into your joy, O Lord, who are the Three and the One God, blessed for ever and ever. Amen.” (em. mine)

The part in bold says it all.

Amen.