Jesu clemens pie Deus

Here is my translation of the Jesus hymn, “Jesu clemens pië Deus” (Johann Wilhelm Petersen, d. 1727), in ELGB #336, first appearing in the Geistreiches Gsb Halle (1697) with title “Suspiria animae Jesum quaerentis,” i.e., sigh of a soul desiring Jesus. It forms part of the contents of Petersen’s planned Latin hymn collection, Cythara sacra, which was left in MS form at his death. Fischer further mentions a German revision of the hymn beginning “Jesu, der du deine Liebe.” No melody is indicated in the Buffalo Synod hymnal. In Freylinghausen 1704ff., a setting of “Gott sei Dank in aller Welt” is provided. A different melody or choral setting is found in Bachofen’s Musicalisches Halleluja of 1743 (and earlier in Zollikofer in 1738). A third, simpler melody perhaps related to Freylinghausen is found in Psalmody Translated from the High German (1767).

 

 

JESUS, gentle, faithful Savior!
Jesus, my Desire forever!
With what good can I compare Thee,
God the Son of God and Mary?

2 Who can name aught good above Thee,
Or what joy it is to love Thee,
To be with Thee faith-united,
And with Thee in mind delighted?

3 Grant me pow’r to show the sweetness
Of Thy love in its completeness:
With Thee suff’ring, with Thee weeping,
With Thee joyful ever keeping.

4 Majesty unbound, abiding,
Love and Hope and Life providing!
Make us fit to stand before Thee
And to see Thee there in glory.

5 That beholding and partaking,
We may joy, glad anthems making.
Grant us blessedly to see it:
Amen, Jesus, ever be it!

Translation © 2023 Matthew Carver.

LATIN

Jesu clemens pie Deus
Jesu dulcis, amor meus,
Jesu bone, Jesu pie,
Fili Dei et Mariae.

2 Quisnam possit enarrare,
quam jucundum te amare,
tecum fide sociari,
tecum mente delectari.

3 Fac ut possim demonstrare,
quam sit dulce te amare,
tecum pati, tecum flere,
tecum semper congaudere.

4 O Majestas infinita!
amor noster, spes et vita,
fac nos dignos te videre,
tecum semper permanere.

5 Ut videntes et fruentes
jubilemus et cantemus,
in beata caeli vita.
Amen, Jesu fiat ita.

O Mensch gedenke dran

Here is my translation of the New Year (Circumcision) hymn, “O Mensch, gedenke dran” (Johann Christoph Arnschwanger, d. 1696), in ELGB #60, originally appearing in the author’s Neue Geistliche Lieder (Nuremberg, 1659) with title: “A hymn on the Circumcision of the dear Christ Child, and the most comforting name of Jesus, in which the circumcision of sinful passions is propounded to men.” The appointed melody is “Auf meinen lieben Gott.”

 

 

O MORTAL, think upon
What Christ for thee hath done,
Who of His own volition
Endured the circumcision,
When, to the Law submitting,
He lived in all ways fitting.

2 Our God, the highest Good
Pours out His very blood:
Though sinless, pure, and holy,
He comes obedient, lowly,
To do as was expected
Of children sin-infected.

3 See this example fine,
O man, and make it thine:
Let this in heart advise thee
Of sin to circumcise thee,
Thy wicked lust to bridle,
And not to be found idle.

4 More than thy self doth know,
Vile passions thee o’erflow,
And like so many an ember,
They kindle every member,
Thy body wholly filling,
To act against God’s willing.

5 Therefore be mindful aye,
That heart and spirit may
Such circumcision borrow,
By penitence and sorrow
Thy wicked will subduing,
All wrongful deeds eschewing.

6 O Jesus, dearest Friend,
Thy gracious Spirit send,
That He to good may wake us
And ever stronger make us
To do as Thou dost bid us,
Of guilty weights to rid us.

Translation © 2023 Matthew Carver.

GERMAN

O Mensch gedenke dran, […gedenk daran]
was Christus hat gethan,
der williglich gelitten,
das man sein Fleisch beschnitten,
als der sich untergeben
nach dem Gesetz au leben.

2 Gott als das höchste Gut
vergießt sein eigen Blut:
der welcher frei von Sünden,
läßt sich gehorsam finden,
zu thun wie alle Kinder,
die man gebiert als Sünder.

3 Schau das Exempel an,
o Mensch! und lerne dran,
das du dich zu beschneiden,
von Sünden abzuscheiden
und deine Lust zu zähmen
viel minder solltest schämen.

4 Mehr als dir selbst bewußt,
steckst du voll böser Lust
von Anfang bis zu Ende:
die Augen, Füß und Hände,
ja lle deine Glieder,
thun das was Gott zuwider.

5 Drum denke stets dahin,
wie du dein Herz und Sinn
auch also mögst beschneiden,
das Unrecht zu vermeiden
und deinen bösen Willen
durch Reu und Leid zu stillen.

6 O, der Du Jesus heißt!
schaff, das Dein guter Geist
zu allen guten Werken
uns möge kräftig stärken,
damit wir der Beschwerden
der Sünden-Schuld los werden.