Paul Gerhardt as a Hymn Writer and his Influence on English Hymnody
Theodore Brown Hewitt
Print Basis: Concordia Publishing House, 1976, omitting material still under
copyright. Originally presented as the author's thesis, Yale, 1917.
Reprint of the 1918 ed. published by Yale University Press, New
Haven
PREFACE
Das deutsche Lied ist einzig,
Ein Schatz für Geist und Herz,
Gehoben aus den Tiefen,
Wo Freude wohnt und Schmerz.
Kein andres Volk auf Erden
Genosz des Schicksals Gunst,
Solch einen Schatz zu sammeln,
Reich an Natur und Kunst. [1]
So far as is known to the writer of this thesis there has appeared hitherto
no attempt to treat comprehensively and in detail the subject of the direct
and indirect influence of Paul Gerhardt's hymns upon English and American
sacred song. That there exists a very real influence is universally known,
but how widely it has made itself felt is apparently a matter of little
concern on the part of many, because we often find hymnals accrediting a
hymn to the English translator with no mention of its original author. The
present dissertation has been prompted by a desire to make some contribution to the subject of the relation of English and German hymnody in general, and in particular to show the great debt which the hymnody of England and America owes to the poetry of Paul Gerhardt. It was presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Yale University in candidacy for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in June, 1917.
For great assistance rendered to me by way of suggestion of sources I am
under obligation to Dr. Bernard C. Steiner of the Enoch Pratt Free Library
of Baltimore, Professor Gustav Gruener of Yale University, Professor Waldo
S. Pratt of the Hartford Theological Seminary, Professor H. C. G. von
Jagemann of Harvard University and to Professor John G. Robertson of the
University of London; for help not only in this phase of the work but also
in the general treatment of the subject I am deeply indebted to the counsel of my father, Professor Emeritus John H. Hewitt of Williams College and to Professor Arthur H. Palmer of Yale University.
New Haven, Connecticut,
April 9, 1918.
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[1] Stanza 1 of Das Deutsche Lied, a poem of six stanzas by Professor A. H. Palmer, 1915.
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CONTENTS
PAGE
Bibliography [1]xi
PART I
CHAPTER
I Gerhardt's Life and Times [2]1
II Gerhardt's Relation to Earlier Hymnody of Germany [3]6
III Characteristics of Gerhardt as a Hymn Writer [4]13
PART II
I History of English Hymnody and the German Influence upon English Hymn
writing from the Early XVIth through the XIXth Century [5]27
II English Versions of Gerhardt's Hymns [6]35
APPENDIX
1. Biographical Sketches of Translators [7]144
2. Tabulation of Alliteration, Assonance, etc. [8]149
3. Index by Subjects [9]158
4. Index of English Versions [10]160
5. Index of Gerhardt's Hymns [11]167
6. Afterword 170
7. Bibliography 171
[Appendix 6 and 7 are still under copyright and are not included in the
electronic edition.]
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CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE
1607 (Mar. 12) Paul Gerhardt born at Gräfenhainichen near Wittenberg.
1622-1627 At school at Grimma.
1628-1642 (?) Student at Wittenberg. Teachers: Röber, Martini.
1637 Gräfenhainichen set on fire by Swedish soldiers.
1642-1651 (?) At Berlin; where he wrote Gelegenheitsgedichte, 18 of which
Crüger published in his "Praxis pietatis melica."
1651 Proposed as minister at Mittenwalde.
1651 (Nov.) Ordained as Probst at Mittenwalde.
1655 (Feb. 11) Marriage with Anna Maria Barthold.
1656 (Oct.) Called to Berlin to the Nicolalkirche.
1657 (Summer) Entered upon work in Berlin.
1662 Elector issues edict.
1666 (Feb. 6th or 16th) Summoned to Consistory and threatened with
deposition.
1668 (Mar. 5) Death of wife.
1668 (Autumn) Called to Lübben.
1676 (May 27?) Death at Lübben.
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PART ONE
CHAPTER I.
GERHARDT'S LIFE AND TIMES.
Although Paul Gerhardt's poems have been so great a power in the world,
nevertheless facts concerning his own life are few. A fire set by the
Swedish soldiers in 1637 [4] destroyed all records which might enlighten us, yet from indirect sources and from his poems, we are certain of some facts of his biography.
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He was born in Gräfenhainichen a few miles southwest of Wittenberg in the direction of Halle on March 12th in the year 1607 probably. In this small
town, of the electorate of Saxony, which was surrounded by a high mediaeval wall, Paul Gerhardt spent the first fifteen years of his life. His father, Christian Gerhardt, was burgomaster of Gräfenhainichen where the citizens earned their living by cattle-raising, agriculture and hopgrowing. His
mother was Dorothea Starke, granddaughter of Gallas Döbler, a Lutheran
pastor. Both of his parents died probably when he was very young; and of his many brothers and sisters little is known.
At the age of fifteen having passed the examinations and being especially
well prepared in Latin Gerhardt entered the Fürstenschule at Grimma. The school was noted for its pious atmosphere and stern discipline: its chief
aim was to inculcate in the pupils "Gottesfurcht und gute Sitte."
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It is natural that Gerhardt on completing his course at Grimma in 1627
should choose Wittenberg as his university, for it was situated almost at
the gates of his native town. Furthermore since this was the place where
[20]Luther and Melanchthon had worked, the Protestant world looked toward Wittenberg with great hopes. He entered the university in 1628. Two of the teachers in particular had great influence on him, Paul Röber and Jacob Martini. These men were guardians of Lutheranism, and Röber besides composing hymns wrote many Latin disputations and polemics against Rome and Calvinism; in his sermons he often took his text, not from the Bible but from some religious poem, preaching for example on "Was mein Gott will, das gescheh allzeit." In this way Gerhardt was taught the full use and purpose of hymn writing. Beside Röber and Martini another Wittenberg professor was of influence on Gerhardt, the philologist August Buchner, one of the most esteemed members of the faculty. He had intimate friendship with [21]Opitz and had warmly advocated the latter's Von der Deutschen Poeterei and had himself written Anleitung zur deutschen Poeterey. As this book was easily copied [5] by many of the students, it is reasonable to assume that this effort toward spreading Opitz' rules for rhythmic measure had its due influence on Gerhardt.
More is not known concerning his university career. A Latin epigram of the
year 1642 points to the probability of his being still at Wittenberg, vhile
the certainty of his being in Berlin the next year 1643 is proved by a
Hochzeitsode. [6] Gerhardt was undoubtedly tutor in the house of Andreas
Barthold then "Kammergerichtsadvokat," whose daughter wedded Joachim Fromme, the archdeacon of the Nicolaikirche in Berlin; this wedding was the occasion of the congratulatory Hochzeitsode. During this period in Berlin from his thirty-seventh to his forty-sixth year he wrote a number of
"Gelegenheitsgedichte" which show us Gerhardt as quite at home moving in a circle of educators and clergymen.
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[5] In 1665 there was published an authentic edition.
[6] Cf. Goed. 10: "Der aller Herz und Willen lenkt."
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Among his friends was the well known choirmaster of the Nicolaikirche,
Johann Crüger, who first introduced Gerhardt's hymns into common worship by publishing eighteen [7] of them with other poems in his Praxis pietatis melica.
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[7] Among these 18 were: "Ein Lämmlein geht und trägt die Schuld" Goed. 68.
"O du allersüszte Freude" Goed. 76. "O Welt sieh hier dein Leben" Goed. 71.
"Wach auf, mein Herz, und singe" Goed. 59.
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In these early poems Gerhardt's depth of feeling and natural warmth of
character are present. Since his twelfth year the Thirty Years' War, a
period of destruction unparalleled in Germany history, had been going on.
The horrors of the epoch made deep impression upon his imaginative mind, and the strife, the struggle for freedom of the conscience enlisted his sympathy and strengthened his determined resistance to all religious compulsion. The hope and joy in this life were taken away and confidence in another world was needed. Gerhardt even in these early hymns gave fully that deep assurance in the guidance of God.
He himself had suffered individual loss. The Swedes in 1637 determined to
punish Johann Georg, the Elector of Saxony, because he, in spite of a signed contract with them, had deserted the Protestant cause, and in their ravages they appeared before Gräfenhainichen and demanded a war tax of 3000 Gulden.
It was paid, but notwithstanding the payment the Swedish soldiers set fire
to the town. The Gerhardt house and the church with its many records were among the four hundred buildings destroyed.
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Whether Gerhardt felt the pinch of distress of the war, or hesitated to
enter a field already crowded with a superabundance of young clergymen, or for what reason he stayed so long in Berlin as tutor is not known, but he
was already forty-five years old when he began his first church work. In a
letter of the clerical cabinet ("Geistliches Ministerium") of Berlin to the
magistrate of Mittenwalde (Sept. 1651) Gerhardt was proposed as minister and he is characterized as being of "well known diligence and scholarship, of peace loving disposition and blameless life, besides being loved and
esteemed by both high and low in Berlin." Upon the successful outcome of
this recommendation Gerhardt was ordained "Propst" [8] of Mittenwalde on the 18th of November, 1651, entering his new office in December of that year. At his ordination he pledged his support especially of the Lutheran Book of Concord (Concordienformel).
The community of Mittenwalde had suffered severely in 1637 as had
Gräfenhainichen from the Swedish marauders and attacks of pestilence, and Paul Gerhardt undertook his duties here with full understanding of this
universal suffering, and fulfilled them with all his strength. The poems
which he wrote at this time give evidence of a tender, yet strong pastoral
care. He was a spiritual guide and comforter, yet in spite of his ardent
work in Mittenwalde he apparently yearned for Berlin, and often returned
thither to visit. On February 11th, 1655, at the age of forty-eight he
married Anna Maria Barthold, daughter of Andreas Barthold and sister of Frau Fromme. [9] Their first child, born to them in 1656, died in infancy and a
memorial tablet in the church in Mittenwalde shows their grief.
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[8] In Mittenwalde, 9 English miles south of Berlin, there were in the
church two clerical positions, the first of which was known as the
"Propstei," since its occupant was entrusted with the supervision of the
clergy of the vicinity. Propst (or Probst) is from the Latin propositus.
[9] Cf. p. 2.
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That same year Gerhardt accepted the deaconry at the Nicolaikirche in
Berlin, and began his work in the summer of 1657. He seems to have had some hesitation about leaving Mittenwalde, because it was only "after fervent prayer and mature deliberation," that he accepted the call to Berlin.
