John S. Allen
The well-known hymn Jesus Loves Me, commonly sung by children, originated in the USA in the early 19th Century as a poem by Anna Bartlett Warner. She was the daughter of a wealthy New York City attorney who had lost his fortune, though she was still able to live in comfort on an island in the Hudson River some 30 miles north of New York City, near the West Point Miiltary Academy. One of her activities was to be rowed across the river to give religious instruction to cadets at the Academy.
The poem Jesus Loves Me in its original form is intended to give comfort when recited to or by a dying child. The poem is of the genre darkly satirized in the late 20th Century by the late Edward Gorey. Jesus Loves Me reflects, on a smaller scale, sentiments like those of Gustav Mahler's Kindertotenlieder (Songs on the Death of Children) -- inspired by the death of his own beloved daughter. In 19th Century America and Europe, dying children were no topic for satire. Vaccination for smallpox existed by then, but not for other deadly infectious diseases. Antibiotics had not yet been discovered or developed; sanitation was only beginning to be understood. Cities were pits of contagion. Children often died. Many wasted away slowly and painfully. Family and friends would take whatever comfort they could get. Religious belief, and the promise of an afterlife, offered such comfort.
Once the words of Jesus Love Me were set to music, with an added chorus, and began to be sung as a hymn, they took on a life of their own, as hymn lyrics so often do. Hymnal editors decided that children would find the original words rather disturbing. With the advance of medical science and its application in the wealthier countries, the original four verses of Jesus Loves Me no longer reflected common experience. Hence, Edward Gorey, and hence, changes to Jesus Loves Me.
Below, side by side, are the original, and the version from the United Church of Canada hymnal in use from the mid- to late- twentieth century -- perhaps still in use. When my great-uncle Harold led the siinging of Jesus Love Me before to the children's leaving the service for Children's Activity, we sang only the first verse and chorus. At that time I did not know of any other verses, or of different versions.
Below the lyrics you may find additional comments from my sister Jean, who compiles and translates hymns for her church.
| Original version by Anna Bartlett Warner |
Version from United Church of Canada hymnal, second and third verses by David Rutherford McGuire, change in first verse unattributed |
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| 1. | Jesus loves me, this I know, For the Bible tells me so. Little ones to him belong; They are weak and he is strong. |
Jesus loves me, this I know, For the Bible tells me so. Little ones to him belong; In his love, we shall be strong. |
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| Cho. | Yes, Jesus loves me (3x) The Bible tells me so. |
Yes, Jesus loves me (3x) The Bible tells me so. |
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| 2. | Jesus loves me, he who died, Heaven's gate to open wide. He will wash away my sin; Let his little child come in. |
Jesus loves me, this I know, As he loved so long ago. Taking children on his knees, Saying "Let them come to me." |
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| (Cho.) | |||
| 3. | Jesus loves me, loves me still, Though I'm very weak and ill. From his shining throne on high, Comes to watch me where I lie. |
Jesus loves me still today Walking with me on my way, Wanting as a friend to give Light and love to all who live. |
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| (Cho.) | |||
| 4. | Jesus loves me! He will stay Close beside me all the way If I love him, when I die He will take me home on high. |
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| (Cho.) | . |
Dear John,
We have used the original "Jesus loves me." We have chosen to use 3 verses and not include the one that referred to illness. This is what many old standard hymnbooks have. I have an old hymn book with 4 verses including the one about sickness in it.
It is in many old hymnbooks but not all. We did not include that one primarily because the song otherwise applies to children in general. You asked about a verse you did not have. I checked and could only find at the most, the 4 verses you quoted from the original version. I found this one place. It sounds like a redo of the last verse.
| Jesus loves me! He will stay Close beside me all the way; Thou hast bled and died for me, I will henceforth live for Thee. |
The old last verse refers to death but it is in a comforting way.
| Jesus loves me! He will stay Close beside me all the way If I love him, when I die He will take me home on high. |
I think most children think about death at some point. Here in Salem we lost 2 girls about 3 years apart. They were both 12. The last words of one of the girls was "Jesus, I love you with my whole heart." They found out afterwards that she had a weak heart and when she got a flu virus it was too much for her heart.
I found out that her favorite song was one I wrote. The first line is "We are young but know that life is fleeting" I have not done much looking in modern hymnals. However I have seen this type of thing before.
One thing that especially bothered me about the version of "Jesus loves me" that you sent was the first verse. I did not like it that the last line of her 1st verse was changed without documentation. I have never seen that version before. It sounds as though it has been spread far and wide, though.
(I have seen the other verses you quoted before-they at least acknowledged another author.) When groups like the Unitarians or whoever else, change some of the meanings of old hymns to suit their doctrines and water it down, it seems to me that it comes from lack of inspiriation and conviction. If they are so inspired why don't they write their own hymn texts? (I am not speaking of using the same melody for obviously different texts-this is common in hymnody. Psalters often have interchangeable melodies for some of the texts.)
Why are they so intent on making a copy of the famous hymn that sounds almost the same but has a different doctrine? ?
As someone said once "not very good artwork.' It makes a statement. Have you seen watered down versions of "A mighty fortress"? I found several translations of it. One is the prevailing translation and we will be using that. Translation can be an interesting issue, as you know. I am retranslating some hymns from Norwegian that had been translated into English. I did not like the translations. Here, also, things can be given a different slant.
On this subject there is much I could say, But I'll leave the rest for another day. -)
Well bye for now,
Love Jean