{"id":518,"date":"2009-08-14T14:31:00","date_gmt":"2009-08-14T18:31:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/?p=518"},"modified":"2013-06-20T15:27:19","modified_gmt":"2013-06-20T19:27:19","slug":"bunyan-poem-on-valor-and-the-christian-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/?p=518","title":{"rendered":"Bunyan Poem on Valor and the Christian Life"},"content":{"rendered":"

John Bunyan is one of many historical examples of a pastor\/poet. Pilgrim’s Progress<\/em> contains a number of poems by Bunyan. Below is one I have appreciated for some time. In the story it comes from Mr. Valiant-for-Truth. Louis Benson, prominent hymnologist, described this song as “dramatically virile”\u009d and stated, “to Bunyan bravery is the root virtue of Christian character and the only possible equipment for the pilgrim life.”\u009d Coming from a man who was imprisoned for over 12 years, this is all the more meaningful.<\/p>\n

This poem in a slightly modified form was set to music and included in some hymnals as “He Who Would Valiant Be.”<\/a><\/p>\n

This though is Bunyan’s original:<\/p>\n

Who would true valour see,
\nLet him come hither;
\nOne here will constant be,
\nCome wind, come weather
\nThere’s no discouragement
\nShall make him once relent
\nHis first avowed intent
\nTo be a pilgrim.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Whoso beset him round
\nWith dismal stories
\nDo but themselves confound;
\nHis strength the more is.
\nNo lion can him fright,
\nHe’ll with a giant fight,
\nHe will have a right
\nTo be a pilgrim.<\/p>\n

Hobgoblin nor foul fiend
\nCan daunt his spirit,
\nHe knows he at the end
\nShall life inherit.
\nThen fancies fly away,
\nHe’ll fear not what men say,
\nHe’ll labor night and day
\nTo be a pilgrim.<\/p>\n

In our day, when we suffer less, may we still share this resoluteness and faith.
\n(Quotes from Louis F. Benson, “The Hymns of John Bunyan,” Papers of the Hymn Society<\/a>,<\/em> 1930)<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

John Bunyan is one of many historical examples of a pastor\/poet. Pilgrim’s Progress contains a number of poems by Bunyan. Below is one I have appreciated for some time. In the story it comes from Mr. Valiant-for-Truth. Louis Benson, prominent hymnologist, described this song as “dramatically virile”\u009d and stated, “to Bunyan bravery is the root …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘Bunyan Poem on Valor and the Christian Life’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[54,22,39,16],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/518"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=518"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/518\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3036,"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/518\/revisions\/3036"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=518"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=518"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=518"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}