However, without doubt he and Frau Gerhardt were glad to be again among such friends as Georg Lilius and Michael Schirmer whose tastes were so similar to their own.
When Gerhardt came to Berlin he entered a city full of sharp strife between
the Lutheran and the Reformed clergy; the Great Elector was by inheritance and by education in the Netherlands where he spent four years strongly in favor of the Reformed Church. Gerhardt on the other hand held the security of the Lutheran faith very dear. When hostilities between the clergy began to disturb the peace, the Elector issued on the 2d of June, 1662, an edict [10] the purpose of which was to maintain harmony between Reformed and Lutheran clergymen. Its only effect was, however, to fan the flames of the very conflagration he sought so hard to quench. The unconciliatory spirit was encouraged from Wittenberg, too, where Theology of Controversy had reached its highest pitch through Calovius, whose advice and judgment Gerhardt prized. His inclination toward Wittenberg is seen also in various Latin poems for special occasions.
Gerhardt did not seek the quarrel, but was drawn forcibly into it; he was
concerned throughout the controversy in keeping a clear conscience and
preserving the confession of the Lutheran Church. In all the documents that were issued in this period between the Magistrate, the "Stünde" and the Elector it is said of him that he was always pacific and conciliatory. Being
a strong adherent of all the symbolic books, including the Book of Concord,
he could not conscientiously sign the edict. He was accordingly dismissed.
The citizens of Berlin espoused his cause and appealed to the Magistrate who testified that Gerhardt had never "scorned nor rebuked the faith of the
Elector." Also his influential patron, Mayor Zarlang, tried to reinstate
him, but Gerhardt could not renounce his adherence to the Concordienformel, so in 1666 his position was filled by another. Nor on the other hand can the
Elector be blamed for his stand; he wished only to have peace between the
adherents of the two beliefs, and was sincere in the thought that the
Concordienformel merely fomented strife.
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[10] This mandate was a renewal of the edict issued by his grandfather on
Feb. 24, 1614, demanding "moderation and modesty in the pulpit."
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For some years Gerhardt lived in Berlin without any position, supported by
his friends in his congregation. He was, however, the victim of inevitable
circumstances, for although within a few months of his resignation the edict
was withdrawn, his patroness, Electress Luise Henriette, had died. All of
his children had died in infancy except Paul Friedrich who survived him, and
in March, 1668, his wife died who had been as strong a follower of the
Lutheran Faith as he, and had encouraged him in his stand of not signing the
edict. [11] Her death was the fulfillment of a wish that "the dear Lord
might soon come and release her."
Gerhardt took into his home as housekeeper the widow of his brother-in-law
Fromme. [12] His household was reasonably large for one in his condition, a
preacher without office; he speaks of three, or even of four servants, and
mentions at times some business matters in Berlin that seem to be of moment.
Although he must also have had pupils whom he tutored during these years, he
evidently wished for some definite occupation, and it came. On the 14th of
October, 1668, Paul Gerhardt preached a trial sermon ("Gastpredigt") in
Lübben. The city council the following day with the unanimous consent of the
citizens offered him the vacant charge and Gerhardt accepted it as a divine
gift. The formal call under date of October 29th was sent to him at Berlin.
Owing to various circumstances, such as the delay incident to necessary
repairs on the parsonage, and also the serious illness of his son, Paul
Friedrich, he did not enter his duties till Trinity Sunday, 1669. He was at
this time sixty-three years old, and for seven years he worked faithfully in
this new field.
Gerhardt died the 27th of May, 1676, with the prayer on his lips:
Kann uns doch kein Tod nicht tödten,
Sondern reiszt unsern Geist
Aus viel tausend Nöten;
Schleuszt das Thor der bittern Leiden
Und macht Balm, Da man kann
Gehn zur Himmelsfreuden. [13]
He was buried in the vault of the Lübben church.
Shortly before his death, in his seventieth year, he composed a sort of
testament or will of a moral nature for his own Paul in which he hoped to
leave little of this world's goods, but an honorable name of which his son
might not be ashamed. He commends to the boy the study of theology at
reputable universities and also the avoidance of the Syncretists, [14] on
the ground that they aimed at temporal things and were loyal to neither God
nor man.
In a memorial service to Gerhardt in 1876, a tablet was put up on the north
wall of the chancel of the church at Lübben; and his portrait hung there
bears this inscription:
Theologus in cribro Satanae versatus. [15]
The Nicolaikirche in Berlin and the other churches where he held charge have
portraits of Gerhardt on their walls. Also among the many memorials to him
are charitable foundations in Mittenwalde, Wittenberg and Berlin bearing his
name. To these tributes the present generation, now, three centuries later,
adds its praise and gratitude.
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[11] The attitude of the women in this time of religious strife who urged
their husbands to sign the edict is satirized in the following lines:
Schreibt, liebe Herre, schreibt, dasz Ihr in der Pfarre bleibt.
[12] Cf. pp. 2 and 3.
[13] This is stanza VIII of his poem: "Warum sollt ich mich denn grämen"
(cf. Goed. 122).
[14] The Syncretists sought to effect an agreement between the Reformed and
Lutheran doctrines.
[15] "A divine sifted in Satan's sieve." Cf. St. Luke XXII, 31.
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[4] Cf. pp. 2 and 3.
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CHAPTER II.
GERHARDT'S RELATION TO EARLIER HYMNODY OF GERMANY.
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THE MEDIAEVAL PERIOD.
The history of hymnody in Germany up to the time of Gerhardt falls naturally
into two periods which might be called the Mediaeval Period, extending from
the beginning of the eighth century to the end of the fifteenth century, and
the Reformation Period covering the sixteenth and the first half of the
seventeenth centuries.
The Hymns used in the services of the early church in Germany were, for
obvious reasons, Latin hymns, for St. Boniface, the Apostle of Germany,
though of English birth, entered Germany by the way of Rome. It was a Latin
Christianity which he preached and the church services were, of course,
those of the Mother Church. While the general use of the Latin language was
favorable to preserving the unity of the Church and facilitated literary
intercourse among scholars, this circumstance prevented for a long time the
free and full development of a hymnody in the vernacular. The innate love of
poetry, however, produced many sacred lyrics for private devotion and caused
to be made metrical translations of Latin hymns and portions of the Psalter.
In the consideration of the earlier period of hymnody reference will be made
to a few Latin hymns, which though not of German authorship were yet used in
the religious services of the Germans and had some influence in the
development of the German vernacular hymnody. And in this consideration of
hymns and hymn writers it will be convenient in the main to follow the
chronological order.
Probably it cannot be known what and when Latin hymns were first translated
into modern languages. If the statement made by Dean Milman in a footnote of
his Latin Christianity, that the hymns of Ambrose were translated into
German in the ninth century, is well founded, then probably the "Deus
Creator omnium" and "Aeterne rerum Conditor," which are undoubtedly by
Ambrose, were among the earliest of Latin poems to be so translated.
The oldest German poet is the Benedictine monk, Otfrid of Weissenburg, who
was born about the beginning of the ninth century, according to some
authorities in Franconia, according to others near the Lake of Constance. He
settled as a monk and priest at Weissenburg, where he wrote and completed
(about 865) his Evangelienbuch, a versified gospel history, and a most
interesting work from a philological as well as a hymnological point of
view. This is the earliest example of a long German poem in rhyme. Of the
rhymed prayers which some on doubtful authority have ascribed to him two
have been translated by [22]Miss Winkworth, "Du himlisco trohtin" ("[23]Thou
Heavenly Lord of Light") and "Got thir eigenhaf ist" ("[24]God, it is thy
property"). [16]
A celebrated Latin hymn of early date, which is known to have been used as
early as 898, is the "Veni Creator Spiritus"; it has been constantly sung
throughout Christendom at the consecration of kings and at great
ecclesiastical solemnities. It has been ascribed to Charlemagne, Charles the
Bald, Gregory the Great and various others. [17]
To this early period belongs Notker of St. Gall, called Balbulus, the
"Stammerer," who was born in Switzerland about 840 and died in 912. He wrote
in Latin and was the originator of a form of Latin hymnody called
"sequentia" or "prosa," which, when translated into German, gave rise to the
earliest German hymns with which we are acquainted. Whenever in the
eucharistic service a "Hallelujah" was introduced it had been customary to
prolong the last syllable and to sing on the vowel "ah" a series of
elaborate passages to represent an outburst of jubilant feeling. These were
termed "sequences" because they followed the "Hallelujah" and repeated its
notes. They were of course without words and what Notker did was to write
words for them. Notker was characterized as a man of gentle, contemplative
nature and "accustomed to find spiritual and poetical suggestions in common
sights and sounds." One of the most remarkable of his sequences, "Media vita
in morte sumus," is said to have been suggested to him while observing some
workmen constructing a bridge in a precipitous and most dangerous place.
This sequence was long used as a battle-song; one of Luther's funeral hymns,
"Mitten wir im Leben sind," is a translation of it and portions of the
Burial Service of the Church of England are taken from it. St. Gall, which
was for a long time the especial seat of German religious literature,
produced besides Notker several distinguished sequence-writers, presumably
his pupils, Hartmann, Hermann, and Gottschalk. To Gottschalk has been
ascribed the "Alleluiatic Sequence ("Cantemus cuncti") well known in England
by the translation, "The strain upraise of joy and praise."
An early example of the change of sequences from a rhythmical to a metrical
form is seen in the so-called "Golden Sequence," "[25]Veni Sancte Spiritus,"
called by Archbishop Trench "the loveliest of all the hymns in the whole
circle of Latin sacred poetry." Tradition assigns its authorship to Robert
II, King of France (997-1031). Its merit is attested by the many
translations made of it into German, English and other Ianguages.
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[16] This latter is regarded by some authorities as from the pen of St.
Gregory the Great.
[17] For a scholarly discussion of the authorship of this famous hymn cf.
Julian: Dictionary of Hymnology, p. 1206 ff.
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By the beginning of the tenth century the impulse given to the arts by
Charlemagne had gradually died out and the state of society had become so
disorganized that for two centuries after the time of Notker the field of
literature was comparatively barren. The twelfth and thirteenth centuries,
however, mark a great change and form an era of rapid growth. Germany was
now ruled by the Hohenstauffens, whose dream it was to prove themselves true
heirs of Charlemagne by re-establishing the Empire of the West. As a result
of their participation in the common life of Christendom, very largely
through the influence of the crusades, came the development of chivalry and
a national literature, the first great outburst of German poetry and song. A
large class (more than two hundred) of minnesingers sprang up who glorified
earthly and heavenly love and the Virgin Mary as the type of pure womanhood.
