Do You Know How to Use King James English?
If you are like me, you might have listened for much of your life to readings from the King James Bible. In grade school we had Bible readings every morning before classes began, always from the King James version. In church we sang many hymns that used King James English.
But do you know the King James English well enough to use it in your poetry? There are truly horrid examples of poets who carelessly (slothfully) have tossed King James words into poetry or songs otherwise written in modern English. Here is just one, from the chorus of the song, "As the Deer Panteth for the Water." I love this song, but the incompetence of the lyricist (A. Martin Nystrom) irks me.
You alone are my strength, my shield
To you alone may my spirit yield
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship Thee:
Do you see that most of this stanza is written in modern English? Then the poet tosses in "Thee" at the very end. It's not done for rhyme, and it's totally out of character with the rest of the stanza. Why did he do this? Did he think "Thee" sounded more holy? That would be alright, in my opinion, if he was consistent in the earlier part of the stanza. Then it would read like this:
Thou alone art my strength, my shield
To thee alone may my spirit yield
Thou alone art my heart's desire
And I long to worship Thee:
In my opinion he should have stayed with modern English throughout this song.
Don't stray into the use of King James English unless you really know what you're doing. It's full of pitfalls and archaic usage. If you must use King James to give your poem the right feeling, be very careful and use good references to check your usage.
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