When was 'He who would valiant be', also known as 'To be a pilgrim' written?
The hymn 'To be a pilgrim' was first written by Puritan preacher John Bunyan as part of his famous Christian allegory The Pilgrim's Progress in 1684. The words from the hymn were inspired by Hebrews 11:13 in King James Bible. English priest and liturgist Percy Dearmer then modified the words in 1906 before it was set to the tune Our Captain Cried All Hands (believed to have originated in the hamlet of Monk's Gate in West Sussex) by Ralph Vaughan Williams.
What are the lyrics to 'He who would valiant be', also known as To be a pilgrim'?
He who would valiant be 'gainst all disaster, let him in constancy follow the Master. There's no discouragement shall make him once relent his first avowed intent to be a pilgrim.
2 Who so beset him round with dismal stories, do but themselves confound— his strength the more is. No foes shall stay his might, though he with giants fight; he will make good his right to be a pilgrim.
3 Since, Lord, Thou dost defend us with Thy Spirit, we know we at the end shall life inherit. Then, fancies, flee away! I'll fear not what men say, I'll labor night and day to be a pilgrim.
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