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A great and mighty wonder. Greek, attributed to St Germanos of Constantinople* (ca. 655-before 754), translated by John Mason Neale* (1818-1866).
The Greek text, 'Mega kai paradoxon thauma', is found in editions of the Menaea (twelve sections, one for each month, or 'men', hence the name Menaea) where it is attributed to Germanos of Constantinople* (or Germanus, for whom see Sabine Baring-Gould*, The Lives of the Saints, New Edition, 1897, v. 174-80). Neale's translation appeared in his Hymns...
A hymn for martyrs sweetly sing. Bede* (673/4-735), translated by John Mason Neale* (1818-1866).
This hymn, 'Hymnum canentes Martyrum', is found in an anthology, Hymni Ecclesiastici (Cologne, 1556), ascribed to the Venerable Bede. Neale's translation of some of the verses appeared in Mediaeval Hymns and Sequences (1851), with a first line 'The hymn for conquering martyrs raise', and a note saying that it was 'a Hymn for the Holy Innocents'. It appeared in the First Edition of A&M with the...
A hymn of glory let us sing. Bede* (673/4-735), translated by Elizabeth Rundle Charles* (1828-1896).
Charles's translation of Hymnum canamus gloriae* appeared in her The Voice of Christian Life in Song (1858), where it had six verses:
A hymn of glory let us sing,
New hymns throughout the world shall ring;
By a new way none ever trod,
Christ mounteth to the throne of God.
The apostles on the mountain stand –
The mystic mount – in Holy Land;
They, with the Virgin-mother see
Jesus ascend in...
A safe stronghold our God is still. Martin Luther* (1483-1546), translated by Thomas Carlyle* (1795-1881).
This is a translation of Luther's magnificent hymn based on Psalm 46, 'Ein' feste Burg ist unser Gott'*, the date of which is uncertain (perhaps 1529). Carlyle had been studying German literature during the 1820s, and was supporting himself in part by publishing essays on German authors and by translating. This translation appeared in Fraser's Magazine in 1831, entitled 'Luther's Psalm'....
Ah, holy Jesu, how hast thou offended. Johann Heermann* (1585-1647), translated by Robert Bridges* (1844-1930).
From the Yattendon Hymnal, Part II (1897). This is Bridges's translation of 'Herzliebster Jesu, was hast du verbrochen'*, first published in Heermann's Devoti Musica Cordis (Leipzig and Breslau, 1630) together with its tune, HERZLIEBSTER JESU. This was itself a translation of a text at one time attributed to St Augustine* and then to St Anselm, but now thought to be by Jean de...
All creatures of our God and King. William Henry Draper* (1855-1933).
This is a free versification of the 'Cantico di frate sole'* of St Francis. It was written for a children's Whitsuntide Festival at Adel, Leeds, when Draper was the incumbent at Adel, between 1899 and 1919. Draper could not remember the exact year in which he wrote the translation, but it was published in the Public School Hymn Book (1919), so it was known before that book was compiled. It was written to be sung to the tune...
All glory, laud and honour. Theodulf of Orleans* (ca. 760- ca. 821), translated by John Mason Neale* (1818-1866).
This is a translation of the Latin hymn, 'Gloria, laus et honor'*, attributed to St Theodulf (or Theodulph), who was bishop of Orleans, France. During the reign of Louis I (the son of Charlemagne), Theodulf was imprisoned in Angers for some time beginning in 818. According to Clichtoveus in his Elucidatorium Ecclesiasticum (Paris, 1516), the imprisoned bishop sang the hymn from his...
All my heart this night rejoices. Paul Gerhardt* (1607-1676), translated by Catherine Winkworth* (1827-1878).
Gerhardt's hymn, beginning 'Fröhlich soll mein Herze springen'*, was first published in Johann Crüger*'s Praxis Pietatis Melica (1653). It had 15 stanzas of eight lines each, portraying the Christ child as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, and who is worshipped by the shepherds and the Wise Men. Winkworth translated 10 stanzas, omitting stanzas 3-5, 13 and 14, for...
All my hope on God is founded. Joachim Neander* (1650-1680), translated by Robert Bridges* (1844-1930).
Joachim Neander's 'Meine Hoffnung stehet feste'* was published in A und Ω. Joachimi Neandri Glaub- und Liebesübung: auffgemuntert durch einfältige Bundes Lieder und Danck-Psalmen (Bremen, 1680) where it was entitled 'Der nach dem Essen Danckende' ('Grace after food'). Bridges's free translation appeared in the Yattendon Hymnal Part III (1898), in five stanzas, with its 1680 tune, labelled...
'All my living fountains will spring up in you!' Nicolai Frederik Severin Grundtvig* (1783-1872), translated by Alan Gaunt* (1935-2023).
This hymn, 'Alle mine kilder skal vaere hos dig!', has its roots in Psalm 87: 'On the holy mountain stands the city God has founded; the Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. Glorious things are spoken of you, O City of God.' A standard commentary speaks of this particular psalm as expressing the highest point of the universalism...
All praise to God who reigns above. Johann Jakob Schütz* (1640-1690), translator unknown.
This is a variant translation of Schütz's 'Sei Lob und Ehr' dem höchsten Gut'*, found in the Scripture Union's Hymns of Faith (1964). For details of better known translations, see 'Sing praise to God who reigns above'* by Frances Elizabeth Cox*.
