O Traurigkeit, O Herzeleid

O Traurigkeit, O Herzeleid. Friedrich Spee von Langenfeld* (1591-1635) and Johann Rist* (1600-1667). This Easter Eve lament, in five verses, is in the ‘Passion’ section of EG (EG 80). It was printed in eight 5-line verses in Johannes Risten himlischer Lieder (‘Das Erste Zehen’, the 1st part, Lüneburg, 1641). The omitted verses were 4 (‘Dein Bräutigam/ Das Gottes Lamm’), 5 (‘O süsser Mund!/ O Glaubens-Grund’) and 6 (‘O lieblichs Bild,/ Schön zart und mild’). The full text is printed in The Hymnal 1940 Companion (New York, 1949). It was entitled ‘Klägliches Grab-Lied/ Uber die trawrige Begräbnisse unseres Seylandes Jesu Christi/ am stillen freytage zu singen’ (‘ A sorrowful funeral hymn on...