Arise, My Soul, Arise

with
FONMON
LENOX 
[Norman Melody]
[Kevin Twit]

I. Publication History

The hymn “Arise, my soul, arise” by Charles Wesley (1707–1788) first appeared in Hymns and Sacred Poems (1742 | Fig. 1) in five stanzas of six lines. This book should not be confused with the two earlier works published by the Wesleys under the same name in 1739 and 1740, nor should this hymn be confused with another Wesley text, “Arise, my soul, arise, Thy Savior’s sacrifice” (1739). This first occurrence of “Arise” in Hymns and Sacred Poems is the only time it appeared with the heading “Behold the Man!” This is not a title; it designates a Scripture reference, specifically John 19:5 (“Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe. And Pilate saith unto them, ‘Behold the man!’” KJV). There in Pilate’s hall, “The bleeding sacrifice in my behalf appears,” not “Before the throne” of the Father as “my surety,” but before the Roman governor to offer himself as the sacrifice for sin. “Behold the Man!” is an appropriate heading, as Wesley intertwined the sacrificial work and the intercessory work of Christ. Before he could appear as our surety, he had to appear as our sacrifice.

The next appearance of “Arise” was in Hymns for Those to Whom Christ is All in All (1761 | Fig. 2). At the time of its publication, Charles and John were at odds with one another over the doctrine of Christian Perfection, so this publication was solely a work by Charles. The circumstances of this disagreement had to do with the several Methodist followers in London who claimed they had achieved Christian perfection, complete freedom from sin. John encouraged their boasting in this blessing, but Charles was suspicious, maintaining that those who had reached perfection would boast of their dependence on Christ, not of their perfection.[1] Charles’s position was therefore reflected in the collection’s title. “Arise” was given here without changes, except for the generic heading (“Hymn LV”).

“Arise” next appeared in the first edition of A Collection of Hymns for the Use of the People Called Methodists (1780 | Fig. 3), which contained 525 hymns. The brothers’ collection remained the basis for Methodist hymnals long after their deaths and has been called “the most influential hymn book in the history and development of Methodism.”[2] Providing a hint for the approach to worship and cultural engagement promoted by the Wesleys, the title of the book and the titles of the five major sections indicate the way church songs should impact all people in all areas of life. “Arise” appeared in Section I of Part IV, “For Believers: Rejoicing.” Starting in the 5th edition (1786), “Arise” appeared with a tune recommendation for FONMON (more on this below).

The last appearance of “Arise” during the lifetime of Charles Wesley was in the revised edition of A Pocket Hymn Book for the Use of Christians of All Generations (1787 | Fig. 4). This pocket hymnal was produced in response to Robert Spence’s unapproved compilation of the Wesleys’ hymns published earlier under the same name. Spence’s pirated Pocket Hymn Book (1783) was printed on smaller paper and cost 1 shilling. It outsold the Wesleys’ hymnals, which usually sold for 4 shillings.[3] The Wesleys’ version of A Pocket Hymn Book was first printed in 1785. In the preface to the second edition (1787), John admitted some of the texts of the hastily printed first edition were “doggerel double distilled.” As with A Collection of Hymns, “Arise” was associated here with the tune FONMON.

II. Text: Common Alterations

Although the punctuation, indention, and capitalization were altered, the words of “Arise” were never changed by Wesley. There are three notable modern alterations to the text. One common alteration is in the third stanza. Wesley wrote, “They strongly speak for me,” but later versions have “They strongly plead for me.” This change originated in Hymns for the Use of the Methodist Episcopal Church (1849).

Another alteration has appeared in the second stanza. Wesley originally wrote, “His blood atoned for all our race,” but many modern hymnals have printed “His blood atoned for every race.” This seems to have been introduced in the Trinity Hymnal (1961). There are two possible avenues for concern here in the eyes of modern editors. Such a change could be in response to the word “all,” which is a reflection of Wesley’s commitment to the doctrine of unlimited atonement. But by changing this one word, the meaning of the sentence shifts from atonement for the human race to atonement for the whole gamut of earthly races (ethnicities), which then possibly calls to mind Revelation 5:9 (“by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation,” etc.). The ultimate interpretation or perception of Wesley’s intent and the appropriate editorial response to it will need to be decided by the relevant hymnal committee or the pastoral leadership of a congregation.

