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

The Year a Beat Poet Squatted at Harvard

In 1954, Gregory Corso moved into Eliot House. How he stayed there is a literary legend.

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.

Most popular

To Promote Healthy Habits in Patients, Start With the Doctors

Why Harvard Medical School is training physicians to think more like coaches

Who Is Accountable for the Acts of AI Systems?

Establishing legal responsibility for autonomous agents

How Philosophy at Harvard Saved Itself

As humanities shrink across higher education, one department is flourishing. Is its success a fluke, or a roadmap?

Explore More From Current Issue

Panoramic view of Harvard University with autumn foliage and a river under a cloudy sky.

The University is expanding industry ties and investing its own funds to support research, but neither will replace lost federal dollars.

Colorful illustration of a split-level house showing various activities in different rooms.

Can the College do more to prepare students for the real world?

Delicate green cocoa pods and small white flowers on a tree branch, surrounded by soft greenery.

Harvard researchers investigate climate’s impact on cocoa crops, innovations in nasal vaccines, and links between pain and skull marrow.