Formatting a hymn included in a novel

[HK1 1,657]

How would I format a hymn I'm including in my book? Currently, I have the hymn lyrics indented one more tab than a new paragraph. Here's an example.

 

     Voices joined the guitar and rose in a simple but plaintive melody.

           “Alas! and did my Savior bleed
           And did my Sov’reign die?
          Would He devote that sacred head
          For such a worm as I?”

     His feet stilled.

 

Also, it's an old hymn, so no worries about copyright.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 12 by HK1

[Ky_GirlatHeart 654]

I think it's fine the way it is, but you should see what the others say.

[Amosathar 279]

I think the indentation works well, but I feel like it should have an empty line before and after the lyrics, it feels a little cramped in between those lines.

Edited January 12 by Amosathar

[Wes B 493]

This would be a block quotation, and since it's only lyrics, should I think be treated as poetry. Here's a quote copied from the latest Chicago Manual Of Style (17th ed). The actual passages also contain indent examples in 13.25, and no indent in 13.26.  Unfortunately, it's all lost when i try to copy it from the .pdf. Fortunately, it doesn't add anything that the text doesn't describe. I'm pretty sure this is what you're lookin' for, and i hope it helps...

 

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2.20 Format for poetry extracts. A poetry extract should be indented but
not centered (even if it might appear centered in the printed version).
Use your word processor’s indentation feature to assign both a left indent
and a hanging indent to each line. Let runover lines wrap to the
next line normally; use a hard return at the end of each full line of poetry
but never in the middle of a line, and do not use the Tab key to indent
runovers. See 2.11. Runover lines must be clearly distinguished from indented
lines of poetry. If certain lines of a poem are to receive a deeper
indent than others, increase the left indent value accordingly. For poetry
with unusual spacing or indentation, append a photocopy or scan of the
original printed poem. Indicate a stanza break with an extra hard return.
The source, if given after the extract, should appear in parentheses on a
separate line, indented like the first line of the poem. (In the published
version, the source may appear flush right.) Poetry extracts should have
the same line spacing as the surrounding text (see 2.8); they do not need
to appear in a smaller font. The text that follows a poetry extract should
get a first-line indent only if it constitutes a new paragraph; if it continues
the text that introduced the extract, it should start flush left (see 2.12).
See also 13.25-29. For ellipses, see 13.57.

 

-------------------------

 

The following would be for work set in print:

 

Poetry Extracts

13.25 Setting off poetry. In a published work, two or more lines of verse are
best set off as an extract. (In a note, set off three or more; see 14.38.) A
poetry extract, if isolated, is often visually centered on the page between
the left and right margins (usually relative to the longest line), but if two
or more stanzas of the same poem appear on the same page, a uniform
indent from the left may work better (see 13.26). A half line to a full line
of space should appear between stanzas. Within each piece or stanza,
the indentation pattern of the original should be reproduced (but indents
should be distinguished from runover lines; see 13.27). For placement of
the source, see 13.71. For advice on formatting poetry extracts in a manuscript,
see 2.20.

If the quotation does not begin with a full line, space approximating the
omitted part should be left.
 

13.26 Uniform indents for poetry. Where all or most poetry extracts consist
of blank verse (as in studies of Shakespeare) or are very long, uniform
indents from the left margin usually work best (e.g., a left indent that
matches the one, if any, used for prose extracts).
 

In case you're wondering, the entries in the CMOS that specifically refer to music deal only with things like references and such; no quotes are discussed, so I'm looking at the poetry stuff...

Edited January 12 by Wes B

[lynnmosher 7,441]

Yes, I agree that it looks fine except the added line before and after are needed.

[J. R. Arkwi 4]

To space or not to space...apart from the prose?  That seems like the question to me. It depends on the intent an purpose for the lyrics. If the words are of particular context and are meant to be meditated on? 

 

     space, indent, center of attention.

 

Passing thought to set mood or atmosphere for a scene not directly in context to the hymn? Be careful not to frustrate the rhythm of the prose/pace of the story/flow of the scene etc. 

 

...but I tend to overthink these things.