JRW
All ye that seek a comfort sure. Latin, probably 18th century, translated by Edward Caswall* (1814-1878).
The Latin hymn, 'Quicunque certum quaeritis', is found in a Breviary published at Lisbon in 1786 (Ulysse Chevalier cites a Franciscan Breviary of 1757; see Frost, 1962, p. 193). It was appointed for vespers in the Office of the Sacred Heart, which is referred to in stanza 2, 'ad cor reclusum vulnere,/ ad mite cor, accedite'. Caswall's translation appeared in his Lyra Catholica (1849), with...
All ye who seek for sure relief. Latin, probably 18th century, translated by Edward Caswall* (1814-1878).
This is an alternative to 'All ye that seek a comfort sure'*, a variant on Caswall's translation of 'Quicunque certum quaeritis' in his Lyra Catholica (1849). It was set for Vespers and Matins in 'Another Office of the same Feast', referring to 'Friday after the Octave of Corpus Christi', the 'Feast of the most sacred heart of Jesus'. It had six stanzas:
All ye who seek a...
An exile for the faith. Nicholas le Tourneaux* (1640-1686), translated by Edward Caswall* and others.
This hymn, 'Iussu tyranni pro fide', is found in the Cluniac Breviary of 1686, for the Festival of St John the Evangelist. It describes the visionary experience recounted in the last book of the Bible; and refers to the tradition, thought improbable, that St John the Apostle and author of the Fourth Gospel, was also the author of Revelation ('of St John the Divine'). A translation by Caswall...
Angels we have heard on high. French traditional carol, translated by James Chadwick* (1813-1882).
The French carol, in eight stanzas, is printed in the New Oxford Book of Carols (1992), to which this entry is greatly indebted. The original text seems to have been in dialogue form, and the editors of NOBC have arranged it for singing by the Shepherds ('Bergers', stanzas 1, 3, 6) and the Women ('Femmes de Bethlehem', stanzas 2, 4 and 7). Stanzas 5 and 8 were sung by all ('Tous'):
'Les anges...
Art thou weary, art thou languid. John Mason Neale* (1818-1866), based on a Greek text by St Stephen the Sabaite (725-794).
This translation of a Greek text, 'Kopon te kai kamaton', was first printed in Neale's Hymns of the Eastern Church (1862), where it is assigned to the 'Second Epoch' of Greek hymnody (726-820) and described as 'Idiomela in the week of the First Oblique Tone'. Neale wrote: 'These Stanzas, which strike me as very sweet, are not in all the editions of the Octoechos' (Third...
As the bridegroom to his chosen. John Tauler* (ca. 1300-1361), translated by Emma Frances Bevan* (1827-1909). This hymn appeared in the first series of Frances Bevan's Hymns of Ter Steegen, Suso and Others (1894-97). To date no specific text by Tauler has been identified, and the hymn is thought to have been a paraphrase of some of his ideas, perhaps those preached in a sermon at a nunnery, which referred to the bridegroom. It was reprinted in Bevan's Hymns of Ter Steegen, Suso and Others...
At the cross her station keeping. Latin, probably 13th century, translated by Edward Caswall* (1814-1878), Richard Mant* (1776-1848) and others.
This is a translation of 'Stabat Mater dolorosa'*, which in its Latin original is of unknown authorship. It has been attributed to Pope Innocent III (1161-1216), but recent editions of A&M and EH ascribe it to Jacopone da Todi* (died 1306). For the arguments about authorship, see JJ, p. 1082.
There are two versions of the Latin hymn: the full...
At the Lamb's high feast we sing. Latin, Roman Breviary, 1632, translated by Robert Campbell* (1814-1868).
This Easter Communion hymn is a translation of 'Ad regias Agni dapes'*, a hymn in the Roman Breviary (1632) derived from 'Ad cenam Agni providi'* (pre-8th-century). Campbell's translation appeared in his Hymns and Anthems for Use in the Holy Services of the Church within the United Diocese of St Andrews, Dunkeld, and Dunblane (Edinburgh, 1850). It was then printed with alterations in the...
Be still, my soul: the Lord is on thy side. Katharina Amalia Dorothea von Schlegel* (1697-?), translated by Jane Laurie Borthwick* (1813-1897).
This is a translation of the German text, 'Stille, mein Wille; dein Jesus hilft siegen', published in Neue Sammlung geistlicher Lieder ('A New Collection of Spiritual Songs') (Wernigerode, 1752). It was published in Hymns from the Land of Luther, Second Series (Edinburgh, 1855), where it was entitled 'Submission', followed by the quotation '“In your...
Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart. Irish, 8th century, translated by Mary E. Byrne* (1880-1931), versified by Eleanor Hull* (1860-1935).
This text is found in two manuscripts in the Library of the Royal Irish Academy in Dublin, dating possibly from the 8th century, one a poor copy of the other. The Irish text begins:
Rop tú ma baile a Choimdiu cride:
ní ní nech aile acht Rí secht nime.
It had sixteen 2-line stanzas, many beginning 'Rop tú' ('Be thou'). The stanzas were translated by...
Before the cock crew twice. Hallgrim Pjetursson* (1614-1674), translated by Charles Venn Pilcher* (1879-1961).
