Now join we, to praise the creator

Now join we, to praise the creator. Frederik Herman Kaan* (1929-2009). Entitled ‘Harvest’, this hymn was first published in Pilgrim Praise (1968). It was written over against J.W. Chadwick*’s hymn for harvest (which Kaan would have found in CP) ‘Now sing we a song for the harvest’, and it uses the same tune, ST SULIEN. The major difference is that Chadwick’s hymn, written in 1871, is a hymn of thanksgiving, whereas Kaan’s, written almost 100 years later, is aware of ‘need and starvation’, of ‘the plight of the hungry’, and of the mismanagement of earth’s resources. The first two verses are traditionally thankful, though in a modern way (‘for all we can buy in the shops’); the hymn then...