In the church too the voice of native song now made itself heard. The "Kyrie
eleison" and "Christe eleison" which passed from the Greek church into the
Latin, as a response of the people, to be repeated over and over again,
especially on the high festivals, were popularly enlarged, and these brief
poems were called from the refrain "Kirleison" or "Leisen," also "Leichen."
[18] These sequences, for such they were, were the first specimens of German
hymns which were sung by the people. The oldest dates from the end of the
ninth century and is called the "[26]Leich vom heiligen Petrus." It has
three stanzas, of which the first reads:
Unser trohtin hat farsalt
sancte Petre giwalt
Daz er mag ginerjan
zeimo dingenten man.
Kyrie eleyson! Christe eleison. [19]
The twelfth century produced the "Salve Caput cruentatum" of Bernard of
Clairvaux,--a hymn which has come to us by Paul Gerhardt, [20] whose own
hymn writing is wonderfully affected by Bernard.
In the following century appeared two widely celebrated compositions, the
"Dies irae" and the "Stabat Mater dolorosa." These, as well as many others
of the best Latin hymns, such as the "Te Deum" and the "Gloria in excelsis,"
were repeatedly translated. Occasionally words of the original Latin were
introduced into the vernacular as in the Christmas hymn:
In dulci jubilo
Nu singet und seyt fro!
Unsres Herzens Wonne
Leyt in presipio
Und leuchtet in gremio.
Alpha es et O.
The mystic school of [27]Tauler, in the fourteenth century produced a number
of hymns full of glowing love to God. Tauler is the author of the Christmas
poem, "[28]Uns kommt ein Schiff geladen" and the hymn of Self Renunciation,
"[29]Ich musz die Creaturen fliehen," both of which have passed into
English, the best versions being those of [30]Miss Winkworth. [21]
Of unusual sweetness and abiding worth are the hymns of [31]Heinrich von
Laufenburg, the most important and prolific hymn writer of the fifteenth
century. Many are in intricate metres, while others are transformations of
secular songs into religious songs. His cradle hymn, "Ach lieber Herre Jesu
Christ," is a beautiful prayer of a mother for her infant child, and has
become well known in England through [32]Miss Winkworth's translation.
German hymnody of the Middle Ages is, like the Latin, overflowing with the
worship of the saints and the Virgin who is even clothed with divine
attributes and is virtually accorded the place of Christ as the fountain of
grace. In characterizing the period Wackernagel says [22]
"Through all the centuries from Otfrid to Luther we meet with the idolatrous
worship of the Virgin Mary. There are hymns which teach that she pre-existed
with God at the creation, that all things are created in her and for her and
that God rested in her on the seventh day."
One of the favorite hymns to the Virgin, "Dich Frau von Himmel, ruf ich an,"
[33]Hans Sachs subsequently changed into "Christum vom Himmel ruf ich an," a
change strikingly characteristic of the effect which the Reformation exerted
upon the worship of the Virgin Mary. It substituted for it the worship of
Christ as the sole Mediator through whom men attain eternal life.
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[18] It is possible that instead of being a corruption of the Greek phrase
the word may have denoted at first a certain dance measure. Cf. Grimm:
Deutsches Wörterbuch, Vol. VI.
[19] "Our Lord hath given St. Peter power that he may preserve the man who
hopes in him."
[20] Cf. p. 86 and note.
[21] Cf. [34]Christian Singers of Germany.
[22] Das deutsche Kirchenlied, II, p. 13.
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THE REFORMATION PERIOD, 1500-1648.
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Guizot in his History of European Civilization calls the Reformation an
insurrection of the human mind against the absolute power of spiritual
order. In the changes that then occurred few things are more noteworthy than
the new privileges granted to the individual worshipper. There was revived
the primitive idea of the priesthood of all believers. Instead of the Latin
Mass, the Reformation introduced a sermon in the vernacular, and for the
chanting of priests and choirs it substituted congregational singing. Among
the means which contributed to the large benefits which then came to the
church the writing of hymns was not the least important. It is interesting
to note that the leader of the Reformation was also the first evangelical
hymnist. [23] To [35]Luther belongs the extraordinary merit of having given
to his people in their own language not only the Bible and the Catechism,
but also the hymn book, so that they might directly answer the word of God
in their songs. No sooner had there been felt the want of German psalms and
hymns to take the place of the Latin hymns and sequences than Luther set
about to supply the want. He was intensely fond of poetry and song and was
himself a poet by nature. His estimate of the value of music is revealed in
his words: "He who despises music, as all fanatics do, will never be my
friend." He wished that all children might be taught to sing; "for," he
says, "I would fain see all arts, especially music, in the service of Him
who has bestowed and created them." [24]
He began to write hymns soon after he had completed his New Testament
translation and from this time on he was an active reformer of church music
and hymns, enlisting in the same work the large circle of friends whom he
gathered about him. Luther had recourse to the Latin hymns, adapting and
translating many of those which would lend themselves best to his purposes.
Altogether he wrote thirty-seven hymns, most of them dating from the year
1524; more are frequently ascribed to him though on doubtful authority.
Luther's hymns which are characterized by simplicity and strength, had a
popular churchly tone; his style is plain and often rugged and quaint but he
throws into his poems all his own fervent faith and deep devotion. His most
famous hymn "[36]Ein' feste Burg ist unser Gott," written in 1529 when the
German princes made their formal Protest against the revocation of their
liberties, thus gaining the name of Protestants, has passed into English
hymnody in no less than sixty-three versions. [25]
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[23] But cf. L. F. Benson: The English Hymn, N. Y. 1915, p. 20 ff.
[24] Cf. Tischreden: "Von der Musica" and "Die Musicam sol man nicht
verachten."
[25] Cf. Julian: Dictionary of Hymnology, pp. 324-5.
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Of the many hymnists inspired by Luther's example the more eminent were
[37]Justus Jonas, Luther's friend and colleague in the preparation of
metrical German versions of the Psalms, [38]Paul Eber, the faithful
assistant of Melanchthon, [39]Markgraf Albrecht of Brandenburg, [40]Hans
Sachs, the shoemaker, and later Gerhardt.
The German hymnody of the Reformation period was enriched by the hymns of
the [41]Bohemian and Moravian Brethren, who as followers of John Huss, had
in 1467 formed themselves into a separate and organized church; their
archbishop Lucas in 1501 collected hymns and published the first hymn book
in the vernacular to be found in Bohemia or Germany. The adherents of this
cult are commonly called Moravians, because the first founders of the
settlement in Saxony immigrated from Moravia. They assumed this name in
England and America and it is very largely through their hymn book [26] that
German hymns have found their way into English hymnody.
The Lutheran hymnody which followed closely upon the Moravian contributions
concluded its productive period with the Formula of Concord [27] in 1577
which gave final shape to the Lutheran creed. In this period there were over
a hundred poets whose verses have expressed the highest Christian praises.
It is an era which, for its productiveness, may be compared with the time of
[42]Watts and Doddridge and their immediate successors in England.
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[26] Cf. the frequent references to the Moravian Hymn Book, p. 38 ff.
[27] Cf. p. 4.
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The hymns from this time to the close of the Thirty Years' War are of a more
subjective [28] experimental type of sacred poetry, that is, writers made
their songs more and more expressive of personal feelings. In point of
refinement and grace of style the hymn writers of the period of the Thirty
Years' War, whose taste was chiefly formed by the influence of [43]Martin
Opitz [29] the founder of the First Silesian School of German poetry,
excelled their predecessors. His finest hymn, "O Licht, geboren aus dem
Lichte" is a special favorite in Silesia where he was born, and has passed
into English in several translations, notably that of [44]Miss Winkworth, "O
Light, who out of Light wast born." [30]
Near the close of the war, when the hope of peace had begun to dawn,
[45]Martin Rinckart (1586-1649) composed that noble expression of trust and
praise, "[46]Nun danket alle Gott." It has been translated many times and is
included in nearly all American and English hymnals. The hymn of trust in
Providence by Neumarck (1621-1681), "[47]Wer nur den lieben Gott läszt
walten," is hardly inferior to that of Gerhardt on the same theme. [31]
The two most famous and most copious hymn writers of this time were however
[48]Rist and [49]Heermann; the former wrote between 600 and 700 hymns, such
as were intended to supply every possible requirement of public worship or
private experience. In so great a mass of writings it is inevitable that
there should be much that is poor, but over 200 may be said to be in common
use in Germany and at least fifteen have appeared in the hymn books of
English-speaking countries. Not so prolific as Heermann and Rist but
superior to them in poetical genius was [50]Simon Dach (1605-1659), who was
Professor of Poetry at Königsberg and the most important poet of the
Königsberg School. [32]
While the Lutheran churches were superior to the Reformed churches of
Germany and Switzerland in original hymnody, they were inferior to them in
the matter of psalmody. Zwingli and Calvin held firmly to the principle that
in public worship the word God should have supreme dominion, a principle
which raised the Psalter to new dignity and power. Versified versions of the
Psalms became the first hymn books of the Reformed Churches. [34] The first
German Reformed hymn book appeared at Zürich, 1540. It contained not only
versified psalms but also hymns, with a preface in defense of congregational
singing. The most popular collection however was the versified Psalter of
[51]Lobwasser of Königsberg. While its poetry is but a poor translation of
the French Psalter of Marot and Beza, [35] its pious contents made it a rich
source of devotion for a hundred years. It is a parallel to the Scottish
Psalter of 1641 by Francis Rous. [36]
[52]Simon Dach was the last poet of any note to write in the Reformation
period of German hymnody. After him a new era of poetry, the Confessional
(1648-1680), opens and it is at this time that Paul Gerhardt appears. He,
however, although living in the midst of this churchly atmosphere, profound
in Lutheran orthodoxy, feels the tendencies of a still later period, that of
the Devotional era. Like many other great men he saw beyond his time. He
combined in his poems all the strong qualities of the century in which he
lived, and of the later epoch, the period of the Pietists.
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[28] Cf. p. 14.
[29] For his influence on Gerhardt cf. pp. 2, 14, 18.
[30] Cf. Christian Singers of Germany, p. 173.
[31] "Befiehl du deine Wege," cf. p. 114 ff.