Hallgrim Pjetursson (Hallgrímur Pétursson) wrote fifty hymns on the Passion of Christ, which he completed in 1659. This is from the twelfth hymn, entitled 'Um ithran Péturs' ('The Remorse of Peter'), beginning 'Péter þar sat í sal'. It is still sung in Iceland at Passiontide and during Lent.
The translation of selected portions of Pjetursson's hymn was made by Pilcher in 1921 and...
Before the ending of the day. Latin, 5th-7th century, translated by Robert Campbell* (1814-1868) and John Mason Neale* (1818-1866).
The translations of the Latin 'Te lucis ante terminum'* by these two authors are the best known of many English versions. Campbell's appeared in Hymns and Anthems for Use in the Holy Services of the Church within the United Diocese of St Andrews, Dunkeld, and Dunblane (Edinburgh, 1850). Neale's appeared two years later in The Hymnal Noted Part 1 (1851). Neale's...
Blessed city, heavenly Salem. Latin, probably 7th century, translated by John Mason Neale* (1818-1866).
This is a translation of the Latin hymn 'Urbs beata Ierusalem'*, found in manuscripts of the 11th century, but probably of greater antiquity, perhaps 6th or 7th century (see JJ, p. 1198-9). The translation was first published in Neale's Mediaeval Hymns and Sequences (1851), in nine stanzas. In The Hymnal Noted Part I (1851) it was divided into two hymns, the first beginning as above, the...
Blessed Jesus, here we stand. Benjamin Schmolck* (1672-1737), translated by Catherine Winkworth* (1827-1878).
Schmolck's hymn, 'Liebster Jesu, wir sind hier, deinem Worte nachzuleben'*, was published in his Heilige Flammen der Himmlisch-gesinnten Seele (Third Edition, 1706) in seven 6-line verses, entitled 'Seasonable Reflections of the sponsors on their way with the child to Baptism'. Winkworth translated six verses for Lyra Germanica II (1858), where it appeared as the first hymn in the...
Brief life is here our portion. Bernard of Cluny* (12th century), translated by John Mason Neale* (1818-1866).
This is a translation of 'Hic breve vivitur, his breve plangitur, hic breve fletur', from the poem by Bernard of Cluny (or Morlaix), De Contemptu Mundi. That poem began 'Hora novissima, tempora pessima sunt, vigilemus'* (later translated by Neale as 'The world is very evil'*), but Neale first worked from an extract by Richard Chenevix Trench (in Sacred Latin Poetry, 1849) beginning...
By gracious powers so wonderfully sheltered. Dietrich Bonhoeffer* (1906-1945), translated by Fred Pratt Green* (1903-2000).
This poem was sent by Bonhoeffer from prison to his mother in a letter dated 28 December 1944, as a New Year Greeting to her and his friends at the opening of the final year of his life, before his tragic execution on 9 April 1945. The German text, beginning 'Von guten Mächten wunderbar geborgen', was printed in a hymn book for young people, Die singende Schar ('The...
By the cross, sad vigil keeping. ? Jacopone da Todi (ca, 1236-1306), translated by Richard Mant* (1776-1848).
This was Mant's translation of 'Stabat Mater dolorosa'*, printed in the Anglo-Catholic British Magazine (October 1833) and then in Mant's Ancient Hymns from the Roman Breviary (1837), where it wss the 'Hymn for Good Friday, (2)'. It is one of the texts that has been used by compilers to make the customary English version, together with 'At the cross her station keeping'* by Edward...
Can I forget bright Eden's grace. William Williams* (1717-91), translated by Herbert Arthur Hodges* (1905-76).
This translation of Williams's 'Yn Eden, cofiaf hynny byth' was first printed for the Hymn Society's 'Act of Praise' at its conference in Cardiff in 1975 with the title 'Eden and Calvary'. As this title suggests, the hymn is a highly charged and compressed account of the Fall and the Redemption. The translator's article on Williams (Bulletin of the Hymn Society, 135, 1976) notes that...
Captains of the saintly band. Jean-Baptiste de Santeuil* (1630-1697), translated by Sir Henry Williams Baker* (1821-1877).
This is a free translation of de Santeuil's Latin hymn, 'Caelestis (sometimes 'Coelestis') aulae principes' ('leaders of the heavenly courts'), found in the Cluniac Breviary of 1686, in de Santeuil's Hymni Sacri et Novi (1689). It became known in Britain in the 19th century through translation as 'Hail! Princes of the host of heaven' in John Chandler*'s Hymns of the...
Child in the manger. Mary Macdonald* (1789-1872), translated by Lachlan Macbean* (1853–1931).
Macdonald's Gaelic text, 'Leanabh an aigh', was freely translated as 'Child in the manger' by Macbean for his Songs and Hymns of the Scottish Highlands (1888) and set to the Highland melody called in hymnbooks BUNESSAN, after the village near Ardtun on the Isle of Mull. The translation was included with this tune in RCH, and in many books since. In addition to Scottish books, they include the Baptist...
Christ is made the sure Foundation. Latin, probably 7th century, translated by John Mason Neale* (1818-1866).
This is a translation of verses beginning 'Angularis fundamentum'* from the hymn 'Urbs beata Ierusalem'* (see 'Blessed city, heavenly Salem'*). It is found in manuscripts of the 11th century, but is probably much earlier (see JJ, pp. 1198-99). The translation was printed as a single nine-verse hymn in Neale's Mediaeval Hymns and Sequences (1851). In The Hymnal Noted Part I (1851), it...
