25 February 2014

Laß die Welt dies Leben lieben

When hymn-writer Chad L. Bird posted his latest hymn, "From the Mount of Our Lord's Glory," Rev. Armin Wenz noted in a comment a hymn by Sigismund von Birken. Here is my translation of the hymn "Laß die Welt dies Leben lieben" (S. von Birken). It was written for the Sixth Sunday after Epiphany (Transfiguration). The melody is "Steh doch, Seele, steh doch stille," of which I reproduce from Kümmerle the first version from Nürnberg.



LEAVE THIS world its life so treasured!
Here it is not good to stay;
Here abide but griefs unmeasured:
Sin, injustice, pain, decay;
Long to live on earth is merely
Long to suffer, sore and dearly.

2. God, it is not so in heaven!
There on high ’tis good to be!
There the shades of sin are riven,
Routed there all misery;
There Thy glory shines unfailing,
Where the Sun of joy is dwelling!

3. Let me see that life delighftul!
Let me set my dwelling soon
Far from cities faint and frightful
In Thy country star-bestrewn
Let me be from sorrow lifted,
With that higher station gifted!

4. Here in Moses’ tent of meeting
Mid the worldly wilderness,
Men in sweat their bread are eating,
All Thy holy Law transgress;
Here the cursèd ground convicts him
And with choking thorn afflicts him.

5. In this life of sin and sadness,
In this soldier’s camp I stay,
Bound by foes who in their madness
Ever call us to the fray,
What is here but wars repeating,
Triumphs tenuous and fleeting?

6. Such a triumph to be claiming,
To Elijah’s tent I flee,
Which by horse and chariot flaming
God preserves within His lee;
As I fight no foes confound me
With the angel escort round me.

7. Yet, O Jesus, heaven’s dwelling
Shall my highest pleasure be—
Home of peace, all peace excelling—
Triumph there to share with Thee!
There Thy hand a crown will give me:
Jesus, from the earth receive me!

Translation © 2014 Matthew Carver.

GERMAN
1. Laß die Welt diß Leben lieben! / hier auf Erd ist nit gut seyn. / hier wohnt nichtes, als Betrüben, / Unrecht, Sünde, Noht und Pein. / Langes leben hier auf Erden, / heist nur, lang gequälet werden.
2. Nicht so, Gott in deinem Himmel! / in dem Himmel ist gut seyn: / da hört auf das Leidgewimmel; / da gibt ewig-hellen Schein / deine schöne FreudenSonne, / da wohnt wahre Lebenswonne.
3. Dieses Wohlseyn laß mich schauen. / laß mich in dem Sternenland / mir bald eine Hütte bauen, / tretten an den guten Stand: / daß ich in dem Freudenwesen / ewig möge Leids genesen.
4. Hier ich wohn in Mose Hütten, / in der Wüste dieser Welt. / Hier ach! muß es seyn gelitten, / weil man dein Gesetz nicht hält. / und es muß die Erde tragen / die Fluchdörnern, uns zuplagen.
5. Dieses Sünd- und Jammer-Leben, / dieses Kriegszelt, ieder Zeit / von den Feinden wird ümgeben, / die uns fordern in den Streit. / Was ist hier? Gefährlichs Kriegen, / und doch ungewißes Siegen.
6. Diesen Sieg davon zutragen, / flieh ich in Elias Zelt, / das durch Feuer-Roß und Wagen / Gott in seinem Schutze hält. / Sicher ich den feind bestreite, / in dem Englischen Geleite.
7. Doch so laß ich mir vor allen, / Jesu, dort dein HimmelZelt, / da der Friede wohnt, gefallen, / wo man mit dir Siegpracht hält. / da werd ich gekrönet werden. / Jesu, hol mich von der Erden!
Dreyen Jüngern auf dem Berg Jesus herrlich wird verkläret, / und: diß ist mein lieber Sohn! himmel-ab die Stimm gehöret.


23 February 2014

Wir Menschen sind zu dem, o Gott!

Here is my first translation completed in the New Year: a hymn on the Scriptures: Wir Menschen sind zu dem, o Gott! by David Denicke (†1680). The proper melody is "Sei Lob und Ehr' dem höchsten Gut." Translations of single stanzas occur in the Moravian Hymn-Book, and a cento of 5 stanzas in American Lutheran Hymnal (#97).


1. We men, O God, have many a flaw,
The Spirit's things confound us:
Thy will, Thy ways, Thy holy law,
Dismay and sore astound us
We could not know nor grasp aright,
Did not Thy holy Word and Light
Show us the way to find Thee.

