John Kelly, in his Paul Gerhardt's Spiritual Songs, 1867. I. Awake, my heart! be singing, 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.49 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. IO. E. D. Yeomans, in Schaff's Kirchenfreund, 1853, p. 195. Now rest the woods again. Miss Winkworth, 1855, p. 226 (see no. 2 above). 11. Rise, my soul, thy vigil keep. J. S. Stallybrass, in the Tonic Solfa Reporter, January, 1859, and Curwen's Harmonium and Organ Book, 1863, p. 58. 13. Now every greenwood sleepeth. Miss Manington, 1863, p. 133. 14. Now hushed are woods and waters. Miss Cox, 1864, p. 9. 15. Now spread are evening's shadows. J. Kelly, 1863, p. 285. 16. The woods are hushed; o'er town and plain. Dr. J. Guthrie, 1869. 17. The duteous day now closeth. In the Yattendon Hymnal, 1899, thence in Hymns of the Kingdom of God, N. Y., 1910, 1916, and the Hymnal of Praise, N. Y., 1913. Quaint and homely as it is, this hymn has done much to enkindle devotion and strengthen grace among Christian readers in Germany, and is now familiar to English-speaking peoples through the beautiful translations of Miss Winkworth and Mrs. Findlater. Both they and Dr. Guthrie have successfully imitated the sweetly domestic tone in poems that have soothed many a careworn spirit at the close of day. In the version which appeared in her Lyra Germanica Miss Winkworth evidently overlooked the fact that line 3 of her first stanza had an extra foot: O'er field and city, man, and beast. In the version for church singing printed in her Chorale Book the line is changed to the normal six-syllable iambic measure to admit of its being set to the old German melody,50 "O Welt, ich musz dich laszen." Gerhardt's stanza VIII, “Breit aus die Flügel beide,"51 has been a special favorite in Germany, and Lauxmann in Koch VIII, 194, says of it: 50 In Mittenwalde, where Gerhardt had a pastoral charge from 1651-1657 (cf. p. 3 ff.), there prevailed the custom of playing an evening hymn from the tower. The one used up to that time was the old and then well-known lay, "Innsbruck, ich musz dich laszen." Gerhardt liked the air, but longed to see it associated with a better and more really evening hymn. For this end he composed "Nun ruhen alle Wälder." The melody was originally composed in 1488(?) by Heinrich Isaac, conductor of the choir of Maximilian I. The great masters Bach and Mozart are reported to have said that they would gladly give their best works for this single tune. In our hymnals it is usually called "Innsbruck," but in German hymn books it is given as "O Welt, ich musz dich laszen," from the first line of the hymn of Johann Hesse, 1855, which was set to it. "How many a Christian soul, children mostly, but also God's children in general, does this verse serve as their last evening prayer. It has often been the last prayer uttered on earth, and in many districts of Germany is used at the close of the baptismal service to commend the dear little ones to the protection of their Lord Jesus." Miss Winkworth has successfully caught the truly childlike popular spirit of the stanza in the lines: My Jesus, stay Thou by me, But still Thine angels round me sing. Interesting and amusing by its grotesqueness is the Moravian version of this stanza,52 printed as a separate hymn in the edition of 1754: In the rich language in which such hymns were conceived and expressed they possess a force that is not easily retained in a translation especially where as in the present instance there is such an abundance of double rhymes. Dr. J. Guthrie's version has in England gained some popularity through the melodious rhythm he has given his lines by not restricting himself to Gerhardt's metre,53 and certainly the iambic line is more suited to an English treatment of the theme of rest and repose. Note this effect in Guthrie's lines: The woods are hushed o'er town and plain (1). My laden eyes to slumber yield (31). 52 Founded on St. Matthew XXIII, 37. "O Jerusalem how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!" 53 Line 3 in his stanza is the same length as Gerhardt's. 54 Cf. the same effect in Adelaide Procter's hymn: The shadows of the evening hours Fall from the dark'ning sky Upon the fragrance of the flowers The dews of evening lie; etc. The sound sequence in stanza VIII to which the lines owe some of their popularity Dr. Guthrie has obviously endeavored to imitate by the alliterative, My Savior, Shield and Sun! When Satan on my soul would spring, which would indeed do justice to Gerhardt. However a less unpleasant sound than the repeated sibilant which he has used, would suit the English ear better. As an attempt to translate with scrupulous faithfulness Kelly's version is of some interest. The difficulties in the double rhymes he overcomes by the device of inflectional endings and repetition of pronouns which although at first moderately satisfactory must eventually become monotonous : declining sing ye bring ye hasteth tirèd send you defend you. Mrs. Findlater has in her version changed the metre of the original for all lines except the third and sixth; in the closing couplet or even the concluding line of each stanza she has more than any other translator reproduced the idea of peaceful repose which was so evidently Gerhardt's intention. Stanza 3, lines 5 and 6. Stanza 8, lines and 6. When I hear my Lord's command Give to my beloved sleep, And angels send to guard their home. The omission of stanza VIII containing the figure of the hen gathering in her chicks is partially justifiable on the ground that the poem is complete without it, and that such similes while appropriately introduced into hymns of the seventeenth century are out of place in nineteenth century hymnody. On the other hand by this ruthless pruning the distinctive touch that Gerhardt gave the hymn is lost. It is interesting to note in the examination of the various English versions of Gerhardt's poetry the treatment which the "homely element" receives from the translator. The poem under consideration will form a good basis for discussion. Almost invariably the translator offers a paraphrase departing more or less widely from the original and effecting a colorless result: Gerhardt writes in stanza IV: Der Leib eilt nun zur Ruhe, 55 This rhyme occurs in two successive stanzas. |