Open now thy gates of beauty

Open now thy gates of beauty. Benjamin Schmolck* (1672-1737), translated by Catherine Winkworth* (1827-1878). In the course of a majestic entry on Schmolck in JJ, pp. 1011-1014, James Mearns* refers to this hymn, a translation of ‘T(h)ut mir auf die schöne Pforte’* as ‘a good translation, omitting st. iii.,vii.’ Schmolck’s hymn appeared in his Der geistliche Kirchen-Gefährte (Schweidnitz, 1732) in seven stanzas. The ones left untranslated by Winkworth began ‘Laß in Furcht mich vor dich treten’ (‘May I appear before thee in fear’) and ‘Oefne mir die grünen Auen’ (‘Open to me the green meadows’). The translated stanzas followed Schmolck’s pattern of six lines: Open now Thy gates of beauty,...