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Views from the Choir Loft

Hymn Translations That Don’t Rhyme?

Jeff Ostrowski · June 19, 2021

HERE’S AN OLD SAYING: “There’s no such thing as a free lunch.” Much wisdom is contained in that phrase; and those who create hymnals understand well its meaning. The best hymns are often in Latin, but how can they be translated? A literal translation is the best way to capture the meaning of the original—but a literal translation cannot be sung. Many have attempted to create “rhymed” (i.e. metered) translations, but even the most skilled—Neale, Fitzpatrick, Knox, Caswall, and so on—often miss the mark, because it truly is an impossible task. For this reason, the Brébeuf hymnal includes a literal translation as well as numerous “rhyming” translations from which the competent choirmaster can choose.

A Free Lunch? Sometimes, hymnal editors attempt to “have their cake and eat it, too.” They will use metered translations that don’t rhyme. At first, this certainly seems like a brilliant solution! And one could get away with non-rhymed texts when it comes to lengthy, melismatic, complicated hymns such as Decora Lux Aeternitatis.

Fulton J. Sheen Missal: Many years ago, Corpus Christi Watershed made available for free download the remarkable “Fulton J. Sheen Sunday Missal,” published in 1961. This was one of our most popular PDF files, and it was downloaded close to 45,000 times. It has been out-of-print for more than half a century…and largely forgotten. In the past, we have talked about how the references to authors of the hymn translations were completely bonkers—no doubt through an editorial oversight. So we will never know who created the following translation, although it might have been Father Philip Caraman.

Non-Rhyming Hymns: Here is how the “Pange Lingua” of Bishop Fortunatus appears in the Fulton J. Sheen Sunday Missal—and notice it does not rhyme, yet does match the meter of the original Latin:

What’s The Point? What is the point of this translation? One would assume it was done for singing. After all, several other attempts at “non-rhymed” hymns have been made: (1) The new ICEL Breviary hymns are supposedly non-rhymed; (2) The 1970s translation by the Benedictine Abbey of Saint Cecilia in Ryde on the Isle of Wight—just off the south coast of England—uses non-rhymed translations. The Ryde hymns were adapted for the 2007 Mundelein Psalter by Douglas Martis. In my opinion, such translations don’t work, except in the very limited case we spoke of earlier: viz. complex, melismatic, lengthy hymns. In other hymns, our ears are accustomed to hearing the rhyme; we desire strongly to hear the rhyme. Without the rhyme, the piece seems unfulfilling.

An Example: Here is how the translation above—from the Sheen Missal—would sound if set to music. Do you agree this is ghastly?

Liturgical Snobs: We should desire the best for the sacred liturgy. There is nothing wrong with examining liturgical publications and soberly discerning that some have missed the mark, perhaps in an effort to make money. At the same time, we should be on our guard against becoming a “liturgical snob”—and each of us has met such a person. The liturgical snob is so consumed by rage, hatred, and pretentious liturgical “knowledge,” we can’t help wondering if he even believes in God. I believe the priest mentioned in Saint Luke, chapter 10, was most like a liturgical snob:

And Jesus answering, said: “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers, who also stripped him, and having wounded him went away, leaving him half dead. And it chanced, that a certain priest went down the same way: and seeing him, passed by.”

Snobs Cont’d: Some authors clearly possess authentic love for God and a deep desire to share knowledge about the sacred liturgy. Other authors seem obsessed with proving to everyone what an “expert” they are when it comes to liturgical subjects. A liturgical snob would rather suffer death than admit that someone knew something before he did. And the liturgical snob would suffer death 1,000 times before admitting he was incorrect about something.

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

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Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Bishop Fulton J Sheen, Hymn Meters, Hymnbooks, Jean de Brebeuf Hymnal, Non-Rhymed Hymns, Pange Lingua Fortunatus Last Updated: June 20, 2021

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About Jeff Ostrowski

Jeff Ostrowski holds his B.M. in Music Theory from the University of Kansas (2004). He resides with his wife and children in Michigan. —(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    “Booklet of Eucharistic Hymns” (16 pages)
    I was asked to create a booklet for my parish to use during our CORPUS CHRISTI PROCESSION on 22 June 2025. Would you be willing to look over the DRAFT BOOKLET (16 pages) I came up with? I tried to include a variety of hymns: some have a refrain; some are in major, others in minor; some are metered, others are plainsong; some are in Spanish, some are in Latin, but most are in English. Normally, we’d use the Brébeuf Hymnal—but we can’t risk having our congregation carry those heavy books all over the city to various churches.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Yahweh” in church songs?
    My pastor asked me to write a weekly column for our parish bulletin. The one scheduled to run on 22 June 2025 is called “Three Words in a Psalm” and speaks of translating the TETRAGRAMMATON. You can read the article at this column repository. All of them are quite brief because I was asked to keep within a certain word limit.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Music List” • Pentecost Sunday
    Some have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I prepared for Pentecost Sunday (8 June 2025). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. Because our choir is on break this week, the music is relatively simple.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    Antiphons Don’t Match?
    A reader wants to know why the Entrance and Communion antiphons in certain publications deviate from what’s prescribed by the GRADUALE ROMANUM published after Vatican II. Click here to read our answer. The short answer is: the Adalbert Propers were never intended to be sung. They were intended for private Masses only (or Masses without music). The “Graduale Parvum,” published by the John Henry Newman Institute of Liturgical Music in 2023, mostly uses the Adalbert Propers—but sometimes uses the GRADUALE text: e.g. Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul (29 June).
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    When to Sit, Stand and Kneel like it’s 1962
    There are lots of different guides to postures for Mass, but I couldn’t find one which matched our local Latin Mass, so I made this one: sit-stand-kneel-crop
    —Veronica Brandt
    The Funeral Rites of the Graduale Romanum
    Lately I have been paging through the 1974 Graduale Romanum (see p. 678 ff.) and have been fascinated by the funeral rites found therein, especially the simply-beautiful Psalmody that is appointed for all the different occasions before and after the funeral Mass: at the vigil/wake, at the house of the deceased, processing to the church, at the church, processing to the cemetery, and at the cemetery. Would that this “stational Psalmody” of the Novus Ordo funeral rites saw wider usage! If you or anyone you know have ever used it, please do let me know.
    —Daniel Tucker

Random Quote

“A penalty is decreed against clerics, who, being in sacred Orders, or holding benefices, do not wear a dress befitting their Order. […] In these days, the contempt of religion has grown to such a pitch that—making but little account of their own dignity, and of the clerical honor—some even wear in public the dress of laymen…”

— ‘Council of Trent (Session 14, Chapter 6)’

Recent Posts

  • “Booklet of Eucharistic Hymns” (16 pages)
  • PDF Download • “Text by Saint Francis of Assisi” (choral setting w/ organ: Soprano & Alto)
  • “Yahweh” in church songs?
  • “Music List” • Pentecost Sunday
  • “Participation” • Recovering its Receptive Dimension

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