Why Do All The Hills Rejoice?

Hi Jesse. Thank you for your kind words. I find it fascinating that even after a half century I can remember all the words to many hymns I never understood. :) Cheers - Gary

LOL! Thank you John. Your comments about mishearing and misunderstanding had me laughing :) I appreciate your visit. Cheers - Gary

Thank you Gina. It's one of those poems that I wrote straight from my heart. Cheers - Gary

Thank you Frances. I really appreciate your lovely comments. Cheers - Gary

I look upon hymns as a form of poetry with some having more memorable tunes than others. Thank you Belle for your visit and comments. They are very much appreciated. Cheers - Gary

Thank you David. Your comments mean a lot to me. This is one of those poems whereby once I'd decided on a theme the words just flowed. Cheers - Gary

Thank you Peter for your lovely comments. Yes, I too liked the words and found them poetic but just never really understood what I was singing about. :) I do remember Cat Stevens getting into the UK singles' chart with "Morning Has Broken" and thinking he made a hymn very cool. Cheers - Gary

An excellent question Geoffrey and one which I have absolutely no answer to :) Strange when you think back isn't it, considering the amount of hymns we sang and school assemblies we had. Thanks for your comments. Cheers - Gary

Thank you Sara for your kind comments. I'm really pleased with the place on the winners' list. Cheers - Gary

No, thank YOU Bryan :) It's lovely to hear how a poem (any poem) can evoke different thoughts and feelings with different people. I often return to the theme of 'the naivety of childhood' in my poetry and ponder whether I was taught at school what to think rather than how to think. Cheers - Gary

Sam, I always appreciate your insight and lovely comments. Thank you! Looking back 50 years I don't honestly remember any teacher ever sitting down and explaining any of the words to any of the hymns we all learnt by heart. Yes to the child / adult experiences..The "Thy will be done" line is basically me getting confused as a child with the word "will"..As a child I viewed the word as expressing the future tense - thinking I would 'get done' (ie harmed in some way) when of course "will" is a noun (desire or intention) Thanks again - Gary

Thank you Ann. 50 years on I still remember all the words to the hymns we were taught at school and of course now I understand their meanings. I appreciate your lovely comments. Cheers - Gary

Milton, thanks so much for the Fave. I remember ring A Ring A roses was about The Plague and the kids falling down after sneezing (a symptom) signified them dying. I don't know if you are familiar with "Oranges and Lemons"? It refers in its last lines to the transportation of people from one prison to another before their execution...There are some great poem ideas here Milton.. :)

Hi David. Your words articulate exactly the approach I attempted to take / took with this poem. I found myself tripping over past and present tenses but hopefully got there in the end. Of course with time comes experience, knowledge and big doses of reality. I have to say that in my opinion many hymns are 'poetic' in their form and very descriptive in their writing. Thanks again - Gary

Thank you so much Vijay! Looking back, I sang the words to hymns as a 7 year old school child without putting much meaning as to what I was singing at the time. This poem is my attempt at asking those questions now as that naive 7 year old and from that naive 7 year old's perspective - hence much is written in the present tense up until the last couplet. Thank you again Vijay for your valued comments. Cheers - Gary