2. So didst Thou send us long ago
the Prophets, Thine attendants,
Thy holy will and laws to show
To Israel's descendants;
But in these latter days Thy Son,
O Father! is Himself come down
From heaven's throne to teach us.

3. Be praised for this salvation, Lord,
There let us be abiding,
Thy goodly Spirit us afford,
To keep us there confiding,
With meekness, rev'rence, love, and joy,
To hold, believe in, and employ
As God's, not man's, creation.

4. Let not the vile and scornful crowd
From Holy Scripture turn us,
For they and all their mocking proud
Will end in hell's hot furnace,
Give Thou Thy Word a thunder-blast
To lodge in us Thy doctrines fast
And dwell within us richly.

5. Unstop our ears and stubborn heart
To grasp the scriptures rightly,
In love or loss, in joy or smart
Let it not seem unsightly,
Nor let us only hearers prove,
But doers of the Word, that love
A hundredfold may flourish.

6. The scattered seed upon the way
Is by the devil taken:
In rocky soil the Word scarce may
A little root awaken.
The seed that falls among the thorn
By worldly cares away is borne,
Mid earthly joys to perish.

7. Oh, help us, Lord, resemble here
That fertile, good foundation,
In virtues rich, with godly fear
Fulfilling our vocation,
With patience plenteous fruit to bear,
And to preserve in hearts made fair
Thy teachings and Thy favors.

8. Let us abstain, while here we live,
From pathways of transgression,
And grant that we to Thee may cleave
In pain and tribulation:
Root out all thorns and choking tares,
Help us to curb our worldly cares
And snuff all wicked pleasures.

9. Thy Word, O Lord, let ever be
A lamp to light our going!
Sustain it pure and bright, that we
May profit in its glowing
With wisdom, strength, and help in need,
And neither life nor death may heed,
Unmoved therein confiding.

10. God, Father, for Thy glory spread
Abroad Thy Word and preaching;
O Jesus, grant us to be led
And lightened by Thy teaching:
O Holy Ghost, in Thine elect
Make this Thy Word Divine effect
Faith, hope, love, and forbearance.

Translation © 2009 Matthew Carver.

GERMAN
1. Wir Menschen sind zu dem, o Gott!
was geistlich ist, untüchtig:
dein Wesen, Wille und Gebot,
ist viel zu hoch und wichtig;
Wir wissen'sund verstehen's nicht,
wo uns dein göttlich Wort und Licht
den Weg zu dir nicht weiset.

2. Drum sind vor Zeiten ausgesandt
Propheten, deine Knechte,
daß durch dieselben würd' bekannt
dein heil'ger Will' und Rechte;
zum letzten ist dein lieber Sohn,
o Vater! von des Himmels Thron
selbst kommen, uns zu lehren.

3. Für solches Heil sei, Herr! gepreis't,
laß uns dabei verbleiben,
und gib uns deinen guten Geist,
daß wir dem Worte gläuben,
dasselb' annehmen jederzeit
mit Sanftmuth, Ehre, Lieb' und Freud',
als Gottes, nicht der Menschen.

4. Hilf! das der losen Spötter Hauf'
uns nicht vom Wort abwende;
denn ihr Gespött, sammt ihnen drauf,
mit Schrecken nimmt ein Ende.
Gib du selbst deinem Donner[-]Kraft,
daß deine Lehre in uns haft',
auch reichlich in uns wohne.

5. Öffn' uns die Ohren und das Herz,
daß wir das Wort recht fassen,
in Lieb und Leid, in Freud und Schmerz
es aus der Acht nicht lassen,
daß wir nicht Hörer nur allein
des Wortes, sondern Thäter sein,
Frucht hundertfältig bringen.

6. Am Wege wird der Same fort
vom Teufel hingenommen:
in Fels und Steinen kann das Wort
die Wurzel nicht bekommen.
Der Sam', so in die Dornen fällt,
von Sorg' und Wollust dieser Welt
verdirbet und ersticket.

7. Ach hilf, Herr! daß wir werden gleich
allhier dem guten Lande,
und sein an guten werken Reich,
ins unserm Amt und Stande,
viel Früchte bringen in Geduld,
bewahren deine Lehr' und Huld
in feinem guten Herzen.

8. Laß uns, so lang wir leben hier,
den Weg der Sünder meiden;
gib, daß wir halten fest an dir
in Anfechtung und Leiden:
Rott' aus die Dornen allzumal,
hilf uns die Weltsorg' überall
und böse Lüste dämpfen.