[32] Of the 165 hymns that he wrote, five have found places in modern
English hymnals. One of the best known popular songs is his love-song
written in East Prussian dialect "Anke von Tharaw." This is made familiar to
English readers through Longfellow's translation, "Annie of Tharaw."
[34] For their effect on English hymnody cf. p. 28 ff.
[35] Cf. p. 29.
[36] Cf. Julian: Dictionary of Hymnology, p. 1023.
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CHAPTER III.
CHARACTERISTICS OF GERHARDT AS A HYMN WRITER.
From the close of the Thirty Years' War until 1680 there occurred in German
hymnody a transition from the churchly and confessional to the pietistic and
devotional hymns. [37] It is during this transitional period that the
religious song of Germany finds its purest and sweetest expression in the
hymns of Paul Gerhardt, who is as much the typical poet of the Lutheran, as
[53]Herbert is of the English church. In Gerhardt more than in any other
author all the requisites for the religious poem are united. He possessed a
firm conviction of the objective truth of the Christian doctrine of
salvation and also a genuine sentiment for all that is purely human. His
deep Christian feeling together with sterling good sense, and a fresh and
healthy appreciation of life in the realm of nature and in the intellectual
world are the sources for his splendid work. His hymns are among the noblest
contributions to sacred poetry, giving him a place second only to [54]Luther
and even surpassing Luther's work in poetic fertility. Gervinus says of him:
[38]
"He went back to Luther's most genuine type of hymn in such a manner as no
one else had done, only so far modified as the requirements of his time
demanded. In Luther's time the belief in Free Grace and the work of the
Atonement in Redemption and the bursting of the gates of Hell was the
inspiration of his joyful confidence; with Gerhardt it is the belief in the
Love of God. With Luther the old wrathful God of the Romanists assumed the
heavenly aspect of grace and mercy; with Gerhardt the merciful Righteous One
is a gentle loving man. Like the old poets of the people he is sincerely and
unconstrainedly pious, naive and hearty; the blissfulness of his faith makes
him benign and amiable; in his way of writing he is as attractive, simple
and pleasing as in his way of thinking."
Scherer [40] gives an even clearer characterization of the two hymn writers:
"Geistlicher Ernst des Vortrags schlieszt Heiterkeit des Gemütes nicht aus,
und diese bildet in der That den sittlichen Grundcharakter von Gethardts
Poesie. Wenn bei Luther die Welt voll Sturm und Gewitter ist, so liegt sie
bei Gerhardt in beständigem Sonnenglanz; die Wohltaten des Schöpfers
erfreuen das Herz; alles ist so schön zum Besten der Menschen eingerichtet;
Tod und Hölle haben längst ihre Macht verloren; die Seele frohlockt in der
Gewiszheit der Erlösung; Gnade geht vor Recht, Zorn musz der Liebe weichen.
Luther steht wie ein Mann dem Bösen, Gerhardt sieht wie ein Jüngling darüber
hinweg; und schlieszlich weisz er zu trösten und Zufriedenheit, Geduld zu
predigen, das rechte Mittelmasz zu preisen und auch dem Uebel gute Seiten
abzugewinnen; selbst die Sünde dient zum Heil. Bei Luther ruft die Gemeinde
zu Gott, bei Gerhardt redet der Einzelne. Seine Lyrik ist nicht mehr
Chorpoesie; sie beschränkt sich nicht auf das, worin alle betenden Christen
einig sind; sie holt aus der Tiefe des individuellen Seelenlebens ihre
Schätze; sie macht (um die Schulausdrücke zu gebrauchen) den Uebergang vom
objektiven Bekenntnisliede zum subjektiven Erbauungslied."
Gerhardt sings his hymns with conviction, embodying in them such phases of
feeling as might be experienced by any large body of sincere Christians. In
all the religious lyrics even in the congregational hymns from the middle of
the seventeenth century on we note a more personal and individual tone and
with it a tendency to reproduce special forms of Christian experience often
of a mystical character. Gerhardt's whole tone and style of thought belong
to the confessional school, but the distinct individuality and expression of
personal sentiment which are impressed on his poems already point to the
devotional school.
Many of our poet's hymns show the influence of [55]Opitz' Trostgedichte in
Widerwärtigkeit des Krieges. Critics [41] have gone so far as to say that
"without Opitz there would be no Gerhardt." There can be no doubt but that
the smoothness and elegance of form, the complete mastery of technique and
the purity of language are a distinct heritage from him. But without
consciously differing from Opitz and his school, Gerhardt has brought into
prominence the popular expression of feeling, using the popular form of
verse in which there prevails the natural flow of rhythm, so that no
striving after correctness of form is evident.
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Compared with most authors of his time Gerhardt wrote but little. His
contemporary, [56]Rist (1607-1667), and his successor, [57]Schmolk
(1672-1737), composed respectively 659 and 1188 hymns, while Gerhardt has
the modest number of 132 poems in all. [42] Yet a complete hymnal might be
compiled from them, so thoroughly do they embrace all religious and domestic
experiences. They appeared at intervals from the year 1649 on, many of them
for the first time in the Praxis pietatis melica, a collection of hymns and
tunes by Johann Crüger, the famous organist and composer of chorals. Crüger
died in the year 1662 and Cristoph Runge took over further editions of the
book. Gerhardt made no further contributions to these publications because
henceforth he became more intimately associated with Johann Georg Ebeling,
Crüger's successor in his church and organ work. Ebeling was so much pleased
with Gerhardt's hymns, that he at once began to set them to music and
eventually he published them dividing them by "dozens" [43] into separate
books. Gerhardt put at Ebeling's disposal the first copy of his hymns
hitherto published and also thirty-one separate strophes which had for
various reasons been omitted in previous editions. Finally he turned over to
him twenty-six more poems which the Praxis pietatis melica had not published
up to this time. Among them are a number which in all probability belong to
his early period of poetic activity, such as: "O Tod, O Tod, du greulichs
Bild," a paraphrase of one of Röber's [44] hymns. Also among them are
several which from content and form must be regarded as products of his
mature years, and from which the poet himself derived much comfort and
strength. [45] The most important fact about the Ebeling edition is this,
that the personality of Gerhardt, the poet, was for the first time presented
to the German people's heart and mind. Hitherto his poems had been grouped
together in collections of hymns with those of other and perhaps better
known authors. Ebeling's publication placed Gerhardt's works on their own
merit. The texts of the hymns in the editions of Crüger and Ebeling and
later of Feustking [46] in 1707 have often different readings so that it is
difficult to determine which the authentic version may be. It is quite
within the limits of possibility that Gerhardt himself undertook revisions,
as Feustking's title indicates.
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[42] Among them are 18 poems for occasions, 27 founded on Psalms and 24
founded on other parts of Holy Scripture.
[43] The tenth and last "dozen" of Gerhardt's hymns which Ebeling had set to
music for four voices and with an accompaniment of two violins and a bass,
appeared in 1667. The full title, characteristic of Ebeling, reads: Paul
Gerhardt's spiritual devotions, consisting of one hundred and twenty hymns,
collected into one volume, at the request of a number of eminent and
distinguished gentlemen; first to the honor of the Divine Majesty and then,
also for the consolation of esteemed and distressed Christendom, and for the
increase of the Christianity of all believing souls--in sets by dozens,
embellished with melodies for six parts." With such eagerness were these
hymns sought after that Ebeling had to publish a new edition two years
later. The melodies which proved most popular were those set to "Voller
Wunder, voller Kunst," "Schwing dich auf zu deinem Gott" and "Warum sollt'
ich mich denn grämen." Each single dozen was again dedicated to a particular
class of men with a characteristic preface. The first dozen he dedicated "to
the prelates, counts, lords, knights, and estates of the Electorate of
Brandenburg, this side the Oder and beyond the Elbe"; the second dozen, "To
the high, noble-born, honored, and virtuous women of Berlin" and so on.
[44] Cf. pp. 1 and 2.
[45]
"Die güldne Sonne" [58]Goed. 293.
"Der Tag mit seinem Lichte" [59]Goed. 296.
"Wie schön ists doch, Herr Jesu Christ" [60]Goed. 302.
"Voller Wunder, voller Kunst" [61]Goed. 304.
"Gib dich zufrieden und sei stille" [62]Goed. 274.
"Ich bin ein Gast auf Erden" [63]Goed. 284.
"Herr, du erforschest meinen Sinn" [64]Goed. 287.
"Herr Gott, du bist ja für und für" [65]Goed. 315.
"Ich danke dir mit Freuden" Goed. 333.
"Ich, der ich oft in tiefes Leid" [66]Goed. 298.
"Johannes sahe durch Gesicht" [67]Goed. 319.
"Mein Seel ist in der Stille" Goed. 307.
"Merkt auf, merkt Himmel, Erde" Goed. 278.
[46] Johann Heinrich Feustking: Ausgabe, Zerbst, 1707, text "nach des
seligen Autors eigenhändigem revidirten Exemplar mit Fleisz übersehen."
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Of these 132 poems a large proportion have become embodied in church music
of Germany and many of them may be counted among the most beautiful in
German hymnody. How widely they have been adopted into general use is shown
by the fact that in modern hymnals in Germany there appear either in
expanded or cento form, [47] altogether 78 of his hymns, while in the
Schaff-Gilman "Library of Religious Poetry," which may be regarded as a
representative collection of universal hymnody, the proportion among German
hymn writers is as follows:--[68]Luther 10, Goethe 8, Gerhardt 7, [48]
[69]Spitta 6, [70]Scheffler 4, [71]Schmolk 4, etc. Pietism and rationalism
transferred the centre of gravity in hymnody to a different point; that is,
it changed the type of hymn or required of it other features, and thus it is
that during the XVIIIth century, while Gerhardt's hymns lived on with others
they are rarely accorded a leading place. It was only the reawakening of a
life of faith that needed worship and strong evidence of reverence such as
followed the wars of liberation that brought his hymns into the forefront
once more and prompted further publications of them.
Rarely has there been, taking all in all, a time when there existed a
greater gulf between poets and their effusions than in the XVIIth century.
Most poets of that time gave forth what they had learned and what they
knew,--not what they really were. Theirs was a play of the intellect and
imagination on objects outside them. Hence their works displayed a universal
lack of inner truth. In the biographical sketch of Gerhardt we have given a
broken account of his life. Different from this is the story of the
individual in his poems which are his very personality. His work is not what
he learned from others. Instead, he gives us his own life unadorned and
true, and for the very reason that he leads a rich inner life is he able to
give it. He wrote preeminently as a living member of Christ's church. The
same quiet sincerity, depth of feeling and warmth that are seen in his face,
stand out in his poetry.
