's Bishop of Calcutta
(a bishopric now part of the Church of North India
) who is now remembered chiefly as a hymn-writer.
Heber was born at Malpas
in Cheshire
. His father, who belonged to an old Yorkshire
family, held half the living of Malpas.
Reginald Heber showed remarkable promise, and in November 1800 entered Brasenose College, Oxford
, where he proved a distinguished student, carrying off prizes for a Latin poem entitled Carmen seculare, an English poem on Palestine
, and a prose essay on The Sense of Honour.
In November 1804, he was elected a fellow of All Souls'
.
By cool Siloam's shady rillHow sweet the lily grows!
Though every great prospect pleases,And only man is vile.
The heathen in his blindnessBows down to wood and stone.
Failed the bright promise of your early day.
No hammers fell, no ponderous axes rung;Like some tall palm the mystic fabric sprung. Majestic silence!
When Spring unlocks the flowers to paint the laughing soil.
Beneath our feet and o'er our head Is equal warning given: Beneath us lie the countless dead, Above us is the heaven! Death rides on every passing breeze, And lurks in every flower; Each season has its own disease, Its peril every hour.