All Things Bright and Beautiful

All Things Bright and Beautiful is the title of a famous Anglican hymn, though it is often sung during the services of other Christian denominations, such as the Roman Catholic Church. The text was written in Minehead in 1848 by Ce­cil F. Al­ex­an­der in the village of Dunster, and may have been inspired by a verse from S. T. Coleridge's "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" - "He prayeth best, who loveth best; All things great and small; For the dear God who loveth us; He made and loveth all."

Alternatively, inspiration may have come from William Paley's "Natural Theology" published in 1802 which sets out his argument for God as the designer of the Natural World. For example verse 2 makes reference to wings and verse 7 refers to eyes. Wings and eyes were two major examples of complexity of design that Paley used to support his famous analogy with a watch and God as the Divine Watchmaker. The hymn was first published in Alexander's "Hymns for Lit­tle Child­ren".

The piece can be sung to several melodies, in particular the 17th Century English melody "Roy­al Oak", adapted by Martin Shaw, and "Bright and Beau­ti­ful" by Wil­liam Henry Monk (1823-1889). There have also been other adaptations, such as a full choral piece by John Rutter.

The second line was used as the title to James Herriot's book "All Creatures Great and Small", which subsequently became the title of the film and television series. Later Herriot used the rest of the lines of the refrain for the books that followed: "All Things Bright and Beautiful", "All Things Wise and Wonderful," and "The Lord God Made Them All."

The words according to Hymns Ancient and Modern (Second Edition - 1875) :

:1. "All things bright and beautiful,":"All creatures great and small,":"All things wise and wonderful,":"The Lord God made them all."

:2. Each little flower that opens,:Each little bird that sings,:He made their glowing colours,:He made their tiny wings.

:"All things bright ..."

:3. The rich man in his castle,:The poor man at his gate,:God made them, high or lowly,:And order'd their estate.

:"All things bright ..."

:4. The purple headed mountains,:The river running by,:The sunset and the morning,:That brightens up the sky;−

:"All things bright ..."

:5. The cold wind in the winter,:The pleasant summer sun,:The ripe fruits in the garden,−:He made them every one:

:"All things bright ..."

:6. The tall trees in the greenwood,:The meadows where we play,:The rushes by the water,:We gather every day;−

:"All things bright ..."

:7. He gave us eyes to see them,:And lips that we might tell,:How great is God Almighty,:Who has made all things well.

:"All things bright ..."

:(Amen)

In more modern times, due to its endorsement of the class system, verse three is not sung. [http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/a/l/allthing.htm] [http://www.oremus.org/hymnal/a/a177.html] [http://www.weddingguide.co.uk/articles/wordsmusic/hymns/Hymn-AllThingsBrightAndBeautiful.asp]

In addition, the sixth verse is nearly always omitted because the pastoral imagery within it is no longer true for most congregations.

Parody

The hymn was parodied by The Goodies on their 1978 "The Goodies Beastly Record" as "I'm a Carnivore". It was also parodied by the Monty Python song "All Things Dull and Ugly", included on their 1980 album Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album and on the 1989 collection Monty Python Sings.

External links

* [http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/a/l/allthing.htm MIDI files and text at Cyberhymnal.org]