"Take Up Thy Cross, The Saviour Said" is an American Christian
hymn written by Charles W. Everest. It was originally a poem published in 1833 but was later altered to become a hymn. It was then edited by English hymnwriter
Sir Henry Baker for inclusion in the
Church of England's ''
Hymns Ancient and Modern'' hymnal.
History
"Take Up Thy Cross, The Saviour Said" was written by American clergyman Charles William Everest (1814–1877) and was included in the ''Episcopal Watchman'' magazine titled "Visions of Death" in 1833. It was published in the United Kingdom a year later in ''The Tract'' magazine. It was first published as a hymn in the ''Union Sabbath-School Hymns'' hymnal in 1835. This hymn version of the poem later went back to the United Kingdom where it was published with alterations in the ''Salisbury Hymn Book'' in 1857. "Take Up Thy Cross, The Saviour Said" was eventually included in the Church of England's ''Hymns Ancient and Modern'', being one of only two American hymns to make it into the first edition of the hymnal in 1861 (the other was "Thou Art The Way" by
George Washington Doane
George Washington Doane (May 27, 1799 – April 27, 1859) was an American churchman, educator, and the second bishop in the Episcopal Church for the Diocese of New Jersey.
Early life and career
Doane was born in Trenton, New Jersey. He gradu ...
).
During editing of "''Hymns Ancient and Modern''", the editor Henry Baker made a number of alterations and added an extra verse to the hymn before inclusion. As a result, a majority of Baker's alterations continued to be used as the hymn crossed denominations including into the
Methodist Church
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related Christian denomination, denominations of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John W ...
's ''
United Methodist Hymnal''.
Analysis
"Take Up Thy Cross, The Saviour Said" was written based upon
Mark 8:34 where
Jesus said ''"Whosoe'er will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me"''.
It has been viewed as a "young man's hymn" because of vagueness in the wording.
The hymn has commonly been used on
Good Friday
Good Friday is a Christian holiday commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary. It is observed during Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum. It is also known as Holy Friday, Great Friday, Great and Holy Friday (also Hol ...
.
Music
A widely used tune is ''Breslau'', a 15th-century German
folk melody.
Felix Mendelssohn
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include sy ...
wrote a choral arrangement of the tune for his 1836
oratorio,
''St Paul'', and this harmony, or simplified versions of it, are frequently used.
[ Another commonly used tune is ''Quebec'', also known as ''Quebec (Baker)'' and ''Hesperus'', composed in 1854 by English engineer and composer Henry Baker (1835–1910; not to be confused with Sir Henry Baker).]
References
{{Reflist, 30em
External links
The original text of ''Take Up Thy Cross'' i
''Vision of Death; and Other Poems''
C. W. Everest (1845), Robins and Smith, Hartford (p. 58).
American Christian hymns
Christian poetry
1833 poems