Inspirational Quotes by Cecil Frances Alexander (Irish Hymn Writer)

Cecil Frances Alexander (1818–95,) born Cecil Frances Humphreys, was an Anglo-Irish Irish children’s hymn writer and poet. The wife of the Bishop of Derry and Raphoe in Ireland, she wrote 400 hymns.

Born in Dublin, Ireland, Alexander started writing poetry at age nine, spurred on by a sister who could be counted on to request a reading. Early in her career, Alexander came under the influence of Dr. Hook of Leeds, the dean of Chichester, and John Keble. She issued Verses for Holy Seasons (1846,) The Lord of the Forest and His Vassals (1847; a children’s allegory,) and Hymns for Little Children (1848.)

Following marriage to William Alexander, Cecil Frances spent much of her later life in Londonderry and Strabane. Later, William Alexander became a Church of Ireland bishop and the Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland.

With her close friend Lady Harriet Howard, Alexander wrote tracts for the Oxford Movement. Her poetry, celebrating the rugged beauty of rural Ireland, has been the impetus for many hymns, including “Once in Royal David’s City,” “Roseate Hue of Early Dawn,” “There is a Green Hill Far Away,” and “All Things Bright and Beautiful.” Her most famous poems were “The Siege of Derry” and “The Burial of Moses.” The latter appeared anonymously in 1856 in the Dublin University Magazine and became the favorite of Alfred Lord Tennyson.

Alexander also produced Verses for Holy Seasons (1846) and The Lord of the Forest and His Vassals (1847.) Following her death, her husband, also a poet, collected and edited a further selection of her works.

Alexander’s biographies are Ernest James Lovell’s A Green Hill Far Away: The Life of Mrs. C.F. Alexander (1970) and Valerie Wallace’s Mrs. Alexander: A Life of the Hymn-Writer (1995.)

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