Christ, the fair glory of the holy Angels. Latin, ca. 9th century, translated by Athelstan Riley* (1858-1945).
The Latin text, 'Christe sanctorum decus angelorum', ascribed to Hrabanus Maurus*, exists in various forms (see JJ, pp. 229-30). Riley's translation is of JJ's text 2, with line 2 as 'Rector humani generis et auctor', and references to the three archangels: 'Angelum pacis Michael', 'Angelum fortis Gabriel' and 'Angelum nobis, medicum salutis,/ Mitte de caelis Raphael'. It is designated...
Come, Holy Ghost, our souls inspire. John Cosin* (1595-1672).
This is probably the best known of the many English translations of the medieval Latin hymn 'Veni creator spiritus'*. It was first printed in Cosin's A Collection of Private Devotions in the Practice of the Ancient Church (1627), where it was assigned to the Third Hour, at which the Holy Ghost was traditionally thought to have descended at Pentecost. It may have been written for the coronation of King Charles I in 1625, at which...
Come, Saviour Jesu, from above. Antoinette Bourignon* (1616-1680), translated by John Wesley* (1703-1791).
Antoinette Bourignon's hymn began 'Venez, Jésus, mon salutaire'. It was translated, probably by John Wesley (the attribution to John Byrom* is unlikely), and published in Hymns and Sacred Poems (1739), in ten 4-line verses. For the 1780 Collection of Hymns for the Use of the People called Methodists Wesley omitted verses 5 and 10:
To Thee my earnest soul aspires,
To Thee I offer all my...
Commit thou all thy griefs. Paul Gerhardt* (1607-1676), translated by John Wesley* (1703-1791).
This is a free translation of Gerhardt's 'Befiehl du deine Wege'*. Gerhardt's hymn is a Lutheran acrostic, and Wesley makes no attempt to follow that (the omission of stanzas, and the change of language, would have made it impossible). The translation was first published in Hymns and Sacred Poems (1739), with the title 'Trust in Providence. From the German.' Wesley himself omitted it from A...
Dearest Jesu, we are here. George Ratcliffe Woodward* (1848-1934), after Tobias Clausnitzer* (1619-1684).
This is a hymn loosely based on Clausnitzer's 'Liebster Jesu, wir sind hier dich und dein Wort anzuhören'*. It was printed in three stanzas in Woodward's Songs of Syon (1904). Two were included in the Second Supplement (1916) to the Second Edition of A&M.
Dearest Jesu, we are here, At thy call, thy Presence owning; Pleading now in holy fear That thy Sacrifice atoning:Word Incarnate,...
Eternal depth of Love Divine. Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf* (1700-1760), translated by John Wesley* (1703-1791).
Zinzendorf's 'Du ewiger Abgrund der seligen Liebe' was written in 1726 for the birthday of his friend Graf Henkel of Oberberg on 21 September. It was published in Zinzendorf's Sammlung geistlicher und lieblicher Lieder (Second Edition, 1728), and then in Das Gesang-Buch der Gemeine in Herrnhut (1735), where Wesley would have found it. His translation was first published in Hymns...
Father most holy, merciful and loving. Latin 10th century, translated by Alfred Edward Alston* (1862-1927).
This is Alston's translation of a 10th-century Latin hymn found in many breviaries, beginning 'O pater sancte, mitis atque pie'. It is in the common Sapphic metre, popular in medieval hymnody, which Alston retains. The hymn is unusual in allowing one sentence to run over three stanzas:
Father most holy, merciful and loving,Jesu, Redeemer, ever to be worshipped,Life-giving Spirit,...
Father most holy, merciful and tender. Latin, 10th century, translated by Percy Dearmer* (1867-1936). This is a translation of 'O pater sancte, mitis atque pie', a hymn of the 10th century on the Holy Trinity (see 'Trinity hymns'*), written for EH. It appeared in EH and SofP, and was retained in NEH:
Father most holy, merciful and tender;Jesus our Saviour, with the Father reigning;Spirit all-kindly, Advocate, Defender, Light never waning;
Trinity sacred, Unity unshaken;Deity perfect, giving...
Father we praise thee, now the night is over. Attributed (wrongly) to Gregory the Great* (ca.540-604), translated by Percy Dearmer* (1867-1936).
This is a translation of the Latin hymn 'Nocte surgentes vigilemus omnes'*, which was attributed to Pope Gregory the Great by Benedictine editors, ca. 1700. This is no longer accepted. As early as 1933 Percy Dearmer questioned it: 'the mendacity of the old monastic writers, which so often baffles the historian, makes it impossible to be sure which, if...
From the dead, on Sunday morning. Nicolai Frederik Severin Grundtvig* (1783-1872), translated by Alan Gaunt* (1935-2023).
This hymn, 'Sondag morgen fra de dode', is found in Volume 1 of the Sang Vaerk, in the context of one or two of Grundtvig's strongest translations of Sunday hymns from the Greek. It is full of the conviction that at the heart of Christianity is the triumph of life over death. In conversation with a distinguished German visitor who asked his views on the use of dialectical...
Give to the winds thy fears. Paul Gerhardt* (1607-1676), translated by John Wesley* (1703-1791).
