Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme

Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme. Philipp Nicolai* (1556-1608). First published in an appendix to Nicolai’s Der Frewden-Spiegel dess ewigen Lebens (‘the joyful mirror of eternal life’, Frankfurt-am-Main, 1599), with the title ‘Ein anders [another, i.e., following ‘Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern’] von der Stim zu Mitternacht, und von den klugen Jungfrauen, di ihrem himmlischen Bräutigam begegnen, Matth. 25’ (‘Of the Voice at Midnight, and of the Wise Virgins who meet their Heavenly Bridegroom’). The opening lines of verses 1 and 2 suggest the German Wächter-Lieder, or Watchman’s Song, but the hymn goes on to describe the wedding-feast, as in Matthew 25: 1-13, and the marriage-supper of...