The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #46680 Message #1573159
Posted By: GUEST
01-Oct-05 - 12:20 AM
Thread Name: Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burning (Spiritual)
Subject: RE: Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burning (Spiritual)
"The paragraphs quoted by Nancy Prince are from a sermon, or the Bible."
From a sermon: maybe. From the Bible: I don't think so. The phrasing is exactly the same as in Crosby's hymn (which has a very classic 8-8-8-8 meter) , but not the same as in Luke (12:35) or Matthew (25:1-13) or any other verse mentioning lamps for that matter.
As for her knowledge of A-A spirituals: She lived abroad but she came back and was part of the AME so I guess she was familiar with a lot of hymns & spirituals (which traveled a lot then since it was the Underground Railroad era). One thing is sure: She shows real knowledge of the Psalms...
The "Hiding Place" (also an 8 x 4 meter) quoted is nowhere to be found. I've gathered several versions and verses, most of them derived from Psalm 32 or so it seems. I thought maybe it was one of those versions 'simplified' by Richard Allen.