This is a free translation of part of Gerhardt's 'Befiehl du deine Wege'*, beginning at stanza 9 of Wesley's text. It is a companion piece to 'Commit thou all thy griefs'*. The two hymns are sometimes printed separately, and sometimes as two parts of the same hymn, as in HP. They were not included in A Collection of Hymns for the Use of the People called Methodists (1780), but appeared in the...
God be in my head. 15th century, author and provenance unknown. The first trace of this very moving verse is in a French text dating from ca. 1490:
Jesus soit en ma teste et mon entendement.
Jesus soit en mes yeulx et mon regardement.
Jesus soit en ma bouche et mon parlement.
Jesus soit en mon cueur et en mon pensement.
Jesus soit en ma vie et mon trespassement. Amen.
The English text is found in a Book of Hours printed by Robert Pynson at London, Hore beate marie/virginis ad vsum in/signis ac...
God reveals his presence. Gerhard Tersteegen* (1697-1769), translated by Frederick William Foster* and John Miller (1756-1790). This is a translation of part of Tersteegen's 'Gott ist gegenwärtig'* (verses 1, 2, 4, 7 and 8 of an eight-verse hymn). It was printed in the British Moravian Hymn Book (1789), and has remained in Moravian books until the present, though in shortened form (four verses in 1914). It follows Tersteegen's metre, and is close to the original: thus verse 2, beginning 'Gott...
God, your glory we have seen in your Son. Didier Rimaud* (1922-2003), translated by Ronald Johnson (1913-1996) and Brian Wren* (1936- ).
This was originally a French canticle written for a Roman Catholic conference in Strasbourg on the theme of 'The Bible in Liturgy' in 1957, beginning 'Dieu, nous avons vu ta gloire en ton Christ'*. Erik Routley* heard a recording and requested translations from Sir Ronald Johnson and Brian Wren. A composite version was made (Johnson's antiphon, Wren's...
Golden breaks the dawn. (Qing zao qi zan-mei Shen). Tzu Chen Chao* (1888-1979).
First published in Mien ZhuengSheng Ge Ji ('Hymns for the People', Peking, 1931), it gained wider use from its inclusion in Pu Tian Sueng Zan (Hymns of Universal Praise (Putian Songzan, 普天頌讚) (Shanghai, 1936)*, a collection by six major Christian churches in China.. There are two translations, 'Rise to greet the sun', by Bliss Wiant* (1895-1975) and Mildred Wiant (1898-2001), in their small collection of Chinese...
Hail thee, Festival Day. Venantius Fortunatus* (ca.540-early 7th century), translated by George Gabriel Scott Gillett* (1873-1948).
The origins of this hymn are in a poem, or verse epistle, by Fortunatus, addressed to Felix, Bishop of Nantes (d. 582), beginning 'Tempora florigero rutilant distincta sereno'. It is a poem of nature in spring welcoming the risen Saviour. A section of the poem (No 9 in Book III of Fortunatus' poems) begins
Salve festa dies toto venerabilis aevo
qua Deus infernum...
He whose confession God of old accepted. Laurence Housman* (1865-1959).
This is a translation of 'Iste confessor domini sacratus'*, a Latin hymn of unknown origin but probably written in the 8th century. The original was widely used: it was written for the feast of a confessor, that is, one who avowed the Christian faith in the face of danger, but did not suffer martyrdom. The translation appeared in EH, to be sung to plainsong or to the tune ISTE CONFESSOR. The third stanza in the Latin text...
How blest are the folk who have ear for the sound. Nicolai Frederik Severin Grundtvig* (1783-1872), translated by Alan Gaunt* (1935-2023).
This hymn, 'Lyksaligt det folk, som har ore for klang', begins with Psalm 89, 'Blessed are the people who hear the festal shout. They shall walk in the light of his countenance.' It works by a constant reiteration of the images of interchange, the vekselvirkning ('interaction') of heaven and earth, the admirabile commercium, what Luther calls the 'fröhliche...
I give my heart to Thee. Ray Palmer* (1808-1887).
This is a translation of a Latin text, 'Cor meum tibi dedo, Jesu dulcissime', of unknown authorship. It was printed in Psalteriolum cantionum Catholicarum (Cologne, 1722). Palmer took his text from Hermann Adalbert Daniel*, Thesaurus Hymnologicus II. 370. His translation was made in August 1868, and published in Christ in Song (New York, 1869), edited by Philip Schaff*. Schaff's note on this 'charming Latin poem…freely and happily reproduced by...
I greet Thee, who my sure Redeemer art. French, possibly by Jean Calvin* (1509-1564), translated by Elizabeth Lee Smith* (1817-1898).
This translation was published in Philip Schaff*'s Christ in Song (New York, 1869). It is a translation of the French text, 'Je Te salue, mon certain Rédempteur'*.
Smith's translation follows the original metre. It is in eight stanzas, beginning, after stanza 1:
Thou art the King of mercy and of grace
Thou art the Life by which alone we live
Thou art the true...
I know that my Redeemer. Hallgrim Pjetursson* (1614-1674), translated by Charles Venn Pilcher* (1879-1961).
