Misogynistic Ester

Misogynistic, adjective. Feeling or showing hatred of, prejudice toward, or discrimination against women.

The tune Ester by John Stringer Terry was added to The Sacred Harp in the 1870 revision (page 437). It has continued to appear in all three revisions of the book to the present (page 437 in Cooper and White books; page 37 in Denson editions). In the new 2025 Edition published by the Sacred Harp Publishing Company, it got a makeover.[i] The words of the hymn ran afoul of the woke folk on the left. The hymn beginning “Young ladies, all attention give” was switched out to the hymn beginning “Awake, my soul, in joyful lays.”[ii] Here are the words of the hymn originally attached to the tune Ester in The Sacred Harp.

1. Young ladies, all attention give,
You that in wicked pleasures live;
One of your sex, the other day,
Was called by death’s cold hand away.

2. This lesson she has left for you,
To teach the careless what to do;
To seek Jehovah while you live,
And everlasting honors give.

3. Her honored mother she addressed,
While tears were streaming down her breast;
She grasped her tender hands and said,
“Remember me when I am dead.”

4. She called her father to her bed,
And thus, in dying anguish said:
“My days on earth are at an end,
My soul is summoned to attend.

5. “Before Jehovah’s awful bar,
To hear my awful sentence there;
And now, dear father, do repent,
And read the holy Testament.”

Some factual history (should anyone actually care).

This hymn fits two genres popular in its day: (1) warning texts, especially with the exhortation to “attention give” and (2) death-bed texts, either death-bed confessions and/or death-bed exhortations to the living.

The author of this hymn is unknown. It was published in The Religious Telescope (Volume I, No. 14, February 2, 1842) in 25 stanzas. However, its origins could go back to around 1813. The Revivalist by Washington Glass (Columbus, OH: 1853) prints 26 stanzas “To the memory of Maria Roush, who died March 1st, 1813—Boon County, Ky.” Ultimately just about everyone is exhorted to be ready when death comes calling, including father, mother, brother, sister, and “young people all.”

Some other “All attention give” hymns.

• Come one, all attention give, this lesson is for you…
• Dear people, all attention give, to what a friend shall say…
• Let all, attention give, and I will teach you well…
• Like Cornelius, all attention give, and seek God’s grace that we may live…
• Young people, all attention give, and hear what I shall say…
• Young people, all attention give, while I address you in God’s name…

And there are variations within this genre, such as “Young people, all, on you I call, pray lend me your attention…”

Facebook reaction to the makeover of three Sacred Harp texts

Along came the woke folk and objected to singing a warning hymn – because it is addressed to “young ladies.” Of course, most of the folks objecting to this have no Biblical or Christian worldview, and are out of their depth in that regard. They have no clear understanding that any people need a warning, because it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.[iii]So they call the words “misogynistic” and claim victory because they have labeled the words with an objectionable adjective before which all should bow.[iv]

When I read the charge, I wondered whether these people even know what the word “misogynistic’ means?[v] If “misogyny” is hatred toward women and “misogynistic” reflects that hatred, tell me where is the hate here in this song? No, it is rather a desire for consideration of one’s eternal destiny. A Christian desire for “young ladies” to give attention to the fact that they will die and stand before God does not arise out of hatred, but out of love!![vi] And we must speak the truth in love. We desire for young ladies and young men, old ladies and old men, black and white, rich and poor. To address one specifically is to address them in love and concern, not hate. I suppose perhaps we should not expect a bunch of agnostics, reprobates, and unbelievers would understand that. It is all just “hate speech” to them.[vii] However, if this hymn shows hatred to women, it must also show hatred to fathers – see stanzas four and five where the young lady calls on her father to repent! And the original poem also calls on young men to repent, so I guess it includes hatred of men?[viii] Sadly, I’m sure most of the woke folk won’t let the actual facts get in the way of their anxious feelings.

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[i] I would mention that there is another Sacred Harp Book Company that has not acquiesced to such demands.
[ii] Which hymn already appeared twice in the book, and has also been added another time (No. 459). There is nothing wrong with this newly-attached hymn. It is my opinion, however, that it was wrong to cave in to the godless objections to the old one. For full disclosure, I would be fine with changing the words used with this tune under different circumstances – Christians looking for another Christian text that Christians might sing more often than “Young ladies, all attention give.” I love this tune with the words, “Poor, weak, and worthless, though I am.” However, when it is nonbelievers objecting to and fiddling with Christian texts, it is time to push back.
[iii] Those who object to our worldview will likely also object to Paul’s use of “men” in Hebrews 9:27, but I’ll stick to quoting the Bible written and translated before everyone wanted to go “gender neutral” (the Greek of the 1st century – ἀνθρώποις dative, plural masculine – and the English of the 17th century).
[iv] However, it is at the name of Jesus every knee should bow!
[v] And do they care?
[vi] Compare Romans 10:1.
[vii] Hate speech = speech that is hated by those defining it as hate speech.
[viii] And is there such hatred of men that there is not even a good antonym for misogynist?