tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20702671.post113933369750512748..comments2023-04-07T14:15:14.735+01:00Comments on Bad things in new hymn books and other sad tales: Some recent comments on this blogCatherine Rowetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15356313351798903675noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20702671.post-1139436248760447852006-02-08T22:04:00.000+00:002006-02-08T22:04:00.000+00:00I was wondering whether the choice of 'present' is...I was wondering whether the choice of 'present' is partly to do with the thought that one would "give the world" for something (as in "Were the whole realm of nature mine, I'd give that, except that isn't enough, it needs to be me and my life and my all"). The verb that goes with "offering" is 'offer' but that doesn't have the same connotations at all: when you offer something it's up to the Catherine Rowetthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15356313351798903675noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20702671.post-1139396240899149742006-02-08T10:57:00.000+00:002006-02-08T10:57:00.000+00:00Perhaps the sense of "present"has become rather tr...<I>Perhaps the sense of "present"<BR/>has become rather trivialised by its association with Christmas<BR/>presents (socks, ties, soap and cheap electronic gadgets that don't<BR/>last long...)</I>.<BR/><BR/>Or as John Betjeman perhaps more poetically put it:<BR/><BR/> Bath salts and inexpensive scent<BR/> And hideous tie so kindly meant.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20702671.post-1139394079489733952006-02-08T10:21:00.000+00:002006-02-08T10:21:00.000+00:00I agree with you, Catherine. I prefer "present", ...I agree with you, Catherine. I prefer "present", mainly because of the extra, temporal, meaning of the word, which "offering" doesn't convey.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com