oss that liftest up my head,
I dare not ask to fly from Thee:
I lay in dust life's glory dead,
And from the ground there blossoms red
Life that shall endless be.

George Matheson, 1882.

MATHESON AND HIS SONG IN THE NIGHT

The most recent of English hymn-writers to gain recognition in the
standard hymn-books of the Church is George Matheson. The fame of this
man will probably rest on a single hymn, "O Love that wilt not let me
go," written on a summer evening in 1882.

A deeper appreciation and understanding will be felt for this hymn when
we know that it is truly a "song in the night," for Matheson was blind
when he wrote it.

Born in Glasgow, Scotland, March 27, 1842, Matheson enjoyed partial
vision as a boy. However, after he entered Glasgow University at the age
of fifteen, his sight began to fail and he became totally blind.
Nevertheless, in spite of this handicap, he was a brilliant scholar and
graduated with honor in 1861. Having decided to enter the ministry, he
remained four additional years for theological studies.

It was while he was parish minister at Innellan, a seaport summer resort
in Scotland, that the famous hymn was written. He tells the story in his
own words:

"It was written in the manse of my former parish (Innellan) one summer
evening in 1882. It was composed with extreme rapidity; it seemed to me
that its construction occupied only a few minutes, and I felt myself
rather in the position of one who was being dictated to than an original
artist. I was suffering from extreme mental distress, and the hymn was
the fruit of pain."

Many conjectures have been made regarding the cause of the "mental
distress" from which the author was suffering. Because of the opening
line, "O Love that wilt not let me go," it has been suggested that
Matheson had been bitterly disappointed in his hopes of marrying a young
woman to whom he had become deeply attached. It is said that her refusal
to marry him was due to his blindness.

Although this story cannot be vouched for, there are many significant
hints in the hymn to his sad affliction, such as the "flickering torch"
and the "borrowed ray" in the second stanza, the beautiful thought of
tracing "the rainbow through the rain" in the third stanza, and the
"cross" referred to in the final stanza. The hymn is so artistically
constructed and is so rich in poetic thought and symbolic meani