This hymn by Hallgrim Pjetursson (Hallgrímur Pétursson) exists in manuscript form in the museum at Reykjavík. It was printed in Magnús Jónsson's Hallgrímur Pétursson (Rekjavík, 1947). It begins 'Allt eins og blómstrið eina' ('Even as a little flower') and has 13 verses. Pilcher translated seven stanzas for his Icelandic Christian Classics (Melbourne, 1950). The selection used in the...
Jesu, Son of Mary. Edmund Stuart Palmer* (1856-1931).
This touching funeral hymn was originally written in Swahili sometime before 1901, during Palmer's first period in Africa. It was written for the Requiem of a colleague in the UMCA (Universities' Mission to Central Africa). According to Frost (1962, p. 381) it was included in the Mission's Swahili Hymn Book, but it is not in Kitabu cha Sala za Kanuni ilivyo desturi ya kanisa la unguja (Swahili Zanzibar prayer and hymns) (SPCK, 1950).
The...
Jesu, thou joy of loving hearts. Ray Palmer* (1808-1887). This fine translation of 'Iesu dulcedo cordium', part of 'Iesu dulcis memoria'*, was made in 1858, and published in The Sabbath Hymn Book: for the Service of Song in the House of the Lord (New York and Boston, 1858), edited by Lowell Mason*, Edwards Amasa Park, and Austin Phelps. It rapidly became popular, and it has retained its place in most mainstream English language hymnbooks.
JRW
Jesu, thy blood and righteousness. Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf* (1700-1760), translated by John Wesley* (1703-1791).
Wesley found Zinzendorf's 'Christi Blut und Gerechtigkeit' in the 1739 Appendix to Das Gesang-Buch der Gemeine in Herrnhut (1735). His free translation was published in Hymns and Sacred Poems (1740), with the title 'The Believer's Triumph. From the German':
Jesu, Thy blood and righteousnessMy beauty are, my glorious dress:Midst flaming worlds, in these arrayed,With joy shall I...
Jesu, thy boundless love to me. Paul Gerhardt* (1607-1676), translated by John Wesley* (1703-1791).
This is a translation of Gerhardt's 'O Jesu Christ, mein schönstes Licht'*, a very beautiful hymn of 16 verses based on a prayer in Johann Arndt*'s Paradiesgärtlein (1612). Wesley translated all 16 stanzas, turning Gerhardt's 9-line stanzas into 6-line ones. He found the hymn in the Moravian Das Gesang-Buch der Gemeine in Herrnhut (1735), and translated it on the way home from Georgia, saying...
Jesus the Lord said, 'I am the Bread'. Urdu hymn, translated by Dermott Monahan* (1906-1957).
These words were set to an Urdu melody, YISU NE KAHA, recorded by an ethnomusicologist, Kate Greenfield, and arranged by Francis Westbrook*. The hymn was written to fit this beautiful melody; Westbrook's arrangement was made ca. 1940 for a booklet of hymns for Sunday School anniversaries. Words and music were included in the School Hymn-Book of the Methodist Church (1950) and in the EACC Hymnal (1963)....
Lo! now the time accepted peals. Robert Maude Moorsom* (1831-1911). First published in Moorsom's Renderings of Church Hymns from Eastern and Western Office Books (1901). It was translated from the Latin 'En tempus acceptabile', beginning
En tempus acceptabile,
Tempus salutis nuntium,
Quo paenitentis fletibus
Patet thronus clementiae.
This comes from French 18th-century breviaries beginning with that of Carcassonne (1745), but the first line, and part of the general sentiment, is taken...
Lo, God is here! Let us adore. Gerhard Tersteegen* (1697-1769), translated by John Wesley* (1703-1791).
Tersteegen's hymn, 'Gott ist gegenwärtig'*, was published in his Geistliches Blumen-Gärtlein (1729), and then in the Moravian hymnbook, Das Gesang-Buch der Gemeine in Herrnhut (1735), where Wesley would have found it. His translation was included in Hymns and Sacred Poems (1739), entitled 'Public Worship. From the German'.
Terasteegen's hymn has eight 8-line verses. Wesley translated six, in...
Make me a channel of your peace.
This is from a prayer sometimes attributed to Francis of Assisi (1182-1226), arranged by Sebastian Temple* (1928-1997). This text is often said to be by St Francis, but there is no evidence for this. It was first printed in French on 12 December 1912 in a religious magazine, La Clochette ('The Little Bell'), published by La Ligue de Sainte-Messe ('The Society of the Holy Mass'). It was entitled 'Belle prière à faire pendant la Messe' ('A good prayer to be said...
Many and great, O God, are thy works. Joseph Renville* (1779-1846), translated by Philip Frazier* and others.
Renville's hymn is probably the best known Native American hymn to have entered general use in translation. The first stanza is as follows:
This hymn in seven stanzas was published in the 1846 supplement 'Dakota dowanpi kin', to the first Dakotan hymnal, a words-only book, Dakota Odowan ('Dakota Hymns') (Boston, 1842), with 'Mr. R' following stanza seven. It appeared with the...
Men go to God when they are sorely placed. Dietrich Bonhoeffer* (1906-1945), translated by Walter Farquharson* (1936- ).
Bonhoeffer's text, 'Menschen gehen zu Gott in ihrer Not', was sent by Bonhoeffer to Eberhard Bethge from prison at Tegel in 1944. It was printed by Bethge in Widerstand und Ergebung – Briefe und Aufzeichnungen aus der Haft (1951), translated into English as Letters and Papers from Prison (1953). The translation in Bethge's edition begins 'Men go to God when they are sore...
