“…our God while here below, And ours above the sky.”
The date is given as 1719. This is 176 years after Copernicus published De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres) in the year of his death, 1543. That work is seen as the start of a radical shift in cosmology that has moved the earth from the center of everything to an unimaginably tiny place in an unimaginably vast universe. Watts’ imagery draws on the Biblical cosmology that understood heaven to be a physical place, literally above the earth.
“Beyond the pomp that charms the eye And rites adorned with gold.”
I suspect that, as a non-conformist, Watts here is taking a little poke at both the Roman Catholic and Church of England “smells and bells” liturgies.
I suspect that, as a non-conformist, Watts here is taking a little poke at both the Roman Catholic and Church of England “smells and bells” liturgies.

1 comment:
Hi David, glad you're back online. While singing Millbrook, I wondered about the pool that's the subject of that song and The Gospel Pool 34t. Is this a Biblical reference?
dorothy
Post a Comment