Luther sang: "Ein' feste Burg ist unser Gott," but Gerhardt has: "Ist Gott
für mich, so trete," [49] and "Ich singe dir mit Herz und Mund." [50] Thus,
as has been said in the early part of this chapter, [51] the hymns no longer
acknowledge the truths of the Gospel as in the days of the Reformation, but
the poet lives them. Approximately one-eighth [52] of Gerhardt's hymns begin
with "Ich," while not one of Luther's begins this way. Gerhardt's hymns,
then, proclaim his own personal experiences, many of them having their
inspiration in the intimate circle of his own family and friends. Yet
observe that in none of them is there any personal experience that is not
enlightened by its relation to the external truths of Christian Belief so
that it has a universal significance. Assuming that one takes for granted
the incontestable truth of evangelistic Philosophy of Life as does Gerhardt,
one may find one's own thoughts and feelings expressed in these poems. Every
pious worshipper can follow Gerhardt, every one may find in him peace for
the soul, the consecration of happiness and comfort in dark hours. Universal
life and not merely the life of one reared in the church is unfolded in his
hymns.
Mention has several times been made of Luther [53] in connection with
Gerhardt. Every Protestant hymn writer must undergo comparison with the
great father of German hymnody and none can stand the test better than
Gerhardt. Let us take the hymns cited above: "Ein' feste Burg," and "Ist
Gott für mich." In the very choice of material the likeness is striking. In
Luther's song of defiance the XLVIth Psalm is born anew. In Gerhardt it is
the triumphant song of Paul that they who are in Christ are free from
condemnation. We see, then, that while the one is concerned with the
congregation of God's church, the other treats of life's experiences. In the
form of the verse Luther displays the greater strength and Gerhardt the
greater art.
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[47] Cf. Dietz: "Tabellarische Nachweisung des Liederbestandes," Marburg,
1904. Fischer-Tümpel: "Das deutsche evangelische Kirchenlied des 17.
Jahrhs." (Gütersloh, 1906) includes 116 of Gerhardt's hymns.
[48] There is an exact total of 10 of Gerhardt's poems, different versions
being given of "O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden." and "Befiehl du deine Wege."
[49] Goed. 229.
[50] Goed. 118.
[51] Cf. p. 14.
[52] There are 16 beginning with "ich."
[53] Cf. pp. 1 and 13.
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Although Gerhardt's hymns are written in the vernacular of the XVIIth
century, at a time when many of the forms characteristic of the writers of
the two preceding centuries still survived, nevertheless his hymns are
remarkably free from the tendency of this period to use words coined from
foreign tongues. He belongs to no poetic school or literary circle of the
XVIIth century. He never sought any laurels. He goes on his way writing
because his heart is so full, and not from any desire or intention to devote
himself to poetry. A fine feeling for rhythm schooled under the principles
of [72]Opitz, language taken from the best sacred literature including
Luther's Bible and almost entirely free from foreign words, [54] avoidance
of bombast and coarseness [55] of which so many contemporary writers were
guilty, richness in figures and analogies, tenderness which on occasion
yields to sternness, are all attributes of his writing. The mother of Hippel
[56] says of him:
"Er war ein Gast auf Erden [57] und überall in seinen 120 Liedern ist
Sonnenwende gesäet. Diese Blume dreht sich beständig nach der Sonne [58] und
Gerhardt nach der seligen Ewigkeit."
Gerhardt's poems are all permeated with this hope for future happiness in
Heaven and with a childlike joy in this hope. He may sing of the beauties of
summer, yet with that his thoughts go further and he soon begins to reflect
upon the greater beauties of Heaven. In his "Reiselied" (Goed. 248) he
begins by urging on his horse; suddenly he changes from the beauties of the
hill and vale to the joy of eternity. Even in an uncouth poem about health
(Goed. 244) appear the lines:
"Gib mir meine Lebenszeit
Ohne sonderm Leide,
Und dort in der Ewigkeit
Die vollkommene Freude!"
We have said that biblical phraseology plays a large part in Gerhardt's
hymns. In fact many lines are a direct translation of passages in scripture.
In two or three of them a single dogma appears very plainly, but elsewhere
pure doctrine is the basis of each poem. God is a friendly and gracious God,
not a "bear or lion," [59] but a Father reconciled by Christ's death,
entirely a New Testament conception. He even addresses the Almighty as a
good companion:
"Sollt aber dein und unser Feind
An dem, was dein Herz gut gemeint,
Beginnen sich zu rächen:
Ist das mein Trost, dasz seinen Zorn
Du leichtlich könnest brechen." [60]
The Redeemer is mentioned in barely half of Gerhardt's poems. It has
therefore been often said that the poet esteemed the graces of Redemption
less than those of Creation. He is fully conscious of the former, hence he
can resign himself to the latter and dwell upon them in all their phases. On
the basis of the Atonement there springs up in his mind the whole Christian
life with all its experiences of salvation, consolation, patience, mastery
of sin and suffering. Since he does not sing solely for church worship, but
for family devotion and for personal edification, he necessarily must
observe and discourse upon the various vicissitudes of life in sickness and
health, in strife and peace.
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[54] He uses the following: Clerisei, Fantasei, Victoria, Policeien,
Regiment, Summa, Ranzion, Compagnie, Regente, studieren, formieret,
vexieren, jubilieren.
[55] Lines such as "Trotz sei dir, du trotzender Kot!" (Goed. 5,65) were
comparatively inoffensive to XVIIth century standards.
[56] Cf. Frau Th. v. Hippel, "Sämmtliche Werke," Berlin, 1827, I, 27 ff.
[57] Cf. "Ich bin ein Gast auf Erden" Goed. 284.
[58] Sonnenwende, "heliotrope," from the Greek, literally "turning toward
the sun."
[59] Cf. Goed. 62, 17--"Er ist ja kein Bär noch Leue."
[60] Cf. Goed. 217, 56-60.
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Inasmuch as Gerhardt is a poet of unusually fine feeling for the rhythmical
and melodious peculiarities of the German tongue, he appreciates the
interdependence of verse rhythm and thought showing always a nicety in
choosing the right word to suit the measure. The lines:
"Nun ruhen aller Wälder,
Vieh, Menschen, Stadt, und Felder . . ." [61]
are at once suggestive of Nature in repose. The harmonious connection of
words of kindred meaning, "Ruh und Rast," "Gnad und Gunst," [62] and
frequent use of assonance, "Not und Tod," "Füll und Hüll," etc. are
introduced not merely to catch the ear, but to accentuate the artistic
effect, which shows us that Gerhardt is more than a master of the language,
that he writes with an inexhaustible naturalness. He intended his style to
be popular in the sense of appealing to the people, and it is here that he
manifests the intimate relation of his poetry to the Volkslied without
forsaking the proper limits of artistic poetry.
In observing certain defects such as the awkwardness and imperfect rhyme in
the couplet:
"Aber nun steh ich
Bin munter und frölich." [63]
even Gerhardt's most devoted admirers must regret that he did not feel the
necessity of giving to his verses the final rounding-off, or did not possess
the ability to do so. Yet what many critics have regarded as faults, must,
when fairly analyzed, be recognized as contributing much to the effect and
as being in accord with the Sprachpoesie of the people. For example, the
richness in alliteration, "Ich mein Heil und Hülfe hab," [64] "Ich lechze
wie ein Land," [65] the juxtaposition of words of the same root, "Erbarm
dich, o barmherzigs Herz," [66] "Ich lieb ihr liebes Angesicht," [67] as
well as the frequent repetition of words or use of refrains [68] show the
power of his language and offer a striking method of expressing inmost
sympathy. What real fervor is indicated in the lines:
"Dasz ich dich möge Eir und für
In, bei und an mir tragen." [69]
Just as Gerhardt was a loyal devotee to his mother-tongue, so also he stood
aloof from the tendency of his time to adopt foreign characteristics in
verse. Only twice [70] has he employed the Alexandrine so fashionable in the
period, and other foreign verse-forms he avoids entirely. On the other hand
in so comparatively small a number of poems the variety of his verse
structure is unusual. Gerhardt knew Buchner [71] in his Wittenberg student
days and owes to him his technical training in versification which his
strophes show. He uses in them iambic, trochaic and especially
dactyllic-anapaestic metres which Buchner had declared permissible. Hahne
[72] enumerates in Gerhardt's poems fifty-one kinds of strophe among which
six are quite complicated. Three of these, as appear in the poems, "Frölich
soll mein Herze springen," Goed. [73]155; "Gib dich zufrieden," [74]274; and
"Die güldne Sonne," [75]293, must be regarded as original with Gerhardt.
While these three are not artistic and harmonious, they are, nevertheless,
in exact accord with the type of melody prevalent in the XVIIth century.
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[61] Goed. 60, 1 and 2.
[62] For a tabulation of Alliteration, Assonance, etc., cf. Appendix, pp.
149 ff.
[63] Goed. 293, 8 and 9.
[64] Goed. 93, 6.
[65] Goed. 65, 46.
[66] Goed. 7, 76.
[67] Goed. 260, 41.
[68] Cf. the refrains in Goed. 106; 139; 235.
[69] Goed. 158, 94.
[70] "Du liebe Unschuld du, wie schlecht wirst du geacht!" (Goed. 3) and
"Herr Lindholtz legt sich hin und schläft in Gottes Namen" (Goed. 252).
[71] Cf. p. 2.
[72] Hahne, F., P. Gerhardt und A. Buchner in Euphorion 15, p. 19-34.
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Our poet has shown preference for the older German strophes which belong to
popular poetry and had most firmly held their own in the spiritual song
because of its relation to the Volkslied and also for the Nibelungen strophe
of eight lines. Eighteen [73] times he uses the well known seven-line ballad
strophe and twice [74] the six-lined strophe of the Wanderlied "Innsbruck,
ich musz dich lassen," [75] which even as early as the Reformation had come
into wide use in hymnody. He has also frequently employed the rhymed couplet
in the four-lined stanza. The verse-structure in the remainder of his poems
may generally be traced back to lays long-since native to the church, though
one strophe "Sollt ich meinem Gott nicht singen" [76] appears for the first
time, as far as we know, in Johann Rist's [77] hymns. Realizing,
furthermore, that a composition becomes truly a poem only through its
harmony Gerhardt clung to the well known melodies, adapting his new text to
them that through the music his hymns might the more easily become familiar.