My Saviour, how shall I proclaim. Paul Gerhardt* (1607-1676), translated by John Wesley* (1703-1791).
John Wesley translated most of Gerhardt's 'O Welt, sieh hier dein Leben'*, a hymn of 16 stanzas, using verses 1, 3, 4, 6, 8-11 and 16. His translation began 'Extended on a cursed tree'. It appeared in Hymns and Sacred Poems (1740), with the heading 'Zechariah XII. 10. “They shall look upon Me whom they have pierced.” From the German.' The translated hymn appeared in all its nine stanzas in the...
Now I have found the ground wherein. Johann Andreas Rothe* (1688-1758), translated by John Wesley* (1703-1791).
Rothe's hymn, 'Ich habe nun den Grund gefunden'*, was first published in Count Nikolaus von Zinzendorf's Christ-Catholisches Singe- und Bet-Büchlein (1727), and then in the Moravian book that John Wesley would have encountered on his voyage to Georgia, Das Gesang-buch der Gemeine in Herrnhut (1735). It had ten stanzas, of which Wesley translated six. Rothe's magnificent hymn is...
Now in holy celebration. Laurence Housman* (1865-1959).
This is a translation of a 15th-century Latin hymn, 'Festum matris gloriosae', celebrating the visit of the Virgin Mary to St Elizabeth (Luke 1: 39-45). Housman omits stanza 2 of the Latin, which refers to the curing of Elizabeth's barrenness (Luke 1: 7, 24-25); it is perhaps a weakness of his version that Elizabeth is never named directly. The hymn is rich in complex paradoxes, notably in stanza 2, in which Elizabeth's unborn child, John...
O bread to pilgrims given. Ray Palmer* (1808-1887). This is a translation of 'O esca viatorum'*, one of many translations of the hymn at one time thought to be by Thomas Aquinas*. It appeared in The Sabbath Hymn Book: for the Service of Song in the House of the Lord (New York and Boston, 1858), edited by Lowell Mason*, Edwards Amasa Park, and Austin Phelps. It has been included in many books: in Britain it has been set to PASSION CHORALE, by Hans Leo Hassler*.
JRW
O Christ our joy, to whom is given. Laurence Housman* (1865-1959).
This is a translation of an early Latin hymn 'Tu Christe nostrum gaudium'*, itself the second part, for use at Lauds, of the hymn beginning 'Aeterne Rex altissime'* (other translations of 'Aeterne Rex altissime' include that by James Russell Woodford* ('Christ, above all glory seated'*) and J.M. Neale*'s 'Eternal Monarch, King most high'*). The hymn celebrates the Ascension, asking for help in this present life, and looking...
O God, thou bottomless abyss. Ernst Lange* (1650-1727), translated by John Wesley* (1703-1791).
Lange's hymn, 'O Gott, du Tiefe sonder Grund'*, was first published in Johann Anastasius Freylinghausen*'s Neues Geist-reiches Gesang-Buch (Halle, 1714), and then in Das Gesang-Buch der Gemeine in Herrnhut (1735), the book which the Moravian missionaries took with them to America. John Wesley, learning German from the Moravians and worshipping with them on board ship, would have found it in that...
O God, thy being who can sound. Ernst Lange* (1650-1727), translated by John Wesley* (1703-1791), altered.
This is a modernized version by a Methodist minister, Rupert E. Davies, in HP of Wesley's magnificent translation of Lange's 'O Gott, du Tiefe sonder Grund'*. See 'O God, thou bottomless abyss'*.
JRW
O God, what offering shall I give. Joachim Lange* (1670-1744), translated by John Wesley* (1703-1791).
This is John Wesley's translation of Lange's 'O Jesu, süsses Licht', which he would have found in the Moravian Das Gesang-Buch der Gemeine in Herrnhut (1735). The translation was published in Hymns and Sacred Poems (1739), with the heading 'A Morning Dedication of Ourselves to Christ. From the German.' The first stanza was as follows (with the German text for comparison):
WesleyLange
Jesu,...
O Holy Spirit, by whose breath. Latin, ca. 9th century, translated by John Webster Grant* (1919-2006).
Grant's translation of the 'Veni creator spiritus'* dates from 1968. It was made for The Hymn Book (1971) of the Anglican Church and the United Church of Canada, from the Latin office hymn for Pentecost written about the 9th century; it has appeared in numerous hymnbooks, including the Canadian Catholic Book of Worship (Ottawa, 1972, 1980 and 1994), The Australian Hymn Book (WOV, Sydney,...
O King enthroned on high. Greek, 8th century, translated by John Brownlie* (1857-1925).
The Greek hymn, 'Basileu ouranie, Parakleite', is from the Pentecostarion, the office book of the Greek church, where it was used on the eve of Pentecost. It is an 8-line hymn (printed in Frost, 1962, p. 374), from which Brownlie made a four-stanza hymn for Pentecost, published in his Hymns of the Greek Church (1900). It was included in EH with a tune, TEMPLE, by Walford Davies*, and later in CP with a tune,...
O Lord, enlarge our scanty thought. Moravian authors, translated by John Wesley* (1703-1791).