9. Dein Wort, o Herr! laß allweg' sein
die Leuchte unsern Füßen,
erhalt es bei uns klar und rein:
hilf! daß wir draus genießen
Kraft, Rath und Trost in aller Noth,
daß wir im Leben und im Tod
beständig darauf trauen.

10. Gott Vater! laß zu deiner Ehr'
dein Wort sich weit ausbreiten;
hilf, Jesu! daß uns deine Lehr'
erleuchten mög' und leiten:
o heil'ger Geist! dein göttlich Wort
laß in uns wirken fort und fort:
Geduld, Lieb', Hoffnung, Glauben.

06 February 2014

Dixit Dominus ex Basan


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Here is my translation for the Sequence "Dominus dixit ex Basan" (Godescalcus) for the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul (January 25), as it appears in Bonnus, Lossius (1579), Keuchenthal, Ludecus' Missale, and Magdeburg (1613). Each cantional had a slightly different version of the melody (though there are two main strains). I include the slightly simpler version found in Bonnus. I have normalized the syllabic lines of the text in certain places, usually according to the longer version, but the melody does not reflect this yet. Use the longer of the repeated melodic lines.


OUT of Bashan, saith the Lord, I will turn him,
And in the deepest sea convert him.

2a. And God kept His saying:
Saul prostrate laying,
Paul then to life He brought,
2b. By His Word incarnate
Did He perform it
Through Whom the world He wrought.

3a. For, Him defying,
Saul heard Him crying,
“Saul, why persecutest thou Me?”
3b. I am that Jesus
Thou persecutest:
To kick the goads is hard for thee!”

4a. At the presence of the Lord
Did the earth tremble
As if to crumble,
Soon yet it rested:
4b. Paul, to faith in God restored,
In true contrition
His fellow Christian
No more molested.

5a. This is the tongue of Thy faithful hounds
Out of hostile grounds
Back to Thee, God, returning,
5b. Since Paul makes all mouths of preachers bold
(Where Thy Word be told),
With Thy commands and learning,

6a. For Paul says: No other
Is Christ the Crucified
Than true God, who reigneth,
6b. One with God the Father
And the Holy Ghost,
As Paul’s word maintaineth.

7a. Houndlike, the tongues of preachers
Drinking deep of Paul their teacher,
Much in those millstones twain have ground—
Law that demandeth,
Gospel that granteth,—
7b. Making by use most heedful
All kinds of medicines needful
By which the wounded are bound
And those that hunger
Fed and made stronger.

8a. When the sea his doctrine saw,
It fled; at his rehearsing
The Jordan
Was driven back, reversing:
8b. For the Gentiles turned in awe
From depths of their transgression;
Confounding
Great Og, the King of Bashan.

9. Now Christ, they adore Thee
Over all creation,
Giving the God-Man all glory
Who came and brought salvation.

Translation © 2014 Matthew Carver.

LATIN
1. Dixit Dominus,
Ex Basan convertam,
convertam in profundum maris.

2. Quod dixit et fecit:
Saulum et stravit,
Paulum et statuit
Per Verbum suum
Incarnatum, per quod
fecit et saecula:

3. Quod dum impugnat,
audivit Saule, {Saulus}
Saule quid me persequeris? {perspexeris}
Ego sum Jesus;
durum est tibi,
ut recalcitres stimulo.

4. A facie, Domini,
mota est terra,
contremuitque,
moxque {mox et} quievit.
Dum cognito credidit
Domino Paulus,
persequi cessat
conchristianos.

5. Haec {Hi[n]c} lingua tuorum est canum,
ex inimicis
rediens ad te Deus.
Cum Paulus in ore omnium
secretorum {sacerdotum}
jura dat praeceptorum,

6. Docens crucifixum
non esse alium
praeter Christum Deum.
Cum Patre qui regnat
et Sancto Spiritu,
cujus testis Paulus,

7. Hi[n]c lingua sacerdotum
more canis dum perlinxit
legis et evangelii
duos molares
in his contrivit. {contritos}
Corrasit universas
species medicinarum,
quibus curantur saucii,
reficiuntur
enutriendi.
8. Quod docente Deum
mare vidit et fugit,
Jordanis
conversus est retrorsum.

Quia turba gentium
relicto {rediens} vitiorum
profundo,
Og rege Basan confuso,
9. Te solum adorat
Christe creatorem
Teque {Quem et } cognoscit in carne
venisse 
redemptorem.