Here is my alteration of translations of the Passion hymn, “Seht, welch ein Mensch ist das!” (Benjamin Schmolck, d. 1737), in ELGB #119, originally in Schmolck’s Heilige Flammen (1704) with title “Ecce homo!” based on John 19:5. A translation by John Kelly from the British Messenger (1868) was sought unsuccessfully. I include the bases of my composite: Anna B. Warner’s rendering, fuller and more faithful; and J. T. Mueller’s, appearing in Sela Gesangbuch, on which the first stanza is based. To bring the text more in line with the sense of the German, not to mention the rhyme-scheme and meter, a great deal of alteration was sometimes necessary, so that it almost passes “alteration” to being a new translation “based on” the old. The appointed melody is “O Gott, du frommer Gott.”
SEE what a Man is this!
Ye wicked, come and wonder!
If Christ must suffer so,
Your own dread wages ponder.
Ye sinners, now behold!
The Holy One must die;
Ye sons of hell, then weep!
The Son of God doth cry.
2 See what a Man is this!
O eyes with teardrops thronging!
O face reviled and scorned,
O lips all full of longing!
O head with death-drops wet,
O cheeks with spittle spread,
O heart, so full of blood!
O limbs, distressed and dead!
3 See what a Man is this!
How wounded and afflicted!
Ye sinners, is it not
Your bonds that Him constricted?
Are not your passions vile
The thorns which He must bear?
Is’t not your wickedness
That nailed His body there?
4 See what a Man is this!
Your tears in torrents offer:
It is your guilt that makes
Christ’s heart to bleed and suffer;
Oh, pass not by this scene,
These pains which Him aggrieve,
But through His open side
Your Jesus’ heart perceive.
5 See, what a Man is this!
Ah, yes, we would see ever
What men have done to Thee,
O Friend of men, and Savior!
So long as eyes avail,
So long that agony
Which Thou for us hast borne
Shall still remembered be.
6 See, what a Man is this!
Let us Thy vision borrow;
Behold us in Thy grace
When we are bathed in sorrow;
So let Thy dying eyes
Our soul transfix and mend,
And let Thy streaming blood
Our lives with God defend.
7 See, what a Man is this!
Our eyes on Thee abiding,
Within Thy wounds we build
Our hope and our confiding.
Now as Thy head is bowed,
We die, O Lord, with Thee,
And when our eyes shall close,
We live eternally.
Translation st. 1. J. T. Mueller, alt.; sts. 2-7, Anna B. Warner, alt.
Alterations © 2023 Matthew Carver.
ANNA B. WARNER
2 SEE, what a man is this!
O glances full of woe,
O face dishonoured, scorned,
O lips that long to go,
O head with death-drops wet,
O heart so patient yet,
O soul with death-pains filled,
O love by grief not killed!
3 See, what a man is this!
Ah, see each open wound!
O sinners, have not ye
The Holy One thus bound?
Make not your lusts each thorn
With which His brow is torn?
Did not your sins betray,
And on the cross thus slay?
4 See, what a man is this!
Let tears come like a flood:
It is our guilt that drew
Those drops of precious blood;
Pass not by here in vain,
Where pain is over pain;
But through His rent side see
How Christ's heart beats for thee,
5 See, what a Man is this!
Ah, yes, we want to know,
Thou gracious Friend of men,
How far Thy love could go.
So long as eyes can see,
We will remember Thee;
The pain, the grief, the scorn,
Which Thou for us hast borne.
6 See, what a Man is this!
Oh look on us in grace!
When full of bitter tears
We fall before Thy face,
Then let those dying eyes
Answer our deep heart-cries,
And Thine atoning blood
Speak for us unto God.
7 See, what a Man is this!
We look to Thee to-day,
And our whole confidence
Upon Thy suffering lay.
Thy bended head we see,
And die, our Lord, with Thee.
So shall we ever live
The life Thy death doth give!
J. T. MUELLER (1921)
Behold the Man of woe!
Ye sinners come and wonder!
If Christ must suffer so,
Your own dread wages ponder.
Behold the Son of God!
O hear His anguished cries!
He groans beneath the rod!
Of dreadful wrath and dies.
3 Behold the Man of woe,
His wounds and His affliction!
Your sins He bears. And O,
Yours is His crucifixion.
Ye scourged Him with the rod!
Ye caused His bitter woes!
Ye nailed the Son of God
Upon the painful cross.
4 Behold the Man of woe,
Behold His death and passion!
Kneel penitent and so
Of all sins make confession.
Say, O my dearest Lord,
Thy blood shall make me whole;
I trust Thy gracious Word,
I hide in Thee my soul.
5–7? Behold the Man of woe,
His love, His grace, His favor!
Thy sin and all its woe
He bore away forever.
If conscience trouble thee,
Christ died for thee, the Just:
So go to Calvary,
And in His passion trust.
GERMAN
Seht, welch ein Mensch ist das!
ihr Menschen kommt zusammen;
ihr Ungerechten, seht
die Unschuld hier verdammen.
Ihr Sünder, merket auf,
hier leidt die Heiligkeit;
ihr Höllenkinder weint,
der Sohn des Höchsten schreit.
2 Seht, welch ein mensch ist das!
O Blicke voller Thränen!
O Antlitz voller Schmach!
O Lippen voller Sehnen!
O Haupt voll Todesschweiß!
O Backen voller Koth!
O Herze voller Blut!
O Leib voll Not und Tod!
3 Seht, welch ein Mensch ist das!
ach seht in seine Wunden!
Habt ihr, ihr Sünder, nicht
den Heiligen gebunden?
Sind eure Lüste nicht
die Dornen, die Er trägt?
Ists eure Bosheit nicht,
die Ihn ans Creuze schlägt?
4 Seht, welch eine Mensch ist das!
Ach opfert Thränenfluthen!
denn eure Blutschuld macht
das Herze Jesu bluten:
Geht nicht vorüber hier,
wo Schmerzen über Schmerz;
sehr durch die offne Brust
in eueres Jesu Herz.
5 Seht, welch ein Mensch ist das!
Ach ja, wir wollen sehen,
was Dir Du Menschenfreund,
durch Menschen ist geschehen.
So lang ein Auge blickt,
so lange soll die Pein,
die Du für uns erträgst,
auch unvergessen sein.
6 Seht, welch ein Mensch ist das!
Ach! sieh uns auch in Gnaden,
wenn wir aus voller Brust,
in Jammerthränen baden;
so laß den Blick vom Kreuz
in unsre Seele gehn,
und Dein vergossnes Blut
für uns ins Mittel stehn.
7 Seht, welch ein Mensch ist das!
so werden wir Dich schauen,
und unsern ganzen Trost
in Deine Wunden bauen.
Wenn sich Dein Haupt nun neigt,
so sterben wir mit Dir;
wenn unser Auge bricht,
so leben wir dafür.
No comments:
Post a Comment