Thus he composed "Ein Lämmlein geht und trägt die Schuld" to the melody
"[76]An Wasserflüssen Babylon," and "O Welt, sieh hier dein Leben" and
"[77]Nun ruhen alle Wälder" to "[78]Innsbruck, ich musz dich lassen," [78]
and in fact his hymns were known at first only through their musical
setting. Like Luther, he wished to teach the people song [79] and it is
evident that in composing he usually had some definite melody in mind, and
what Johann Walther had been to Luther, Crüger [80] was to Gerhardt. To this
choir master we owe the first significant publication of our poet's hymns.
Many musicians have adapted his hymns to music; Bach made use of them in a
number of his cantatas and his Passion Music; [81] and five [82] times in
his rapturous Weihnachtsoratorium do we find Gerhardt's words. Of recent
musicians who have been interested in his poetry as a basis for their
compositions mention must be made of Albert Becher (d. 1899), H. von
Herzogenberg (d. 1900) and especially the Bavarian clergyman, Friedrich
Mergner [83] (1818-1891), who has so thoroughly caught the spirit of
Gerhardt. As early as 1732-1800 six Catholic hymn books in quite general use
throughout Germany had included in all, thirteen of Gerhardt's hymns, and
"[79]O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden" can be heard in many Catholic churches
to-day, even in the Cologne Cathedral. [84]
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[73] Goed. 10; 21; 23; 51; 125; 134; 58; 171; 190; 209; 253; 271; 298; 315;
317; 325; 331; 335.
[74] Goed. 60 and 71.
[75] Regarding this melody cf. p. 100.
[76] Goed. 235.
[77] Rist, 1607-1667.
[78] Cf. p. 100.
[79] Cf. p. 10.
[80] Cf. p. 2.
[81] Cf. p. 43.
[82] From Goed. 25; 310; 150; 155; 158.
[83] Cf. P. Gerhardt's Geistl. Lieder in neuen Weisen von Fr. Mergner. 30
ausgewählte Lieder von Karl Schmidt, Leipzig, C. Deichert, 1907.
[84] Cf. J. Smend: P. Gerhardt u. das evangel. Kirchenlied in Der
Protestantismus am Ende des 19. Jahrh. I, pp. 301, ff.
_________________________________________________________________
Gerhardt was essentially a "Gelegenheitsdichter," a poet of occasions,
choosing for his themes the various vicissitudes of life and such events as
would present themselves to an earnest pastor devoted to the flock under his
care. We may define him more precisely as a poet of consolation, for at
least seventeen of his hymns are to be classed as "Songs of the Cross and
Consolation," [85] and fully half his work contains much that is intended as
a source of comfort in the many afflictions of the troublous times in which
he lived. An enumeration of "Trost" words shows the use of "Trost" 51 times,
"getrost" 11, "trösten" 10, "trostlos," "tröstlich" 2, besides numerous
phrases such as "Erschrecke nicht," [86] "Sei unverzagt," [87] "Sei ohne
Furcht," [88] "Gott hat mich nicht verlassen." [89] In this connection we
should consider Gerhardt's use of the word "Trost." With him it seems often
to have a wider meaning than merely solace, or comfort. At times it
approaches even its English cognate trust, or at least that comfort or
assurance which is born of trust. [90] In the poem beginning "Schwing dich
auf zu deinem Gott" the word seems clearly to be used in this sense in line
7:
Merkst du nicht des Satans List?
Er will durch sein Kämpfen
Deinen Trost, [91] den Jesus Christ
Dir erworben, dämpfen.
At other times the meaning is apparently the ground of confidence or
reliance, as in the line: "Dein Arm ist mein Trost gewesen." [92] Since joy
is to Gerhardt innately associated with the theme of comfort, we find in his
verses a host of phrases embodying cheer and joy:
Lasz deine Frömmigkeit
Sein meinen Trost und Freud. [93]
By enumeration we find the use of "Freude" 161 times; of "Freudenlicht"
(-quell, -schein, etc.) 33 times; of "freuen" and "erfreuen" 22 times; of
"froh," "frö(h)lich," "freudig," "freudenvoll," "selig," etc. 50 times; of
other kindred expressions, such as "Lust," "Wonne," "Seligkeit,"
"Freudigkeit," etc. 8 times. Stanza VI of the "Adventgesang" ([80]Goed. 108)
is a fair example of Gerhardt's fondness for singing of joys both temporal
and spiritual:
Aller Trost und aller Freude
Ruht in dir, Herr Jesu Christ;
Dein Erfreuen ist die Weide,
Da man sich recht frölich iszt.
Leuchte mir, o Freudenlicht,
Ehe mir mein Herze bricht;
Lasz mich, Herr, an dir erquicken!
Jesu, komm, lasz dich erblicken!
Compare with this the lines from the hymn based on Johann Arndt's "Gebet um
Geduld in groszem Creutz" ([81]Goed. 209):
St. XIV. "O heilger Geist, du Freudenöl,
Das Gott vom Himmel schicket,
Erfreue mich, gib meiner Seel
Was Mark und Bein erquicket!
Du bist der Geist der Herrlichkeit,
Weiszt, was für Freud und Seligkeit
Mein in dem Himmel warte."
A pastor and poet whose spirit amidst the hardships of the war can not only
remain undaunted but bring so large a measure of cheer to his flock is
indeed destined to have an immortal name. It was the everpresent hardships
of war, however, that made him long not merely for an earthly peace but also
for spiritual rest. As an advocate of peace and contentment he has among his
contemporaries no equal. Having hoped and prayed during the war for a
cessation of hostilities and horrors he could at last burst forth at the
conclusion of the Peace of Westphalia in his magnificent
Gott Lob! nun ist erschollen
Das edle Fried- und Freudenswort." [94]
Furthermore he preaches patience and contentment with life's experiences.
Notably does this appear in the poem "Gib dich zufrieden" ([82]Goed. 274)
where each stanza has these words as the refrain. Taking as his theme "Rest
in the Lord, and wait patiently for him" (Ps. XXXVII, 7) he reveals to his
fellow-men the joys and comforts that await the true believers even though
they must pass through pain, anxiety, and even death. As their tears are
counted and their sighs are heard, so a day of rest is at hand when God
shall receive the meek in the abundance of peace, and 'they shall then be
exalted to inherit the land.' [95] But how very deeply Gerhardt felt this
yearning for spiritual as well as material peace is best seen from the
constant recurrence of the root "Friede." Of this word and its compounds we
note 33 examples, and of "Ruhe," "Stille," Rast" and similar words, 16.
_________________________________________________________________
[85] Cf. Index by subjects, Appendix, pp. 158 ff.
[86] Goed. 271, 8.
[87] Goed. 185, 42.
[88] Goed. 289, 3.
[89] Goed. 296, 31.
[90] Cf. the meaning of the modern German "getrost."
[91] Goed. 135, 7; cf. also Goed. 135, 132; 30, 127; 150, 74; 217, 59; 317,
40.
[92] Goed. 145, 19; cf. also Goed. 46, 16; 150, 43.
[93] Goed. 65, 22. For the frequent use of "Trost und Freude" and "Freude
und Trost," cf. Appendix, p. 155 and p. 153.
[94] Goed. 95.
[95] Cf. also the poem "Geduld ist euch vonnöten" (Goed. 267), where each of
the 14 stanzas begins with the word "Geduld."
_________________________________________________________________
Aside from the hymns of Cross and Consolation discussed above, [96] which
among Gerhardt's poems are by far the most numerous, and which gave him the
widest opportunity to grasp the inner life of the Christian believer in its
different tendencies and phases, the subjective development of his spiritual
songs is shown in two directions--in the poetic glorification of nature and
of family life. Gerhardt's knowledge of nature is limited to the ideas set
forth in Johann Arndt's [97] Viertes Buch vom wahren Christentum. Following
Arndt, Gerhardt believes the material as well as the spiritual phenomena on
earth are influenced in a mysterious way by the heavens and their
constellations; hence the prophetic significance of comets which he mentions
in two poems. [98] In the year 1615 just such a threatening "torch" had
appeared to announce the frightful war. Fourteen years later another comet
was regarded as prophecy of the death of the Swedish King. Naturally, then,
in 1652 Gerhardt is terrified with all others at the appearance in the sky
of the third "Flammenrute" (Goed. 104).
However, within this limited knowledge nature appears to him as of
independent grandeur, wholly subservient to God and freely enjoyed by all
Christians. In his life, too, as well as in his songs, Gerhardt is open to
all the world and is at all times sensible to the appreciation of nature. It
is a noteworthy characteristic of him that in one glance he includes with
sense of fitness and artistic certainty both large and small, the most
sublime and the most commonplace. In this wise he sings:
Die Erd ist fruchtbar, bringt herfür
Korn, Oel, Most, Brot, Wein und Bier,
Was Gott gefällt.
(Goed. [83]139, 49 ff.)
To Gerhardt the world lies in continual sunshine. [99] He scorns trouble,
distress seems merely to accentuate happiness; from the horrors of the
Thirty Years' War he turns to thank God for the return of peace, [100] and
to inspire his people with gratitude for the infinite mercy of the Most
High. He celebrates evening and morning and takes us in summer through the
flowering gardens of God, portrays rain and sunshine, earth's sorrows and
joys.
_________________________________________________________________
[96] Cf. p. 21.
[97] Joh. Arndt, a Protestant theologian, 1555-1621. The "Vier Bücher"
appeared in 1605. Cf. the references on pp. 63 ff. [i.e. Goed. 200, 205,
209, 212, 263] to his Paradiszgärtlein aller christl. Tugenden, 1612.
[98] Goed. 104 and 142.
[99] Even no. 15 which begins with a seemingly very pessimistic complaint
about the disastrous weather and consequently meagre harvest closes with a
prayer full of hope for the future.
[100] Goed. 95.
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The other direction of the subjectivity of Gerhardt's writing is that of the
family life. In a time so bereft of virtues as the XVIIth century the firmly
grounded idea of the home must be given first place. His own family life,
cheered by domestic felicity, and the many contributions he made to
occasional poetry bear testimony to this. For married life he sings the
praise of quiet domesticity, [101] picturing the Christian housewife in the
midst of her surroundings, bringing joy and cheer to her husband, faithful
in her tasks, ministering to the poor and teaching her children the Word of
God. He closes the poem with the eulogy:
Die Werke, die sie hie verrichtt,
Sind wie ein schönes helles Licht;
Sie dringen bis zu Himmelspfort
Und werden leuchten hier und dort.
