Heaven Will Bring Me Sweeter Rest: Selected Works of Henry Francis Lyte Paperback – November 24, 2018

This book has been such a sweet companion to my daily Scripture reading. I was aware of the more well-known hymns by Lyte, and reading his additional poetry has been rich for me. I always appreciate getting a rounder picture of a writer’s style, and I so appreciate Lyte’s ability to point out the suffering and brokenness in this world and yet still keep his eyes upwards towards Hope. The simple style of the book is undistracting, and although it may not be a thoroughly academic text as the above review states, the simplicity lends a restfulness to the reader. It is certainly a wonderful addition to the bookshelves of hymn lovers everywhere.

A brief word here on what this book is and is not. It does include a lovely and helpful foreword by Kevin Twit, which is a short biography and short commendation for the work of Henry Lyte, 5 pages. The involvement of Alex Webster is completely invisible: the book does not include any editorial commentary, editorial notes, explanation of sources, or description of methods. Aside from Twit's foreword, the book is essentially a reprint of The Poetical Works of the Rev. H.F. Lyte (1907), minus John Appleyard's biographical sketch of 33 pages, minus "The Battle of Salamanca," and minus any indexes of any kind (a bizarre omission, as with Webster's edition of Anne Steele).For the casual reader who just wants an introduction to the works of Lyte, this book is probably sufficient. For the more serious scholar, this book is disappointing on many levels. For example, the version of "Abide with me" that appeared in Poetical Works (1907) is different than the version that appeared in his Remains (1850); this not mentioned or annotated. The Spirit of the Psalms (1st ed. 1834), included here, borrowed paraphrases of Psalms from other writers, such as The New Version (Tate & Brady, 1696), but this edition by Webster does not attempt to identify any of the borrowings from other writers, so the uninitiated would be left to assume they are all by Lyte. This volume also does not include any of the prefaces from any of Lyte's original collections, which would normally serve as an introduction to the writer's motivations and methods.Again, for the casual reader new to Lyte, it's a fine book, nicely printed, OK for personal devotions. For anything more, look elsewhere.