One other sticking point sometimes arises in the fifth stanza, where lines 1 and 3 (“My God is reconciled . . . He owns me for his child”) have been altered in various ways to reflect humanity being reconciled back to God rather than God being reconciled to humanity. The first occurrence of this variety of alterations was in the British Hymns and Psalms: A Methodist and Ecumenical Hymn Book (1983), which has “He owns me for his child . . . In Jesus reconciled.” For more on this doctrinal concern, see the analysis below.

III. Text: Analysis

The rhyme scheme for “Arise” is ababcc. The first four lines employ iambic trimeter, while lines five and six feature iambic tetrameter. Wesley wrote more than sixty hymn texts in this meter (6.6.6.6.8.8, or 6.6.6.6.4.4.4.4). His most well-known poems composed in this meter are “Rejoice, the Lord is king!” and “Blow ye the trumpet, blow!” This meter has sometimes been called “Trumpet Meter” because of its close association with “Blow ye the trumpet, blow,” even though Wesley was not the first English writer to use it.[4]

The first stanza calls upon truths from Hebrews, Isaiah, and the Psalms to jar the Christian who lacks assurance. There is no need to be fearful! Christ himself became the sure sacrifice for sin, and the proof—your name—is written on his nail-scarred hands! This addressing of “my soul” to stir oneself to spiritual action (apostrophe) is common in the Psalms (16:2; 34:2; 35:3,9; 42:1–11; 103:1–2,22; 104:1,35; 116:7; 146:1). The occurrence of the word “arise” at the beginning and end of the first line is a notable example of epanalepsis. His typological reference to “The bleeding sacrifice” is in reference to Hebrews 9:26 (“he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself,” KJV). The alliteration of “surety stands” (“Jesus made a surety of a better testament,” Heb. 7:22) rhymes with a reference to a prophecy of Isaiah (“I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands,” Isa. 49:16).

Wesley began the second stanza by paraphrasing words from Hebrews 7:25 (“seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them”). “His all-redeeming love” and “His precious blood” are an example of parallelism, with his shed blood being the greatest proof of love (John 15:13). These lines also convey personification, as the blood takes on the human quality of pleading. Wesley borrowed this from the writer of Hebrews, who personified the sprinkled blood of Christ, which “speaketh better things than that of Abel” (12:24). The sprinkling of blood occurs six times in Hebrews (9:13,18,21; 10:22; 11:28; 12:24), and the throne of God where Christ now mediates is referenced four times (1:8, 4:16, 8:1, 12:2). If there were a single verse to best summarize this hymn, it would be Hebrews 4:16 (“Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need”). The throne of grace is found in the last line of stanza two, and the call to “come boldly” hearkens to the first stanza, which commands the Christian to “shake off thy guilty fears.”

In the third stanza, the “five bleeding wounds” are a central figure of this text. Literary hymn scholar J.R. Watson called this hymn “a daring interior monologue based on the contemplation of the five wounds of Christ.”[5] Here again, Wesley uses word play, especially personification, as the wounds “pour effectual prayers,” they speak, and they cry. There are two occurrences of alliteration in this stanza: “pour prayer” and “strongly speak,” and the repetition of “Forgive him, O forgive” provides a feeling of desperation.

Devotion to the wounds of Christ or to his holy body has been in the Christian vocabulary at least since the time of Francis of Assisi, who received the stigmata some 500 years before Wesley lived. They have figured into medieval art, music, and iconography. The famed crucifixion hymns by Arnulf of Leuven in the 13th century, the Membra Jesu Nostri (“O sacred head, now wounded”), call to the feet, knees, hands, side, chest, heart, and face/head. In English hymnody, Isaac Watts asked worshipers to “See from His head, His hands, His feet” in his beloved hymn “When I survey the wondrous cross.”

In stanza four, a trinitarian formula emerges: The Father hears the Son pray as the Spirit answers to the blood. The personified prayers of stanza three are heard and answered in stanza four. This intercession of the Son to the Father on our behalf is presented in Hebrews when the writer stated, “the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did, by the which we draw nigh unto God” (7:19), and Christ “ever liveth to make intercession” (7:25). The writer of Hebrews connected the Spirit to the bloody work of Christ and the Father: “the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God” (9:14); however, the writer did not present the Spirit in submission to the blood as Wesley did. That the Spirit speaks the same thing as the blood (“and tells me I am born of God”) comes from the words of Christ in John’s gospel: “the Spirit of truth . . . he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak” (16:13). Johannine language is also found in Wesley’s phrase “born of God,” which calls to mind Christ’s conversation with Nicodemus (3:1–15).

