A Hymn That Has Its Ups and Downs

At Mass today we sang, as many churches do on Transfiguration Sunday, the hymn 'Tis Good Lord to Be Here, by Joseph Armitage Robinson.

’Tis good, Lord, to be here,
Thy glory fills the night;
Thy face and garments, like the sun,
Shine with unborrowed light.

’Tis good, Lord, to be here,
Thy beauty to behold
Where Moses and Elijah stand,
Thy messengers of old.

Fulfiller of the past,
Promise of things to be,
We hail Thy body glorified
And our redemption see.

Before we taste of death,
We see Thy kingdom come;
We fain would hold the vision bright
And make this hill our home.

’Tis good, Lord, to be here.
Yet we may not remain;
But since Thou bidst us leave the mount,
Come with us to the plain.

That's a mighty lyric. Not only is it deeply expressive of the mystery of the day, but it is also remarkable poetry. Note the pleasant vowel sounds, the long vowels at the end of verses, and the steady use of the l-sound throughout, in the most significant words. Plus the fresh, brief litany: Fulfiller of the past! Promise of things to be! The poetry is vigourous and confident, and very satisfying to the ear and mind.

Unfortunately, however, the hymn is all wrong.

First, as a hymn, it is inside-out. Hymns grow to a height. No matter what has happened--even in the Gospel--there is more to come, and hymns must always celebrate the "more." Hymns end at their highest point. Contrariwise, this hymn takes for its model the "topography" (if you will) of the story itself, isolated from its fulfillment. The hymn walks a mountain up, then down. The "high" point of the story is the Father's voice, at which the apostles fall down; the high point of the hymn is the third verse, in which Christ is recognized for Who He is and the soteriological implications of His identity are evident. Then both story and hymn go down the mountain--as the hymn says, "to the plain."

St. Paul says "If our hopes in Christ are limited to this life only, we are the most pitiable of men." [Broad sense of "men," of course.] Even with the presence of Christ intensely with us "on the plain," if we are living for the life of the plain, we are living for the futility of a life that will end. But a hymn must point forward into eternity.

Even more problematic, but in a similar way, is the refrain of the hymn: "'Tis good, Lord, to be here." This should never have been said in the first place. It was a typical blunder of St. Peter's to want to halt the Lord's saving action by holding too tightly to penultimate moments of glory. The Transfiguration is not the "high" point of the Gospel--the high point so far is the Paschal Mystery, which has not even now been fulfilled. When it is fulfilled, then it will be time to rest in our booths. But not now. Nor is it for us to go to the plain as though that is the real life. We must press on in real but hidden glory to the Resurrection and beyond. It was not a lasting "good" to be on the mountain--and in any case, "we" are not there. Peter, James and John, as apostolic witnesses, were there. We are already heirs to the fulfilled promise of their vision, the Resurrection. And our hope lies in this promise's new fulfillment in the age to come.

This is why the far lesser poem O Wondrous Type, O Vision Fair is the far better hymn.

O wondrous type! O vision fair

of glory that the Church may share,

which Christ upon the mountain shows

,where brighter than the sun he glows!

The law and prophets there have place,

the chosen witnesses of grace;

the Father's voice from our the cloud

proclaims his only Son aloud.

With shining face and bright array,

Christ deigns to manifest today

what glory shall be theirs above

who joy in God with perfect love.

And faithful hearts are raised on high

by this great vision's mystery;

for which in joyful strains we raise

the voice of prayer, the hymns of praise.

O Father, with the eternal Son,

and Holy Spirit, ever One,

vouchsafe to bring us by thy grace

to see thy glory face to face.

Words: Latin, fifteenth century; trans. Hymns Ancient & Modern, 1861