A correspondence corner for not-so-famous lost words

Correspondence on not-so-famous lost words

Thomas Gutheil seeks the name “of a (regrettably not recent) science-fiction story in which it is proposed that cancers exert psychological as well as physical damage and the physician has to enter into essentially telepathic contact with the patient to combat this.”

Robert Kemp would like to learn the origin of an expression frequently used by his father: “Such is life in a large city with many inhabitants.”

Bill Hopkins hopes someone can identify this prayer: “Lord, if only I have you,/ I make no demands of Heaven and Earth./ When my body and soul fade away,/ You, God, are ever my heart’s comfort, and my portion.// When I have you, Lord Jesus,/ What should I ask of Heaven?/ How could I find delight/ in the turmoil of this vile world?/ When my body and soul fade away/ and the night of death sets in,/ you are yet my life.// Happy the man who carries Jesus/ Deep in the chamber of his heart!/ He will have fulfillment,/ He will lack no treasure,/ So long as he finds shelter and protection/ In God the Lord.”

Eliot Kieval asks when the late Pete Seeger ’40 first emblazoned on his banjo the declaration, “This machine surrounds hate and forces it to surrender,” and whether that saying was original with him or derived in part or in whole from someone else.

Send inquiries and answers to “Chapter and Verse,” Harvard Magazine,7 Ware Street, Cambridge 02138, or via e-mail to chapterandverse@harvardmag.com.

You might also like

How Adam Ehrlich Sachs Writes Absurd and Beautiful Fiction

The Gretel and the Great War author on how the Lampoon derailed his science career—and set him on a literary path.

Tara Menon’s Debut Novel Combines Friendship, Grief, and Climate Disaster

The popular Harvard English professor published Under Water this spring.

What is a Glorian? You’ll Know It When You See It

Author and Harvard Divinity School writer-in-residence Terry Tempest Williams finds beauty in the world around us.

Most popular

Crimson Football: Harvard 14, Brown 10

Xaden Benson’s “helmet trick” was the decisive factor in the Ivy opener.

Lafayette’s Unexpected Gift to George Washington: Pheasants

The two birds will be on display at Harvard this summer.

Harvard Weathers a Year of Turmoil

The federal government has launched unprecedented actions against the University. Here’s a guide.

Explore More From Current Issue

A woman with long, wavy hair wearing a white suit, seated in a bright, modern room.

The Harvard graduate’s roundtable talk show touches on hot button issues from religion to sex. 

Three actors perform on stage, with one actor interacting closely with another, set against abstract backgrounds.

The play Spare Parts is a contemporary fable about the quest to live forever.

A smiling William C. Kirby in a suit with glasses stands outdoors, surrounded by greenery.

The president of Harvard Magazine’s Board of Directors will step down in September.