This is a shortened version of selected stanzas from four Moravian hymns, found by Wesley in the 'Anhang' (Supplement) to Das Gesang-Buch der Gemeine in Herrnhut (1737/1738). The hymns are all in 6-line stanzas:
Stanzas 1-2 are from Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf*'s 'Ach! mein verwundter fürste ('I thirst, Thou wounded Lamb of God'):
Stanzas 3-6 are from Johann Nitschmann*'s 'Du blutiger Versöhner'...
O sacred head! now wounded. Paul Gerhardt* (1607-1676), translated by James Waddell Alexander* (1804-1859).
This free translation was first published in eight stanzas in The Christian Lyre, edited by Joshua Leavitt (New York, 1830). Later it was extended to ten stanzas. It was the second hymn in Alexander's The Breaking Crucible; and other translations from German hymns (New York, 1861), published after his death in 1859. It was entitled 'O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden. A Passion Hymn by Paul...
O thou my soul, forget no more. Joshua Marshman* (1768-1837), from the Bengali of Krishna Pal* (1764-1822), translated by William Carey (1761-1834). Pal's hymn, 'Je Jone Apon Pan', must have been written shortly after his conversion in December 1800. It was later published in Quarterly Papers, for the use of the weekly and monthly contributors to the Baptist Missionary Society, January 1830). A 'free translation' was published in the same number (the author's name is not given, but the...
One who is all unfit to count. Narayan Vaman Tilak* (1861-1919), translated by Nicol MacNicol* (1870-1952).
Written in Marathi, and translated by MacNicol, who published it in a periodical, The Indian Interpreter, in 1919. It was subsequently published in J.C. Winslow, Narayan Vaman Tilak, the Christian Poet of Maharashtra (Calcutta, 1923). It was included in A Missionary Hymn Book (1922) and then in RCH, in both books to the tune WIGTOWN (or WIGTON) from the Scottish Psalter of 1635. It has...
Power from on high descended. Nicolai Frederik Severin Grundtvig* (1783-1872), translated by Alan Gaunt* (1935-2023).
This is an original Grundtvig hymn for Pentecost, 'Kraften far den hoje', but its form is intensely traditional. It is based on a pre-Reformation vernacular hymn for Easter, and it follows its metrical pattern and uses its familiar tune. By its very form it tells us something of the way in which Grundtvig believed that the Church's hymns echo back and forth across the centuries,...
Silent Night! holy Night! Joseph Mohr* (1792-1848), translated by various authors.
There have been very many translations of 'Stille Nacht! heilige Nacht!'*, the much loved Austrian carol by Joseph Mohr* with music by Franz Xaver Gruber*.
The first one into English was probably that by Emily Elizabeth Steele Elliott*, ca. 1858, for the choir of St Mark's Church, Kemptown, Brighton ('Stilly night, holy the night'). Other English translations of the 19th century include those by Jane Montgomery...
"Sleepers, wake!" A voice astounds us. Philipp Nicolai* (1556-1608), translated by Carl P. Daw, Jr.* (1944- ).
This translation of 'Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme'* was made for H82. Like earlier translations it follows the metre of the original German, and is sung to the traditional tune. It includes occasional phrases from earlier English versions, but, in Daw's words, 'it tries to convey more of the vigor and narrative urgency of the German original' (A Year of Grace, Carol Stream, 1990, p....
The flaming banners of our King. Venantius Fortunatus* (ca. 540- early 6th century), translated by John Webster Grant* (1919-2006).
In The Hymnal 1982 Companion (Vol 3A, pp. 327-30), Grant traced alterations to the Latin text, 'Vexilla Regis prodeunt'* up to modern Roman missals used as sources for 37 English translations published by 1907, as noted by JJ (pp. 1219ff), and described the circumstances of its composition. He described its effect through the ages: 'Its strains…confirmed to the...
Thou hidden love of God, whose height. Gerhard Tersteegen* (1697-1769) translated by John Wesley* (1703-1791).
This translation of Tersteegen's 'Verborgne Gottes-liebe du'* was made by John Wesley in 1736. He would have found the hymn in Das Gesang-Buch der Gemeine in Hernnhut (1735), taken by the Moravian missionaries on the voyage to Georgia. It was shortened there to eight stanzas from its original ten in Tersteegen's Geistliches Blumen-Gärtlein (1729). The translation was printed in the...
We are marching in the light of God. South African Freedom song, translated by Anders Nyberg* (1955- ).
In 1978 Nyberg led a Swedish worship group called 'Fjedur' to South Africa, then under an apartheid regime. After the return to Sweden, ca. 1980, 'Fjedur' published the freedom songs of the black churches (see South African freedom songs*). These were then edited by Nyberg, who provided English translations, and published with the title Freedom is Coming (Church of Sweden Mission, 1984)....
What shall we offer our good Lord. August Gottlieb Spangenberg* (1704-1792), translated by John Wesley* (1703-1791).
Spangenberg's hymn, beginning 'Der König ruht, und schauet doch', was written for the 34th birthday of Count Nikolaus von Zinzendorf* on 26 May 1734. It was too late for the Gesang-Buch der Gemeine in Herrnhut of 1735, but was printed in an appendix of 1737.
Wesley, who knew Spangenberg in Georgia, translated the hymn, beginning 'High on His everlasting throne'. He expanded on...