Ye wretched, hungry, starving poor

Ye wretched, hungry, starving poor.  Anne Steele* (1717-1778). From Steele’s Poems on subjects chiefly devotional (1760), where it was entitled ‘Longing Souls invited to the Gospel-Feast. Luke xiv. 22’. The reference is to the parable of the Great Supper (Luke 14: 16-24). Verse 22 is ‘And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room.’ The title of the hymn makes it clear that, like the parable, it is not a hymn on the social situation. The first line is so vivd in its description of poverty that the reader or singer might expect a hymn about poor people. But it is an extended metaphor in which the hungry and starving are those for whom the gospel feast...