When Morning Gilds the Sky | Logical Lyric Analysis

As I said in last week’s video, today is a look at a different version of When Morning Gilds the Sky. You can find many of the different version at hymnary.org. We are looking at the representative text that was translated by Edward Caswall.

Verse one starts out the same way we say in the video
When morning gilds the sky,
our hearts awaking cry:
May Jesus Christ be praised!

This quickly changes in the second half of the verse.
in all our work and prayer
we ask his loving care:
May Jesus Christ be praised!

This is not talking about the evening and already feels disconnected. This is asking for Jesus love in all that we do but it seems to be asking it with May Jesus Christ be Praised. Although not a bad thing, do you usually ask for care through praise?

Verse two feels unlike anything from the other version.
To God, the Word on high,
the hosts of angels cry:
May Jesus Christ be praised!

It starts with angels crying out praise and then connects back to humans.
Let mortals too upraise
their voices in hymns of praise:
May Jesus Christ be praised!

I actually really like this verse as it again connects to itself. We move from angels praising to humans praising.

Verse three here starts to sound a little familiar.
Let earth's wide circle round
in joyful notes resound:
May Jesus Christ be praised!

This really is just another phrasing of the start of verse two from the LSB version. It also reflects the second half of verse four of the other version. That connection does not stay as strong.
Let air and sea and sky
from depth to height reply:
May Jesus Christ be praised!

This is back to seeing the rest of creation praising. The logic of this verse is still good with the connection between voices of earth and elements of earth but it is not as strong as others.

Verse four kind of all goes together.
Be this, when day is past,
of all our thoughts the last:
May Jesus Christ be praised!
The night becomes as day
when from the heart we say:
May Jesus Christ be praised!

This gives us that evening imagery that we saw at the end of verse one in the other version. This is expanded upon but also loses its more direct connection to the morning. It might feel better if it had been the last verse so you would start with the morning and end with the evening but otherwise they feel disconnected.

This version closes with:
Then let us join to sing
to Christ, our loving King:
May Jesus Christ be praised!
Be this the eternal song
through all the ages long:
May Jesus Christ be praised!

The first half of this final verse feels especially generic. The second half is not much better. It does give us some slight reminders of verse three and five of the other version. I do think we can connect Philippians 2:9-11 with a lot of this version as well.

It is very interesting to me just how different these two versions of one song can be and is one more thing to think about before judging a song just because you think you know it. It is worth looking at the specific lyrics of the song and Think Before You Sing.