It fell upon a summer day

It fell upon a summer day. Stopford Augustus Brooke* (1832-1916). This hymn was first published in Brooke’s Christian Hymns (1881). It has been printed in full because it is an interesting example of Brooke’s work: his liking for long hymns, and his broad moral sympathies. The  attractive innocence of children is linked to the idea of ‘quiet work and simple word’, and the belief that the world is sweet and that God’s love can be found everywhere. It end with a prayer for a childlike heart, and can be sung by all who hope to enter heaven. In the USA, for example, it is used by Clarence Dickinson* and Harold W. Friedell* in Hymns for Children and Grownups to Use Together (New York,...