Immature Poetry Appreciation

[uzbradistan]

And now it's time for a juvenile look at words and expressions that have not aged well since the 18th century. I know what you're thinking -- "He's just found unfortunate uses of the word 'gay'" -- but, in fact, it's nothing of the kind. The humor here is purely scatological.

Comments

[alpine_tunnel]

My first question was "what in the world is a welkin?" Apparently it is the celestial sphere/firmament. I think that the traditional words are better, though.

[uzbradistan]

The Victorian anthology I got these from agrees with you: the first lines of Wesley's version (the "welkin" lines) have a footnote that says something like, "These lines have been replaced nowadays, to great advantage, with 'Hark! The herald angels sing'."

Incidentally, "making the welkin ring" or "letting the welkin ring" was evidently quite the cliche a couple hundred years ago.