Word: gilmanã
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...200th birthday. “Fair Harvard” would eventually become the melody sung at commencement and the centerpiece of a large and impressive collection of Harvard-inspired tunes. But, in 1994, 136 years after his death, the most famous lyrical change came to pass on Gilman??s original work. Fair Harvard now had “daughters” as well as “sons” and for then-President Neil L. Rudenstine and Dean of the Faculty Jeremy R. Knowles, it was about time the music caught up with reality...
...those of you who are unfamiliar with the history of “Fair Harvard”, Gilman??s 172-year-old hymn began with the phrase “Fair Harvard! Thy sons to thy jubilee throng!” Obviously, there is a gender-insensitive term there which prompted Kendric Packer ’48, to propose a contest to Harvard alums to provide a fitting alternative. Simply replacing “sons” with “children” had a belittling connotation and afforded one two many syllables to keep pace with...
...When the Vatican fully renovated the Sistine Chapel (incidentally, also in 1994), it made extremely conservative and meticulous decisions to stay true to the original intentions of Michelangelo’s ceilinged masterpieces. The 1994 revision of “Fair Harvard,” however, completely departed from Gilman??s original meaning. It seemed that the fair alums of Harvard were so anxious to adopt a politically correct alternative to the first verse that they overlooked the artistic integrity of the piece as a whole...
...Gilman??s original intention was to describe the grandiose nature of Commencement day, a jubilee towards which many a nervous student and proud parent throng. Any surveyor of the Yard on Commencement day would clearly realize that “throng” is a much more appropriate verb to describe the great masses crowding in for the historic ceremony. “Join” is a word more appropriate for the purchase of an online dating membership. When I graduate, I don’t want to merely “join” my classmates...
...meaning, and feel of the first verse rather than keeping the original meaning as intact as possible. “We join in thy jubilee throng” succeeds at being both undramatic and unpoetic. If we must revise our history, I believe a much more humble approach to Gilman??s great work would be to simply replace the two words “thy sons” with “we all.” This changes nothing grammatically or syntactically and maintains the original intention of Gilman to produce an image of a rushing...