Edward
Caswall
Born: July 15, 1814, Yateley,
Hampshire, England.
Died: January 2, 1878, Edgbaston,
Warwickshire, England.
Buried: Rednal, Warwickshire, England. John
Newman lies nearby.
Caswall was the son of Robert Clarke Caswall, Vicar of Yateley.
He attended Chigwell Grammar School, Marlborough School, and Brasenose College,
Oxford, where he graduated with honors. Before leaving Oxford, he published,
under the pseudonym of Scriblerus Redivivus, “The Art of Pluck,” in
imitation of Aristotle, a satire on the ways of the careless college student.
In 1838, Caswall was ordained as a deacon, and 1839 as an Anglican
priest. In 1840 he became perpetual curate at Stratford-sub-Castle near Salisbury.
By 1847, though, he had switched to Roman Catholicism and went to the Oratory of
St. Philip Neri at Edgbaston, where he did most of his hymn work. Caswall is
best remembered as a translator of ancient hymns, though he also wrote original
lyrics. His works include:
- Sermons on the Seen and the Unseen, 1846
- Lyra Catholica, 1849
- The Masque of Mary, and Other Poems, 1858
- The Catholic’s Latin Instructor in the Principal Church Offices and
Devotions
Hymns
- Days and Moments
Quickly Flying
- Holy Anthem, The
- If There Be Any
Special Thing
- O Jesu Christ,
if Aught There Be
- See Amid the
Winter's Snow
- Sleep, Holy Babe
Translations
- Above the Starry
Spheres
- All Ye Who Seek a
Certain Cure
- An Exile for the
Faith
- At the Cross, Her
Station Keeping
- Come Hither, Ye
Faithful
- Come, O Creator
Spirit Blest
- Come, Thou Holy
Spirit, Come
- Dawn is Sprinkling
in the East, The
- Earth has Many a
Noble City
- Glory be to Jesus
- Hark! A Thrilling
Voice is Sounding
- He Who Once in
Righteous Vengeance
- I Met the Good
Shepherd
- Jesu, Thy Mercies
are Untold
- Jesus, Brightness of
the Father
- Jesus, the Very
Thought of Thee
- Let Alverna's Holy
Mountain
- Life Which God's
Incarnate Word, The
- My God, I Love Thee
- Now, My Tongue, the
Mystery Telling
- Now with the Rising
Golden Dawn
- O Hope of Every
Contrite Heart
- O Jesus, King Most
Wonderful
- O Saving Victim,
Open Wide
- O'erwhelmed in
Depths of Woe
- Sing, My Tongue, the
Savior's Glory
- Son of the Highest,
Deign to Cast
- Sun is Sinking Fast,
The
- To Christ, the
Prince of Peace
- When
Morning Gilds the Skies