The heart of childhood is all mirth

Author: John Keble

Keble, John, M.A., was born at Fairford, in Gloucestershire, on St. Mark's Day, 1792. His father was Vicar of Coln St. Aldwin's, about three miles distant, but lived at Fairford in a house of his own, where he educated entirely his two sons, John and Thomas, up to the time of their entrance at Oxford. In 1806 John Keble won a Scholarship at Corpus Christi College, and in 1810 a Double First Class, a distinction which up to that time had been gained by no one except Sir Robert Peel. In 1811 he was elected a Fellow of Oriel, a very great honour, especially for a boy under 19 years of age; and in 1811 he won the University Prizes both for the English and Latin Essays. It is somewhat remarkable that amid this brilliantly successful career,… Go to person page >

The heart of childhood is all mirth. J. Keble. [2nd Sunday after Epiphany.] First published in his Christian Year, 1827, in 17 stanzas of 4 lines, and based upon "The Marriage in Cana of Galilee, the Gospel of the Day." Two centos therefrom have come into common use (1) "The silent joy, that sinks so deep," and (2) "Fathers may hate us or forsake.” Beyond these no other use has been made of the poem for congregational purposes.

-- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)