Before Gerhardt, Mathesius [102] had sung the praises of domestic happiness
in "Wem Gott ein ehrlich Weib beschert," but the sincere note of Gerhardt's
"Wie schön ist's doch, Herr Jesu Christ" ([84]Goed. 302) placed German
home-life in a poetic light it had not known before.
_________________________________________________________________
[101] Goed. 242.
[102] Johann M., a Lutheran theologian, 1504-1565. His Leben Luthers (1566)
is his most famous work.
_________________________________________________________________
For the dying he allays the fear of death; man is but a stranger on earth,
[103] and has spent many a day in distress and care; his home is yonder
where hosts of angels praise the Mighty Ruler. The sympathetic pastor takes
his place with the parents beside the bier of their deceased child. [104] He
speaks as a father who has lost his son, and he imagines the child in heaven
joining the chorus of the angels. But Gerhardt has written very few hymns of
death or of penitence. When he does speak of sin and its curse of death with
its terrors, he still contrives at once to take from them the sting. The
poem beginning "O Tod, O Tod, du greulichs Bild," [105] bears the title
"Freudige Empfahung des Todes," and concludes with the lines:
Was solls denn nun, O Jesu, sein,
Dasz mich der Tod so schrecket?
Hat doch Elisa Todtenbein,
Was todt war, auferwecket:
Viel mehr wirst du, den Trost hab ich,
Zum Leben kräftig rüsten mich;
Drum schlaf ich ein mit Freuden.
In hymnody both before and since Gerhardt there has often been a vivid
portrayal of the tortures of hell to terrify the soul. Gerhardt scrupulously
avoids this and is therefore able to reduce everything to the simplicity of
beauty. Every pain and every punishment in which his poems abound at once
lose their bitterness because on them is reflected the sunlight of God's
love. Gerhardt towers above his time in that amid all his despondent
fellow-men he is always fearless and shows a cheerful heart reliant on God;
just because the severe afflictions of his own life cannot break his spirit,
he has in his power the cure for others.
The candid reader must admit that there is evident in some passages of
Gerhardt's poetry a certain dogmatic constraint, ("Gebundenheit"). The devil
[107] is to him a terrible reality, the Christchild in the manger is the
creator [108] of the world, and the problem of the Trinity is dismissed
without consideration. The Atonement, too, of the Savior is easily
understood on the theory of punishment, while the resurrection [109] of the
flesh is an undeniable truth. But in other respects Gerhardt is far less
dogmatic than Luther.
_________________________________________________________________
[103] "Ich bin ein Gast auf Erden" (Goed. 284).
[104] "Weint; und weint gleichwol nicht zu sehr" (Goed. 335).
[105] Goed. 317.
[107] Cf. "Will Satan mich verschlingen" (Goed. 60, 46); "Dazu kommt des
Teufels Lügen" (Goed. 108, 7); also 62, 55; 122, 31; 135, 41; 171, 40; 173,
40; 185, 33; 232, 18; 256, 34; 312, 6; 328, 14.
[108] Cf. "Es wird im Fleisch hier fürgestellt, Der alles schuf und noch
erhält;" (Goed. 310, 37-38).
[109] Cf. Goed. 51.
_________________________________________________________________
Critics have sought in vain for traces of poetic development in Gerhardt's
work. Such findings as have been claimed can be regarded only as more or
less probable conjecture, a fact which shows that his personality was
immediately poetically endowed, giving itself out whenever it composed
poetry. If his individuality shows no development as such, his poetry can
bear no marks of development.
It has often been said that "Gerhardt had and sought no laurels"; nor was he
ever "hailed as the Homer or Vergil of his time." As he knew neither himself
nor the greatness of his gift, so his contemporaries failed to appreciate
him. He never regarded himself as a poet by calling as did [85]Opitz,
[86]Johann Franck and [87]Rist, but only a poet by avocation. To quote
Goethe, he sang "as the bird sings that lives in the branches." In the same
proportion that Gerhardt's poetry brought strength and comfort in the
grievous period of the Thirty Years' War and later eras of confusion, it is
destined through the present world disaster to bring its message of hope.
_________________________________________________________________
[37] Or as the German says: From the "Bekenntnislied" to the
"Erbauungslied."
[38] Geschichte d. d. Nationallitteratur, ed. 1842, Pt. III, p. 366.
[40] Geschichte d. d. Literatur, 1899, pp. 340-341.
[41] Cf. J. Smend: "P. Gerhardt u. das evangel. Kirchenlied" in "Der
Protestantismus am Ende des 19. Jahrh." I, pp. 301, ff.
_________________________________________________________________
PART TWO.
CHAPTER I.
HISTORY OF ENGLISH HYMNODY AND THE GERMAN INFLUENCE UPON ENGLISH HYMN
WRITING FROM THE EARLY XVITH THROUGH THE XIXTH CENTURY. [110]
Any direct traces of literary intercourse between Germany and England before
the XVIth century are hard to find; however, with the invention of printing,
the establishment of the universities, the Renaissance and the Reformation
the literary relations were increased and became important.
In the wide region of satire which was at that time serious and often
steeped in theological ideas Germany's works left enduring traces. Brant's
"Narrenschiff" translated in the first years of the century helped
essentially in accelerating the development of this type of literature in
England: reprinted there after an interval of sixty years it was still an
inexhaustible model of satire. Another source of dramatic effect destined to
have great success on the English stage was found in some hero endowed with
supernatural powers, such as Faustus. Thus by introducing a new class of
situations into English drama the unusually gifted Germany of the sixteenth
century was of great moment for its neighbor, England. Not a little of the
quality of the Minnelied, too, reappears in much of the verse of the English
lyric writers of this century, when the rose, the nightingale and daisy
serve as interpretations of the play of love. In the Mystery Plays there
existed doubtless germs of the Meistersänger school: the occasional strophic
passages in the Towneley plays resembled to a great extent the normal
Meistergesang. This germ, however, did not develop markedly because in
England the cultivation of poetry never became a serious occupation. These
literary influences from Germany in satire, in Minnelied and in
Meistergesang had direct effect upon English intellectual life, and
continued uninterrupted through the centuries. The record, on the other
hand, of German influence in History, Lyrics and Hymns was more broken and
disconnected.
In order to get the story of the development of the hymn we must go back a
little. Church music in the mediaeval times belonged to the choir, not to
the congregation. The choral hymns in England, as in Germany, were in Latin
and many of them were exceedingly beautiful. Although the early English
Church received from the continent the most of the Latin hymns used in its
service, nevertheless there were a few English authors of Latin hymns. Among
this number were Bede, commonly called Venerable Bede (673-735?) who wrote
"Adeste, Christi, vocibus," and Anselm of Canterbury, a great architect and
theologian, and Thomas à Becket. While psalms and hymns have been used by
the Christian Church since its beginning, the particular form of psalms and
hymns now in use originated with the Reformation. A wonderful development of
this religious lyric poetry sprang up in England and Germany at the
beginning of the XVIth century. The reformers in both countries were chiefly
concerned in simplifying religious worship, and in giving to the laity a
more active participation in it; the choir and anthem, the old liturgic hymn
and antiphonal chant gave way to a great extent to hymns in the vernacular,
set to the simplest music and sung by the whole congregation. This change
was first made by Luther and eagerly copied in England.
When Miles Coverdale in his ungifted way translated Luther's hymns into
English his unpoetical and lumbering versions were ill received and were
soon proscribed by the Crown. Sternhold and Hopkins who were translators of
the psalms became more noticed, but their versions too seem to have been
deficient in taste and feeling of lyric poetry. The criticism of the poet
Campbell seems to be justified when he says of the authors that "with the
best intentions and the worst taste they degraded the spirit of Hebrew
Psalmody by flat and homely phraseology; and mistaking vulgarity for
simplicity turned into bathos what they found sublime." Although these bleak
translations were read in England for a time, they soon disappeared leaving
only small traces which were picked up by [88]Wesley more than two centuries
later.
So with the royal proscription of Coverdale's work [111] , the dying out of
Sternhold and Hopkins' and other similar attempts at translation, the
imaginative poetry of German Protestantism which had been caught up in
England with such momentary enthusiasm was as rapidly forgotten. Church
music was again sung by the choir. The first effort, therefore, in the early
XVth century to introduce Lutheran hymnody into the English world
contributed little.
_________________________________________________________________
This disappearance in England of the work of the Reformers in church music
was due not only to the lack of great translators but also to many other
causes. Early in the Renaissance England came to think of the Reformation as
her own movement, and therefore casting aside all suggestions from other
countries wished to study history and hymns of English sources only. The few
men at this time who recognized Germany as the mother country of the
Reformation and a seat of literary accomplishments had no wide influence in
England. All German residents in England belonged exclusively to the
commercial class and brought no literary influence with them; also a reason
for the literary alienation at this time was the fact that Germany did not
enter the religious wars in which Englishmen were so deeply interested. To
men like Jonson and Fletcher Germany was famous only as a land of magicians
and conjurers such as Paracelsus and Dr. Faustus. In short, for nearly two
centuries England knew little of Germany except what booksellers found it to
their profit to advertise on their sign directories as the "wonderful
strange Newes from Germany," and the satires of Brant, Dedekind, and
Fischart. [112]
Another most vital cause of the retardation of the development of hymnody in
Great Britain so soon after the Reformation was the example and influence of
Geneva. Calvin was organizing his ecclesiastical system at Geneva, and
introduced into it Marot's Psalter [113] which was then very fashionable.
This example produced in England the translation commonly known as the Old
Version of the Psalms begun in the reign of Henry VIII (1509-1547). In this
collection are eleven metrical versions of the "Te Deum" and "Da pacem,
Domine," two original hymns of praise, two penitential and a hymn of faith.
The tunes which accompanied the words were German. [114] Therefore, although
the religious influence of the Reformation was always strong in England from
the beginning of the movement, the influence of Luther from a literary
standpoint early in the Renaissance ceased to exist in England and was
replaced by Calvin's stern rule. These narrower canons admitting nothing but
paraphrases of scripture and even of scripture little outside the Psalms
became the firm fashion of English hymnody for the next century and a half.
_________________________________________________________________
[112] For a good account of contemporary German drama and satire in England,
cf. Herford: The Literary Relations of England and Germany in the XVIth.
Century. Ch. IV-VII.
[113] Clement Marot, valet de chambre to Francis I of France, collaborated
with Theodore Beza on a metrical translation of the Old Testament Psalms.
