story behind the song joy to the world
Joy to the World The words of the hymn are by English writer Isaac Watts, based on Psalm 98, 96:11-12 and Genesis 3:17-18, in the Bible. The song was first published in 1719 in Watts' collection; The Psalms of David: Imitated in the language of the New Testament, and applied to the Christian state and worship. The paraphrase is Watts' Christological interpretation. Consequently, he does not emphasize with equal weight the various themes of Psalm 98. In stanzas 1 and 2 Watts writes of heaven and earth rejoicing at the coming of the King. An interlude that depends more on Watts' interpretation than the psalm text, stanza 3 speaks of Christ's blessings extending victoriously over the realm of sin. The cheerful repetition of the non-psalm phrase "far as the curse is found" has caused this stanza to be omitted from some hymnals. But the line makes joyful sense when understood from the New Testament eyes through which Watts interprets the psalm. Stanza 4 celebrates Christ's rule over the nations.".[2] The nations are called to celebrate because God's faithfulness to the house of Israel has brought salvation to the world.[3]
The Story of an Hour After a few minutes, Mrs. Mallard gets up out of her chair and opens the door for Josephine and they both walk downstairs together. Upon arriving to the bottom of the staircase, the front door to Mrs. Mallard’s house began to unlock and open. It was Mrs. Mallard’s husband, Brently Mallard! Alive and well. Mrs. Mallard was so immensely shocked at the sight of him that her poor, weak heart gave out right then and there. “When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease -- of joy that kills”. The cynicism of this sentence can be detected almost immediately, and as explained by ThoughtCo, “It seems clear that her shock was not joy over her husband's survival, but rather distress over losing her cherished, newfound freedom. Louise did briefly experience joy -- the joy of imagining herself in control of her own life. And it was the removal of that intense joy that led to her death.”[6] To further express the meaning of this “joy”, Selina S. Jamil explains in the article, “Emotions in the Story of an Hour”, “. . . the "joy" that kills Louise is the joy that [doctors assume to be joy of finding out that Brently was not actually dead] she refuses to surrender, as the patriarchy would require her to do at Brently's return. But, for one climactic hour of her life, Louise does truly taste joy. For one hour of emotion, Louise does glimpse meaning and fulfillment. To be fully alive, then, is to engage in heightened consciousness, to observe and connect with the world around one's self.”[7] This helps to show just how powerful the emotion was that Louise had felt. For one hour, Louise had a sense of freedom and was so ecstatic to begin her new life, but that was stripped away from her far too soon and her heart was unable to bear the shock that she felt about seeing her husband alive.