O Head in jest surrounded Sir H. W. Baker in Schaff-Gilman Lib. of Religious Poetry. Miss Margarete Münsterberg, in her Harvest of German Verse, 1916. Appeared in Crü. Praxis, 1648, no. 1, in 10 stanzas of four lines; thence in Wackernagel: no. 99; Bachmann: no. I. It was repeated in Crü.-Runge, 1653, no. I, and also in the Berlin G. L. S.: ed. 1863, no. 1132. This is one of the finest and most popular of German morning hymns, and soon passed into universal use, stanza VIII being best known. Cf. Koch, IV, 595 ff. English Versions: 1. My Soul, awake and tender. In full, by J. C. Jacobi, in his Psalmodia Germanica, 1720, p. 33 (1722, p. 104), repeated in pt. I of the Moravian H. Bk., 1754. In the Moravian H. Bk., 1789 and 1886, it begins "My soul awake and render," stanzas 1, 2, 4, 5, being from I; V (lines 3, 4); VI (lines 1, 2); X; VIII. 4. Awake, my heart, be singing. J. Kelly, 1867, p. 276. 5. Wake up, my heart, elater. N. L. Frothingham, 1870. The third hymn of Gerhardt which Jacobi included in his Psalmodia Germanica18 is "Wach auf, mein Herz, und singe." As this song of trust is one of Gerhardt's oldest pieces and may be said to set the key for all the later hymns, it is appropriate that Jacobi should find for it a place in his very limited selection. The eighteenth century English versions of German hymns invariably abound in extravagant figures. Just why in this instance the translator has chosen to add to the text, where no mention is made of a "lion," the idea of such an animal in the verse: Nay, when that Lyon's Fury, is difficult to explain. Possibly to his own mind that creature was more terrifying than Satan himself. Still less pardonable is the distortion in stanza IV: Du sprachst: Mein Kind, nun liege Thou saidst: my Child, be easy, Such alterations of the original, always with the idea of bringing a more terrible picture to the mind of the reader, can be justified on no ground whatever, and accounted for only by saying that the translator probably regarded this as one of the methods of "resolving all the jarring Discords of Self-love into the heavenly Concords of Mutual Love and Affection. If this be not effected here below, we shall never be worthy to hear the glorious Anthems of the Seraphic Quire above."48a The singularly inapt paraphrase of the couplet in stanza 3: Thy gracious Condescension, Has crossed his sore Intention appears to slightly better advantage in stanza 7: In gracious Condescension 47 The other two are "Befiehl du deine Wege" and "Wie soll ich dich empfangen?" 48 The Psalmodia Germanica is a collection of 60 hymns from the German. 48a Concluding lines of Jacobi's preface to his Psalmodia Germanica, 1722. Another characteristic of the English versions of this period is the emphasizing of the tortures of Hell and the Devil. Just as in stanza 4 above, we are not surprised to read in stanza 8: From Satan's woeful doings, although there is in the German no suggestion whatever of Satan or his deeds. Similarly, the concluding stanza, after the pleasing opening lines, causes something of a shock by its abrupt descent to the grotesque: Thy Bliss be my Salvation, Thy Word my Food and Relish, Till thou destroy'st what's Hellish. Except for the imperfect rhymes in most of his stanzas Kelly's version is unusually good both as a scrupulously faithful rendering and a successful attempt to keep the simple language and reproduce the characteristic touches of Gerhardt. The line: The sunlight shall delight thee, takes on a new significance when compared with Du sollt die Sonne schauen, and strophe 8 is particularly well done in that it has so large a predominance of Anglo-Saxon words: John Kelly, in his Paul Gerhardt's Spiritual Songs, 1867. I. Awake, my heart! be singing, 2. Of every good the Giver, As shades of night spread over Nun ruhen alle Wälder.-(Goed. 60.) [Evening.] First published in Crü. Praxis, 1648, no. 15, in 9 stanzas of 6 lines; thence in Wackernagel: no. 102; Bachmann: no. 2; Unv. L. S.: 1851, no. 529. Cf. Koch, IV, 607; VIII, 194. This is one of the finest and one of the earliest of Gerhardt's hymns. In the time of Flat Rationalism in Germany the first stanza became the object of much derision." But the shallow wit showed how little poetry was then understood, for Gerhardt followed in thus beginning his hymn a much admired passage of Virgil, Æneid IV, 522-528: Nox erat, et placidum carpebant fessa soporem Among the common people the hymn became an exceeding favorite and was generally used as an evening prayer. Its childlike simplicity combined with its deep poetical charm has won the hearts of old and young to the present day. Frequently it has been sung on starry nights by men, women, or children in the fields on their homeward way, and many have laid themselves down for the long sleep of death with this hymn on their lips. A troop of French soldiers entered Lisberg, a small town of Hesse, on the 14th of September, 1796, plundered and killed the inhabitants, and burned the whole town. A little way distant, at the foot of a mountain, was a small cottage in which a mother sat by the bedside of her sick child. 49 Cf. "Jetzt schlafen weder Wälder," as no. 2338, in the final "Zugabe" to the Herrnhut Gesangbuch, 1735, dated "On Aug. 13, 1748, after Holy Communion at Herrnhut." This is a parody on the style of Gerhardt's stanzas I, II, III, VI, VII. It was translated and included in Part II of the Moravian H. Book, 1754, as "Tho' now no creature's sleeping." Hearing the noise in the town and seeing the burning houses she locked the door and knelt by the bedside and prayed. As the door burst open and a furious soldier rushed in, she spread her hands over the child and cried: and lo! the wild soldier suddenly dropped his arm, stepped to the bed, and laid his rough hand gently on the child's head. Then going outside he stood guard that none of his troop might harm the cottage. Although in limited use in the English hymn books, the translations are numerous, as follows: I. Quietly rest the woods and dales. Omitting stanza VIII by Mrs. Findlater, in H. L. L., 1st Series, 1854, p. 36 (1884, p. 38), included in Cantate Domino, Boston, U. S. A., 1859. 2. Now all the woods are sleeping. A full and good translation by Miss Winkworth, in the 2d ed., 1856, of the 1st Series of her Lyra Ger., 1855, p. 228. Included in full in her C. B. for England, 1863, and the Ohio Luth. Hyl., 1880. 3. Now woods their rest are keeping. A translation of stanzas I, III, VIII, IX, by Edward Thring, as no. 18 in the Uppingham and Sherborne School H. Bk., 1874. 4. Jesu, our Joy and loving Friend. A translation of stanza VIII as no. 200 in the Appendix of 1743 to the Moravian H. Bk., 1742. 5. Now Woods and Fields are quiet. In the Suppl. to Ger. Psal., ed. 1765, p. 73. 6. Display thy both wings over. A translation of stanza VIII as no. 156 in pt. I of the Moravian H. Bk., 1754. 7. Jesus, our Guardian, Guide and Friend. A translation of stanza VIII as no. 765 in the Moravian H. Bk., 1789 (1886, no. 1190). 8. Lo! Man and Beast are sleeping. H. J. Buckoll, 1842, p. 76. 9. Now rest beneath night's shadow. 10. II. E. D. Yeomans, in Schaff's Kirchenfreund, 1853, p. 195. Now rest the woods again. Miss Winkworth, 1855, p. 226 (see no. 2 above). Rise, my soul, thy vigil keep. J. S. Stallybrass, in the Tonic Solfa Reporter, January, 1859, and Curwen's Har monium and Organ Book, 1863, p. 58. |