John
Keble
Born:
April 25, 1792, Fairford, Gloucestershire, England.
Died:
March 29, 1866, Bournemouth, Hampshire, England.
Buried:
Hursley, Hampshire, England.
Keble was the son of the Vicar of Colne. After a brilliant career at Oxford
University, he took Holy Orders and became Curate at East Leach and Burthorpe.
In 1827, he published The Christian Year: Thoughts in Verse for the Sundays
and Holy Days Throughout the Year, which was an instant success. In 1831,
Keble became a professor of poetry at Oxford. In 1833, he laid the foundation of
the Oxford Movement by delivering his famous Assize Sermon. In 1835, he accepted
the vicarage at Hursley, where he stayed the rest of his life.
Keble
was a modest man, and probably thought less of his own work than did the least
of his admirers. He once accompanied the vicar of a parish in southern England
on his visit to the Sunday School. The superintendent asked Keble to say a few
words to the children, who were already acquainted with his hymns, so that they
might more easily remember them. Keble demurred, but when the superintendent
persisted, said “May they sing something?” When they finished, his face was
beaming as he said:
My dear children,
you sang most beautifully in tune; may your whole lives be equally in tune,
and then you will sing with the angels in heaven.
Hymns
- Ave Maria! Blessèd
Maid!
- Bethlehem, above All
Cities Blest
- Blest Are the Pure
in Heart
- Christ Before Thy
Door Is Waiting
- Creator Savor,
Strengthening Guide
- Days of Hope and
Prayer Are Past, The
- Earth Is All the
Lord’s, with All, The
- Father, What
Treasures of Sweet Thought
- From Deeps So Wild
and Drear
- God Is Not in the
Earthquake, but Behold
- God Our Hope and
Strength Abiding
- God, the Lord, a
King Remaineth
- Gracious Savior,
Gentle Shepherd
- Hail, Gladdening
Light
- How Pleasant, Lord
of Hosts, How Dear
- How the Newborn
Saints, Assembling
- In Troublous Days of
Anguish and Rebuke
- Lessons Sweet of
Spring Returning
- Live-Long Night
We’ve Toiled in Vain, The
- Living Stream, as
Crystal Clear, A
- Lo, from the Eastern
Hills the Lord
- Lord, Be My Judge,
for I Have Trod
- Lord, in Thy Name
Thy Servants Plead
- Lord, Lift My Heart
to Thee at Morn
- Lord of Life,
Prophetic Spirit
- Lord, Thy Heart in
Love Hath Yearned
- Lord, Thou Hast
Searched Me Out and Known
- Mercies of the Lord
My God, The
- Midday Sun with
Fiercest Glare, The
- My God, My God, Why
Hast Thou Me?
- My Savior, Can It
Ever Be?
- My Shepherd Is the
Living God
- My Shepherd Is the
Lord, I Know
- New Every Morning is
the Love
- O Father of Long
Suffering Grace
- O God of Mercy, God
of Might
- O Lord My God, Do
Thy Holy Will
- O Love Unseen, We
Know Thee Nigh
- O Say Not, Dream Not
- O Shame on Thee,
Listless Heart
- O Timely Happy,
Timely Wise
- O Who Shall Dare in
This Frail Scene?
- Once in His Name Who
Made Thee
- Our God in Glory
Sits on High
- Praise the Lord, for
He Is Love
- Praise Ye the Lord
from Heaven
- Red o’er the
Forest Peers the Setting Sun
- Seed of Jacob, One
and All, The
- Shadow of the
Almighty’s Cloud, The
- Silent Joy That
Sinks So Deep, The
- Sing the Song
Unheard Before
- Slowly the Gleaming
Stars Retire
- Sound High
Jehovah’s Name
- Spirit of Christ,
Thine Earnest Give
- Spirit of Light and
Truth, to Thee
- Spirit of Might and
Sweetness Too
- Sun
of My Soul
- Sweet Nurslings of
the Vernal Skies
- Then, Fainting Soul,
Arise and Sing
- There is a Book that
All May Read
- Thou Framer of the
Light and Dark
- Twilight Hour Is
Sweet at Morn, The
- Voice that Breathed
O'er Eden, The
- When Brothers Part
for Manhood’s Race
- When Christ to
Village Comes or Town
- When God of Old Came
Down from Heav'n
- Who for the Like of
Me Will Care?
- Who Is God’s
Chosen Priest?
- Why Doth My Savior
Weep?
- Why Should We Faint
and Fear to Live Alone?
- Wish Not, Dear
Friends, My Pain Away
- Word Supreme, Before
Creation