In stanza five, the phrase “My God is reconciled” may be troubling for those who are used to the concept of man being reconciled to God (2 Cor. 5:18, Rom. 5:10). If one is inclined to alter the text, a change in direction can be achieved by altering just one word: “My God has reconciled.” This makes the verb active rather than passive; God is now doing the reconciling rather than being the one who is reconciled. With this revision, God is reconciling in line 1 and pardoning in line 2. The remaining lines are a restatement of Romans 8:15 (“For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father”). The words “fear” and “confidence” tie back to the call to “shake off thy guilty fears” in stanza one.

IV. Tunes

1. FONMON

The earliest verified tune to be used with “Arise” is FONMON, suggested by the Wesleys in the 5th edition of A Collection of Hymns (1786) and in A Pocket Hymn Book (1787). While there is no way at this time to know if “Arise” had a preferred tune prior to 1786 during the first forty-four years of its existence, we know FONMON was sung regularly at the Foundry when “Arise” was first published, because FONMON appeared in A Collection of Tunes: Set to Music as They Are Commonly Sung at the Foundry (1742), although with “Jesus, the Truth, the Way.” This is the earliest known publication of the tune, and the Wesleys evidently assigned the name.

Not much is known about the history of FONMON, but it seems likely to have been an old Welsh tune preserved by the villagers at Fonmon in the Vale of Glamorgan, South Wales.[6] In 1741, Charles had developed a close friendship with Robert Jones of Fonmon Castle, who became a supporter after he came under the preaching of the Methodists. This friendship lasted only a year, as Jones suffered an early death at the age of 36. Expressing his great appreciation for Jones, following his death, Wesley composed and published “Elegy on the Death of Robert Jones” (1742), a lengthy and emotional poem of nearly 600 lines.[7] Wesley probably learned FONMON during one of his visits to Fonmon Castle.

FONMON was similarly included in Select Hymns with Tunes Annext (1761) with improved notation and some melodic changes. It was set to “The Lord Jehovah reigns,” by Isaac Watts, from Hymns and Spiritual Songs, 2nd ed. (1709).

FONMON also appeared in the Wesleys’ last tune book, Sacred Harmony (1780), set to the Watts text, this time arranged for two parts (melody and bass).

2. LENOX

In spite of the Wesleys’ preference for FONMON, “Arise, my soul, arise” is not known to have ever been printed with that tune, and the tune itself fell out of use after 1820. FONMON was not included, for example, in the 1877 edition of A Collection of Hymns for the Use of the People called Methodists, with Tunes. Some other early attempts to set “Arise, my soul, arise” included YORKSHIRE in 1799, PEMBROKE in 1800, BURRINGHAM and TRUMPET in 1803, VENICE in 1805, and MOUNT SINAI in 1807.[8] This inconsistency was solved to some degree when it was paired in 1808 with LENOX by Lewis Edson (1748–1820).

The first published appearance of LENOX was in Simeon Jocelin’s The Chorister’s Companion (New Haven, 1782). This first occurrence was not with the text of “Arise,” but with Isaac Watts’ “Ye tribes of Adam, join” (Fig. 8). In this earliest printing, the melody was in the third part (tenor), arranged in the fuguing style. “P.M.” means “Peculiar Meter,” as opposed to the standard meters (Common, Long, Short). Edson was credited as composer in the index.

The earliest published occurrence of “Arise” and LENOX together was in J. Evans’ David's Companion: Being a Choice Selection of Hymn and Psalm Tunes Adapted to the Words and Measures in the Methodist Pocket Hymn-Book (New York, 1808 | Fig. 9). The melody was in the third part, in spite of the second line being marked as the tenor voice. Evans’ arrangement was different than what had appeared in 1782. The meaning of the citation “From Erbin’s” is unclear.