The work appeared about 1540.
[114] Cf. Barney: History of Music.
_________________________________________________________________
In spite of the fact that Luther had little influence on English literature
in the early Reformation his hymns came to their own in England in the
middle of the XVIIIth century. In the meantime, although the English people
used the stern canons of Calvin, they began to feel the want of a more lyric
hymn. While German Protestantism had developed at once a rich hymnody there
was actually no English hymnody until the XVIIIth century. [89]Isaac Watts,
a representative of the English Independents, may be justly considered the
real founder of modern English hymnody. He was the first to understand the
nature of the want, and by the publication of his [90]Hymns in 1707-1709 and
[91]Psalms (hymns founded on psalms) he led the way in providing for this
want. His immediate followers were Simon Browne and Doddridge; and later in
the century Grigg, Miss Steele, [92]Beddome and Swain succeeded them. Of
these writers Watts and Doddridge are certainly preeminent, the hymns of the
former are of unusual fervor and strong simplicity, and those of Doddridge
while perhaps more artificial in general than those of his predecessor Watts
are nevertheless distinguished by their graceful style.
About 1738 came the "Methodist" movement which afterward became divided into
three sects, the Arminian under [93]John Wesley, those who adhered to the
Moravians, [115] and the Calvinists of whom Whitfield was the leader. Each
of these factions had its own hymn writers, some of whom did, and others did
not, secede from the Church of England. These are the years when a renewed
strong current of influence from Germany is felt. The translation movement
first sprang up in the middle of this century when Count Zinzendorf and A.
G. Spangenberg came to England [116] and established a branch of the
Moravian Church there. The Gesangbuch, the first of the hymn books for the
congregation at Herrnhut, had been published in 1735 by Count Zinzendorf.
The Moravians in England began to translate many of the hymns contained in
the German Moravian Hymn Book. [117] These translations, however, were for
the most part poor, mere doggerel, but in later editions they were somewhat
improved, especially in the one revised in the XlXth century by [94]James
Montgomery, the well known hymn writer, who was for a long time a member of
the English Moravian Church. Among these many English hymn writers at this
time whether writing entirely from English sources, or influenced by German
ideas and philosophily or merely translators of the German hymn, the Wesley
brothers are deserving of the first place.
After determining upon missionary lives [95]John and [96]Charles Wesley
embarked on October 14, 1735, for the new colony of Georgia. Among their
fellow passengers were twenty-six Moravian colonists, who in all the changes
of weather, especially during storms, made a great deal of hymn singing.
John Wesley was much impressed with the fervor and piety of these hymns and
with their spiritual possibilities. One of the German sources which had
great influence upon Wesleyan hymnody was Freylinghausen's Geist-reiches
Gesang-Buch (Halle 1704 and 1714). John Wesley introduced hymn singing into
the "companies" formed in Georgia and his first hymn book appeared as a
Collection of Psalms and Hymns. Charles-Town 1737, without his name. Of the
seventy lyrics in the book, one half are from Watts, fifteen of the
remainder are hymns of the Wesleys, five of which were translated from the
German by John Wesley. In his third collection printed in England in 1750
the immediate impression the hymns produce is that of foreignness because of
the many lengthy stanzas and the unusual metres. The reason for this is the
fact that the authorities insisted that the melodies sung at Herrnhut be
kept, irrespective of the language in which they might be sung. Although
Charles Wesley knew no German, and therefore derived his impressions of the
Moravian hymnody indirectly, nevertheless he caught much of its tone and
manner and its atmosphere of confiding love. In all he wrote about 6500
hymns, through a large portion of which may be traced this Moravian
influence.
Of great value to English hymnody are the contributions of the Calvinistic
Methodists, and few writers of hymns have had higher gifts than A. M.
Toplady, the author of "Rock of Ages." His hymns have the same warmth,
richness and spirituality as German hymns, and are meditations after the
German manner, owing direct obligation to German originals. During the first
quarter of the nineteenth century came the practice of hymnodists of
altering without scruple the compositions of other men, notably Latin and
German hymn writers, to suit their own doctrines and tastes, with the result
all too often of spoiling the originals thus altered, though English hymnody
was undoubtedly enriched by this process of adaptation.
_________________________________________________________________
[115] The Moravians were a vigorous religious cult established in Herrnhut,
Saxony.
[116] In 1737 and 1741, respectively.
[117] Cf. p. 11.
_________________________________________________________________
Two publications in 1827, Bishop Heber's Hymns and Keble's [97]Christian
Year introduced a new epoch into English hymnody, destroying the barrier
which had previously existed between the different theological schools of
the Church of England. This movement received a great additional impulse
from the publication in 1833 of Bunsen's Gesangbuch. From this time hymns
and hymn writers multiplied not only in the Church of England, but in
Scotland and America also. With such influences as we have mentioned the
more recent collections have evidenced an improved standard of taste, and
there has been a larger and more liberal admission of good hymns from the
German. In this XIXth century when the study of the German language and
literature became so much more common than before it is natural that an
impulse be given also to translation of German hymns.
Beside the improvement in the standard of taste, additional interest in
hymnody had been aroused by the prominence given to congregational singing
in English churches. "To love hymns in eighteenth century Scotland was to be
accused of heresy: in England, it was to be convicted of that worse thing,
'enthusiasm.'" Since the days of Luther Germany had given her hymns general
esteem, but in England it was the middle of the nineteenth century before
hymns won anything like popular favor. The congregational hymn in England is
the direct although exceedingly slow outgrowth of the German Reformation but
it must be borne in mind that the foundations of congregational singing were
laid even before Luther. When the Hussites in Bohemia created this hymnody
in the vernacular their hymns were designed for worshippers rather than for
the choir. [118] While German Protestantism developed at once a rich hymnody
there was actually no English hymnody until the XVIIIth century.
German hymns and chorals had a place in the Church Psalter and Hymn Book of
William Mercer of Sheffield (1854). One who took much interest in its
preparation was [98]James Montgomery of whom mention has already been made.
[119] This was the most successful of all the books of the decade for the
reason that it aided in placing the hymnody back in the people's hands and
making it congregational. Thus we see that the success of congregational
singing of the better type required a return to the Reformation practice of
including the tunes, as well as words, in the people's hymn books.
If general congregational singing after the manner that prevailed in Germany
for so long has been an incentive to the development of English hymnody, the
interest in German hymnody has at the same time been quickened by the good
work done in [99]Frances E. Cox's Sacred Hymns from the German (1841) and
[100]Henry J. Buckoll's Hymns translated from the German (1842). This also
found expression in the Psalms and Hymns, partly original, partly selected
(Cambridge 1851) of [101]Arthur T. Russell, in which the German hymns played
a very large part, the Latin a very small one; even the arrangement of the
hymns is based on an old Lutheran hymn book. In 1854 appeared [102]Richard
Massie's Martin Luther's Spiritual Songs, and the first of four parts
(1854-1862) of Hymns from the Land of Luther by [103]Jane Borthwick and her
sister [104]Mrs. Findlater. In 1855 and 1858 [105]Catherine Winkworth
published the [106]first and [107]second series of her Lyra Germanica,
following them in 1863 with the [108]Chorale Book for England, and
[109]Christian Singers of Germany (1869). The work of this group of
translators which has secured so firm a place in English hymnody for a
number of German hymns and more particularly those of Paul Gerhardt will be
discussed in the following chapter.
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[118] The earliest extant hymn book is that in the Bohemian Museum at
Prague, and bears the date Jan. 13, 1501, but this hymn book is, singularly,
never mentioned among the works of the Brethren (Moravians).
[119] Cf. p. 31. For Gerhardt's influence on Montgomery cf. p. 139.
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ABBREVIATIONS AND EXPLANATIONS.
Bachmann = Bachmann: Gerhardts Geistliche Lieder, 1866.
C.B. = [110]Chorale Book for England, by [111]Catherine Winkworth, 1863.
C.P.&H.Bk. = Mercer's Church Psalter and Hymn Book, 1854 etc.
Crü.Praxis = Crüger's Praxis pietatis melica, Berlin and Frankfurt a/M. 1648
etc.
Crü.--Runge = Runge's edition of the above.
Ebeling = P. Gerhardi Geistliche Andachten, 1667 etc. (The numbers following
the date refer to the "dozen" in which the poem appeared. Cf. [112]p. 15 and
note 6 [elec. ed. note 2].)
G.B. = Gesangbuch.
G.L.S. = Geistlicher Liederschatz, 1832.
Goed. = Goedeke: Gedichte von Paulus Gerhardt, 1877. (In this thesis the
poems are numbered according to the page on which they begin in this Goedeke
text.)
H.L.L. = Hymns from the Land of Luther, by [113]Mrs. Findlater and [114]Miss
Jane Borthwick, 1854 etc.
H.Bk. = Hymn Book.
Kelly = [115]J. Kelly: Paul Gerhardt's Spiritual Songs, 1867.
Lib.R.P. = Library of Religious Poetry, 1881.
Lyra Ger. = [116]Lyra Germanica, by [117]Miss Winkworth, 1855 etc.
Songs of G. and G. = Songs of Grace and Glory, by Charles B. Snepp, 1872.
st. = stanza.
Unv.L.S. = Unverfälschter Liedersegen, Berlin, 1851.
Wackernagel = Wackernagel: Gerhardts Geistliche Lieder, 1843.
When merely the translator's name is given, the complete title of the work
is usually to be found in the respective biographical note in the Appendix,
[118]pp. 144 ff.
The citation of hymn books is by no means exhaustive. Selections from
Gerhardt's hymns are to be found in nearly all modern hymnals. The aim has
been to give mainly those which first included versions of his hymns.
As a rule, the German stanzas are indicated by the Roman numerals I, II,
III, etc., the English stanzas by the Arabic 1, 2, 3, etc.
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[110] Inasmuch as Gerhardt's influence was not fully felt in England till
the middle of the XIXth Century, this chapter deals with the development of
the English hymn up to that period.
[111] It must be remembered, however, that although Coverdale's writings had
little influence upon the people of his own time, they have been appreciated
by later generations and are among the most sincere monuments to Luther in
the English language. Cf. A. Mitchell: The Wedderburns, Edinb., 1868. An
example will show the nature and degree of Coverdale's imitation. Here is
the first stanza of his version of "Ein' feste Burg": "Oure God is a defence
and towre A good armour and good weapen, He hath ben ever oure helpe
Arise
