In defense of Victorian carols

In my defense of Anglican hymnals against exaggerated claims by @LutheranSatire, I got a little pushback. My previous defense was that these anachronistic “snow” carols are comparatively rare. For example, in the latest U.S. Anglican hymnal, Book of Common Praise 2017, of the 56 Christmas hymns (not counting Advent or Epiphany), two are these “snow” hymns: “In the bleak midwinter” and “Snow lay on the ground.”

The Satirical Accusation

In the original video, “Luther” (i.e. Pastor Hans Fiene) argued with two upper-crust Englishmen (one a vicar with clerical collar) over how they wrote hymns. Their hymn begins

The snow was cold
And the snow was bright
And the snow was all around
Christ was born
On the day that God
Sent snow upon the ground.

to which “Luther” said (in effect) that it really snow in Bethlehem, and snow is not the reason why the first Christmas was such an important event in human history. He chastised them to get past the snow and tell the message of why God sent his son to the earth. The author’s summary of the video is

Instead of focusing on theology, the British love meditating on snow, silence, and livestock in their Christmas hymns. Martin Luther finds this annoying.

How Bad Are The Four Worst Hymns?

As I noted yesterday, there are four 19th century Anglican hymns that mention this cold/snow theme, and all open with this theme — in most cases, the “worst” verse in the sense that it proved “Luther’s” point.

So, according to the “Luther” standard, I went back (using the Hymnary.org lyrics) and tried to find how well the author got around to telling a message about the meaning of Christ’s birth. Here is what I found

Worst	Best
1. In the Bleak Midwinter
In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan, earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone; snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow, in the bleak midwinter, long ago.	Our God, heaven cannot hold him, nor earth sustain; heaven and earth shall flee away when he comes to reign. In the bleak midwinter a stable place sufficed the Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ.
2. The Snow Lay on the Ground
The snow lay on the ground, The stars shone bright, When Christ our Lord was born On Christmas night. Venite adoremus Dominum; Venite adoremus Dominum.	And thus that manger poor Became a throne; For He Whom Mary bore Was God the Son. O come, then, let us join The heavenly host, To praise the Father, Son, And Holy Ghost.
3. See Amid the Winter's Snow
See, amid the winter's snow, born for us on earth below, see the tender Lamb appears, promised from eternal years. Hail! Thou ever-blessed morn! Hail, redemption's happy dawn! Sing through all Jerusalem, "Christ is born in Bethlehem."	Lo, within a manger lies He who built the starry skies; He, who throned in height sublime, sits amid the cherubim! Hail! Thou ever-blessed morn! Hail, redemption's happy dawn! Sing through all Jerusalem, "Christ is born in Bethlehem."
4. ’Twas in the Winter Cold
’Twas in the winter cold, when earth Was desolate and wild, That angels welcomed at His birth The everlasting Child. From realms of ever bright’ning day, And from His throne above He came with humankind to stay, All lowliness and love.	Grant me Thyself, O Savior kind, The Spirit undefiled, That I may be in heart and mind As gentle as a child; That I may tread life’s arduous ways As Thou Thyself hast trod, And in the might of prayer and praise Keep ever close to God.

Of these, I would say #2 and #3 eventually make a theological point that would satisfy the pickiest Luther-ite; by emphasizing a subjective response, #4 never quite gets there although the sentiment is appropriate; and #1 never really gets past the contemplation into explaining the significance of Christ’s birth.

Remember that

1. is the famous English carol sung most years by King’s College Cambridge, and the only one sung regularly at Anglican churches; 
2. is found in recent Anglican hymnals but not in any top 10 or top 25 list of Christmas hymns at Anglican churches;
3. is an English Catholic hymn not found in US Anglican hymnals, but was published in the Lutheran Service Book (2006), the most recent hymnal from Pastor Fiene’s denomination;
4. is so obscure that it’s only been found in five hymnals total since it was published in 1871 and thus is irrelevant to any claims about what Anglican think, sing or say.

Update: To be fair, “In the Bleak Midwinter” is also the one with the greatest cultural impact. Amazon lists a total of 189 digital recordings of this hymn, including more than a dozen by English cathedral or chapel choirs, including King’s College Cambridge (both Holst and Darke). It also has (relatively sober) recordings by the Cambridge Singers, Chanticleer, the King's Singers, and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Pop recordings include the Blind Boys of Alabama, the Moody Blues, Dan Fogelberg, James Taylor, Julie Andrews, Sarah Brightman, and (of course) Keith and Kristyn Getty. (The total is inflated somewhat by including instrumental recordings without the problematic text, such as the one by The Band of Her Majesty's Royal Marines).

So, in effect, the criticism by “Luther” boils down to a single poem by Christina Rossetti, one that the editors of The English Hymnal decided in 1906 to pair with a purpose-written Gustav Holst tune for the first new Anglican hymnal of the 20th century. Even stipulating this omission, does this justify the suggestion that Anglican Christmas hymns tend to be “inferior hymns”?