LENOX was published consistently and exclusively as a fuguing tune until the 1850s, when it appeared in simplified, homophonic settings in W.C. Hoyt’s Family and Social Melodies (1853 | Fig. 10a, melody in the second part), set to “Arise,” and in Lowell Mason’s Sabbath Hymn and Tune Book (1859 | Fig. 10b, melody in the top voice), set to “Ye tribes of Adam join” by Isaac Watts. In modern hymnals, this type of harmonization now greatly outnumbers those in the fuguing style. In the Sacred Harp tradition and in some other hymnals, this tune is more closely associated with Charles Wesley’s hymn “Blow ye the trumpet, blow.” A rendition of “Arise” with LENOX was included in The Evangel of the New World (1934), an oratorio written by Van Denman Thompson for the 150th anniversary of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States.

3. Norman Melody

Another tune sometimes used with Wesley’s hymn comes from an unknown source. In the earliest American hymnal printings it was called an “Old Norman Melody” (i.e., from Normandy, France). These date as early as 1909, when the hymn was published in two collections. Songs for the King’s Business was edited by F.E. Belden (1858–1945), of Battle Creek, Michigan, and in that collection, the tune was arranged by him, set to “Arise,” and dated 1909 (Fig. 11). In The Ideal Song and Hymn Book, edited by Daniel B. Towner (1850–1919), the source of the tune was uncredited, but it was arranged by Towner, dated 1909, and set to “Arise” (Fig. 12). Many subsequent hymnals have used Towner’s arrangement and even called the tune TOWNER.

4. Kevin Twit

Pastor-composer-scholar Kevin Twit wrote his first modern hymn tune in 1995 while attending World Harvest Mission’s Sonship Week, which was directed by Jack Miller at the time. He later recalled, the tune for “Arise” “. . . came to me quite quickly during afternoon free time—but I was nervous to show it to Jack. My small group encouraged me to share it.”[9] This retuned hymn was first recorded on an album for Christ Community Church, Franklin, Tennessee, Re:Awaken, Vol. 1 (1999), and it was printed in the related songbook (Fig. 13a). The following year, when Twit assembled a group of like-minded musicians under the banner of Indelible Grace, he recorded this hymn for their inaugural, self-titled album (2000), sung by Matthew Perryman Jones. The lead sheet was included in the first RUF Hymnbook (ca. 2000), which Twit compiled and edited, and it has been published freely on the Indelible Grace Hymn Book website (13b).

V. Legacy

The effectual impact of this hymn on other believers was noted within the Wesleys’ lifetimes. In John Wesley’s journal for 24 October 1774, he noted receiving a letter from Elizabeth Padbury, who described the impact of the hymn on a friend of hers, Susannah Spencer. Spencer, she said, was initially resistant to the gospel but had a spiritual awakening:

In 1760, Thomas Grover came down and preached several times at Whittlebury and at Towcester. She went to hear him but with a fixed resolution “not to be catched,” as she called it. But her resolution was vain. In a sermon she heard at Towcester, she was cut to the heart. Her convictions grew deeper and deeper from that time for about a year. She was then hearing him preach but felt her heart as hard as the nether millstone. Yet at the love-feast which followed, it was suddenly broke in pieces, and she was all melted into tears by those words applied to her inmost soul in an inexpressible manner:

My God is reconciled;
His pard’ning voice I hear!
He owns me for his child;
I can no longer fear.[10]

A little over a hundred years later, Methodist scholar George Stevenson compiled a wide array of personal testimonies related to the song and offered the following endorsement:

It is impossible to conceive how many tried believers have had their faith strengthened and their hope of heaven brightened by this inestimable hymn. It is full of that self-appropriation of the work of the Redeemer, which is a marked feature in Charles Wesley’s poetry. . . . This hymn, like the one preceding it [“And can it be”], has been made a blessing to multitudes of Christians, and almost every line of it has been used by persons in dying circumstances. Nor has it been less useful in bringing sinners to realise a sense of sins forgiven . . .[11]

In the 20th century, another writer expressed the same sentiment:

In this hymn, Charles Wesley gives expression to the spiritual life of Methodism, and in one period in the life of this great body, it expressed, vocally, the personal experience of its individual members. Throughout its lifetime, “Arise, my soul, arise” has been the conclusive means of bringing thousands of earnest seekers to an ultimate stand and conviction, or realization of adoption in the family of God.[12]

The quality and effectiveness of the hymn continue to be demonstrated by its inclusion in hymnals in the 21st century and through its performance via tunes old and new, especially via the modern musical voice given to it by Kevin Twit and Indelible Grace. Outside of congregational hymnody, Dan Forrest’s choral arrangement published by Beckenhorst Press (2012) is beloved by choral ensembles. Sovereign Grace Music has provided an original arrangement for soloist and praise band by Eric McAllister (2012), which features a poignant minor setting.

