More Voices Found: Jane Fox Crewdson

This year is the two hundredth anniversary of the birth of poet Jane Fox Crewdson. She was born in Cornwall in October 1809, but the exact date went unrecorded, so I'm marking the date of her death in 1863. Like several other women poets and hymnwriters, she suffered from poor health, and was an invalid for many years. Very little more is known about her, unfortunately. Her poetry was published in at least four collections, and the most popular of these was Aunt Jane's Verses for Children (1851) which is still in print today. Several of her poems were later published as hymns.

It may be that during the Moody and Sankey evangelistic crusade to England in the 1870s that Ira Sankey encountered Crewdson's verse. He wrote tunes for at least two of her texts, including this one.

I’ve found a joy in sorrow, a tender balm for pain,
A beautiful tomorrow of sunshine after rain;
I’ve found a branch of healing near every bitter spring;
A whispered promise stealing o’er every broken string,
A whispered promise stealing o’er every broken string.

I’ve found a glad hosanna for every woe and wail;
A handful of sweet manna when earthly strength may fail;
I’ve found a Rock of Ages when desert wells are dry;
And, after weary stages, I’ve found a solace nigh,
And, after weary stages, I’ve found a solace nigh.

I rest within its coolness, its fountains, and its shade;
With blessing in its fullness, when buds of promise fade;
And o'er this recognition there shines a rainbow light,
A glory and fruition, so near! yet out of sight,
A glory and fruition, so near! yet out of sight.

My Savior, thee possessing, I have the joy, the balm,
The healing and the blessing, the sunshine and the psalm;
The promise for the fearful, the solace for the faint,
The rainbow for the tearful, the glory for the saint!
The rainbow for the tearful, the glory for the saint!

Jane Fox Crewdson, 1864; alt.
Tune: CREWDSON (7.6.7.6.7.6.7.6.7.6.)
Ira D, Sankey, 19th cent.

One Year Ago: Jesus Christ, eternal Savior