A bit of church trivia: In The Man Who Rewrote Bunyan , Christopher Howse writes of Percy Dearmer — “a strange cove, but an energetic one” who “combined the visionary and practical,” notably in his Parson’s Handbook — who was, kind of, the author of He Who Would Valiant Be , a hymn familiar to Anglicans, having adapted some lines from Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress .
Bunyan’s poem begins: “Who would true valour see,?/ Let him come hither;?/ One here will constant be,?/ Come wind, come weather.” The English Hymnal version was rewritten by Percy Dearmer, to begin: “He who would valiant be?/ ’Gainst all disaster,?/ Let him in constancy?/ Follow the Master.”
The Master is no doubt meant for Jesus, and Dearmer introduced explicit references to the Lord and the Spirit. It must, of course be remembered that Bunyan was writing an allegory, so his lyrics are only metaphorically Christian. They are, I think, more vigorous, as Dearmer cut out references to a lion, hobgoblin and foul fiend.
The tune was written by Ralph Vaughan Williams.
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE
Rome and the Church in the United States
Archbishop Michael J. Curley of Baltimore, who confirmed my father, was a pugnacious Irishman with a taste…
Marriage Annulment and False Mercy
Pope Leo XIV recently told participants in a juridical-pastoral formation course of the Roman Rota that the…
Undercover in Canada’s Lawless Abortion Industry
On November 27, 2023, thirty-six-year-old Alissa Golob walked through the doors of the Cabbagetown Women’s Clinic in…
