I had not ventured to hope that, whatever be the beauty of these Hymns in their original language, a Second Edition of the Translation should so soon have been called for. And it has been an additional pleasure to me to find that, notwithstanding the miserable inferiority of the version, the words of S. Cosmas, S. John Damascene, and S. Joseph of the Studium, have been already introduced into English congregations. One Hymnal which has been kindly sent to me, contains no less than eleven Greek Hymns. In the present Edition, all those versions which did not rhyme, -- that is, which would be of no practical use, are omitted. [1] Of the Canon for S. Thomas' Sunday more is given: and in some cases where, of alternate rhymes, the one-half was permitted to remain without consonance, the defect has been remedied, I hope, without much injury to the sense. It would be ungrateful if I did not express my gratitude for the way in which my little book has been received, notwithstanding its manifold imperfections. Sackville College, Footnotes: [1] [Restored in the electronic edition.] |
    |