Hymns
He wrote some of his work in English, but the great majority is in his native Welsh. He published his first work in 1744, the first part of Aleluia, a collection of hymns. This was followed by further collections:
- Hosanna i Fab Dafydd (Hosannah to the Son of David), 1751
- Rhai hymnau a chaniadau duwiol (Some godly hymns and songs), 1759
- Caniadau y rhai sydd ar y môr o wydr (The songs of those on the crystal sea), 1762
- Ffarwel weledig, groesaw anweledig bethau (Farewell seen, and welcome unseen things), 1763;
- Gloria in excelsis, 1771;
- Ychydig hymnau (A few hymns), 1774;
- Rhai hymnau newyddion (Some new hymns), 1782.
He also published two collections of English hymns:
- Hosannah to the son of David, 1759
- Gloria in excelsis, 1772.
Possibly his best known hymn is Arglwydd, arwain trwy'r anialwch (in English, Lord, lead me through the wilderness, translated as the English Hymn Guide me, O Thou Great Jehovah), usually sung to John Hughes' Cwm Rhondda .
Read more about this topic: William Williams Pantycelyn
Famous quotes containing the word hymns:
“So do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit, as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts, giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
—Bible: New Testament, Ephesians 5:17-20.
“Whether, if you yield not to your father’s choice,
You can endure the livery of a nun,
For aye to be in shady cloister mewed,
To live a barren sister all your life,
Chanting faint hymns to the cold fruitless moon.
Thrice blessed they that master so their blood
To undergo such maiden pilgrimage.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“The form of act or thought mattered nothing. The hymns of David, the plays of Shakespeare, the metaphysics of Descartes, the crimes of Borgia, the virtues of Antonine, the atheism of yesterday and the materialism of to-day, were all emanation of divine thought, doing their appointed work. It was the duty of the church to deal with them all, not as though they existed through a power hostile to the deity, but as instruments of the deity to work out his unrevealed ends.”
—Henry Brooks Adams (1838–1918)