by DANIEL AARON WEBSTER
for Hymnology Archive
13 December 2022

Footnotes:

1. Randy L. Maddox, “All in All (1761),” Charles Wesley’s Published Verse, Duke Divinity School: Duke

2. “A Collection of Hymns for the Use of the People Called Methodists,” The Museum of Methodism & John Wesley’s House: Website

3. Randy L. Maddox, “A Pocket Hymn Book,” Charles Wesley’s Published Verse, Duke Divinity School: Duke

4. Robert Guy McCutchan, Hymn Tune Names: Their Sources and Significance (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1957), p. 92.

5. Richard Watson, “Arise, my soul, arise,” Companion to Hymns and Psalms (Peterborough: Methodist Publishing House, 1988), p. 152.

6. Martin Vaughan Clarke, John Wesley and Methodist Music in the Eighteenth Century: Principles and Practice, dissertation (Durham University, 2008), 179–184; also Erika K.R. Hirsch, “The Foundery collection: An examination of the first distinctively Methodist tunebook,” The Hymn, vol. 60, no. 4 (Autumn 2009), p. 38: HathiTrust; S.T. Kimbrough Jr. & Carlton R. Young, John Wesley’s First Tune Book (2011), p. xxiii.

7. Randy L. Maddox, “Elegy on Robert Jones (1742),” Charles Wesley’s Published Verse, Duke Divinity School: Duke

8. For the sources of these, see the Hymn Tune Index: https://hymntune.library.uiuc.edu/

9. Kevin Twit, Facebook post, 25 October 2021.

10. W. Reginald Ward, ed., Journal and Diaries V (1765–75), The Works of John Wesley, Vol. 22 (Nashville: Abingdon, 1993), pp. 432–433.

11. George Stevenson, “Arise, my soul, arise,” The Methodist Hymn Book, Illustrated (London: S.W. Partridge & Co., 1883), p. 159: Archive.org

12. Charles C. Washburn, Hymn Stories (1935), quoted in Robert Guy McCutchan, Our Hymnody (1942), p. 258.

Related Resources:

George Stevenson, “Arise, my soul, arise,” The Methodist Hymn Book, Illustrated (London: S.W. Partridge & Co., 1883), pp. 159–166: Archive.org

John Julian, “Arise, my soul, arise, shake off, &c.,” A Dictionary of Hymnology (London: J. Murray, 1892), p. 78: HathiTrust

John Telford, “Arise, my soul, arise,” The Methodist Hymn-Book Illustrated (London: C.H. Kelly, 1906), pp. 235–236: Archive.org

J. Ernest Rattenbury, “The unfinished work illustrated by the hymn ‘Arise, my soul, arise’ and by Hymns on the Lord’s Supper,” The Evangelical Doctrines of Charles Wesley’s Hymns (London: Epworth Press, 1941), pp. 196–203.

Robert Guy McCutchan, “Arise, my soul, arise,” “Lenox,” Our Hymnody, 2nd ed. (Nashville: Abingdon-Cokesbury, 1942), pp. 237, 258.

Madeleine Forell Marshall & Janet Todd, English Congregational Hymns in the Eighteenth Century (Lexington, KY: University of Kentucky, 1982), p. 71.

John Lawson, “Arise, my soul, arise,” A Thousand Tongues: The Wesley Hymns As a Guide to Scriptural Teaching (London: Paternoster, 1987), pp. 62–64.

Richard Watson & Kenneth Trickett, “Arise, my soul, arise,” Companion to Hymns and Psalms (Peterborough: Methodist Publishing House, 1988), pp. 152–153.

Carlton R. Young, “LENOX,” Companion to the United Methodist Hymnal (Nashville: Abingdon, 1993), pp. 243.

Paul W. Chilcote, “Christ as Victor,” A Faith That Sings: Biblical Themes in the Lyrical Theology of Charles Wesley (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2016), pp. 23–24.

“Arise, my soul, arise,” Indelible Grace Hymn Book: http://hymnbook.igracemusic.com/hymns/arise-my-soul-arise

“Arise, my soul, arise,” Hymnary.org: https://hymnary.org/text/arise_my_soul_arise_shake_off_thy_guilty