UD‘s mother used to quote the end of these lines a lot – every prospect pleases, / And only man is vile – because she thought the sentiment was funny, and because it seemed to apply to a lot of the places she found herself (UD recalls her reciting it one summer on a crowded Ocean City Maryland beach). UD finally checked the source of the lines – the notorious From Greenland’s Icy Mountains – and now sees that for Reginald Heber “vile” simply meant heathen…
May 7th, 2017 at 2:49PM
That was in our church hymnal when I was a child, although I don’t remember ever singing it.
May 7th, 2017 at 2:54PM
JND: It was for some time one of his most popular hymns, but eventually the hymn’s content began to scandalize people.