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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Hymns and Hymnwriters of Denmark + +Author: Jens Christian Aaberg + +Release Date: August 11, 2009 [EBook #29666] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HYMNS AND HYMNWRITERS OF DENMARK *** + + + + +Produced by Stephen Hutcheson and Ken Jentsch + + + + + +</pre> + +<div id="home" class="titlepg" title="Hymns and Hymnwriters of Denmark"> +<h1>Hymns and Hymnwriters of Denmark</h1> +<p class="center">By +<br />J. C. AABERG</p> +<p class="center"><span class="smaller">Published by +<br />The Committee on Publication +<br />of the Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church in America +<br />Des Moines, Ia. +<br />1945</span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="smaller">Copyright 1945 +<br />The Danish Ev. Luth. Church In America</span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="smaller">Printed in Lutheran Publishing House +<br />Blair, Nebr.</span></p> +</div> +<div id="foreword" title="Foreword"> +<div class="pb" id="pg_5">[5]</div> +<h3>Foreword</h3> +<p>This book deals with a subject which is new to most English +readers. For though Danish hymnody long ago became favorably +known in Northern Europe, no adequate presentation of the subject +has appeared in English. Newer American Lutheran hymnals +contain a number of Danish hymns, some of which have gained +considerable popularity, but the subject as a whole has not been +presented.</p> +<p>A hymn is a child both of its author and of the time in which +he lived. A proper knowledge of the writer and the age that gave +it birth will enhance our understanding both of the hymn and of +the spiritual movement it represents. No other branches of literature +furnish a more illuminating index to the inner life of Christendom +than the great lyrics of the Church. Henry Ward Beecher +said truly: “He who knows the way that hymns flowed, knows +where the blood of true piety ran, and can trace its veins and +arteries to its very heart.”</p> +<p>Aside from whatever value they may have in themselves, the +hymns presented on the following pages therefore should convey +an impression of the main currents within the Danish church, and +the men that helped to create them.</p> +<p>The names of Kingo, Brorson and Grundtvig are known to +many, but so far no biographies of these men except of the sketchiest +kind have appeared in English. It is hoped that the fairly +comprehensive presentation of their life and work in the following +pages may fill a timely need.</p> +<p>In selecting the hymns care has been taken to choose those +that are most characteristic of their authors, their times and the +<span class="pb" id="pg_6">[6]</span> +movements out of which they were born. While the translator has +sought to produce faithfully the metre, poetry and sentiment of +the originals, he has attempted no slavishly literal reproduction. +Many of the finest Danish hymns are frankly lyrical, a fact which +greatly increases the difficulty of translation. But while the +writer is conscious that his translations at times fail to reproduce +the full beauty of the originals, he still hopes that they may convey +a fair impression of these and constitute a not unworthy contribution +to American hymnody.</p> +<p>An examination of any standard American church hymnal +will prove that American church song has been greatly enriched +by transplantations of hymns from many lands and languages. +If the following contribution from a heretofore meagerly represented +branch of hymnody adds even a little to that enrichment, +the writer will feel amply rewarded for the many hours of concentrated +labor he has spent upon it.</p> +<p>Most of the translations are by the writer himself. When translations +by others have been used, credit has been given to them +except where only parts of a hymn have been presented.</p> +<p>Minneapolis, Minnesota, September 21st, 1944.</p> +</div> +<div id="index" class="toc" title="Index"> +<div class="pb" id="pg_7">[7]</div> +<h3>INDEX</h3> +<dl class="toc"> +<dt><span class="lj">Chapter</span> Page</dt> +<dt><a href="#index">Table of Contents</a> 7</dt> +<dt><a href="#c01">I Early Danish Hymnody</a> 9</dt> +<dt><a href="#c02">II Reformation Hymnody</a> 11</dt> +<dt><a href="#c03">III Kingo’s Childhood and Youth</a> 21</dt> +<dt><a href="#c04">IV Kingo, the Hymnwriter</a> 31</dt> +<dt><a href="#c05">V Kingo’s Psalmbook</a> 41</dt> +<dt><a href="#c06">VI Kingo’s Church Hymns</a> 44</dt> +<dt><a href="#c07">VII Kingo’s Later Years</a> 51</dt> +<dt><a href="#c08">VIII Brorson’s Childhood and Youth</a> 59</dt> +<dt><a href="#c09">IX Brorson, the Singer of Pietism</a> 65</dt> +<dt><a href="#c10">X Brorson’s Swan Song</a> 84</dt> +<dt><a href="#c11">XI Grundtvig’s Early Years</a> 93</dt> +<dt><a href="#c12">XII The Lonely Defender of the Bible</a> 103</dt> +<dt><a href="#c13">XIII The Living Word</a> 112</dt> +<dt><a href="#c14">XIV Grundtvig, the Hymnwriter</a> 121</dt> +<dt><a href="#c15">XV Grundtvig’s Hymns</a> 128</dt> +<dt><a href="#c16">XVI Grundtvig’s Later Years</a> 150</dt> +<dt><a href="#c17">XVII Other Danish Hymnwriters</a> 161</dt> +</dl> +</div> +<div id="c01" title="Early Danish Hymnody"> +<div class="pb" id="pg_9">[9]</div> +<h4>Chapter One +<span class="chaptertitle">Early Danish Hymnody</span></h4> +<p>Danish hymnody, like that of other Protestant countries, +is largely a child of the Reformation. The Northern peoples +were from ancient times lovers of song. Much of their early +history is preserved in poetry, and no one was more honored +among them than the skjald who most skillfully presented their +thoughts and deeds in song. Nor was this love of poetry lost with +the transition from paganism to Christianity. The splendid folk +songs of the Middle Ages prove conclusively that both the love of +poetry and the skill in writing it survived into the new age. One +can only wonder what fine songs the stirring advent of Christianity +might have produced among a people so naturally gifted in +poetry if the church had encouraged rather than discouraged this +native gift.</p> +<p>But the Church of Rome evinced little interest in the ancient +ways of the people among whom she took root. Her priests received +their training in a foreign tongue; her services were conducted +in Latin; and the native language and literature were +neglected. Except for a few lawbooks, the seven hundred years +of Catholic supremacy in Denmark did not produce a single book +in the Danish language. The ordinances of the church, furthermore, +expressly forbade congregational singing at the church services, +holding that, since it was unlawful for the laity to preach, +it was also impermissible for them to sing in the sanctuary. It is +thus likely that a Danish hymn had never been sung, except on a +<span class="pb" id="pg_10">[10]</span> +few special occasions in a Danish church before the triumph of the +Reformation.</p> +<p>It is not likely, however, that this prohibition of hymn singing +could be effectively extended to the homes or occasional private +gatherings. Hans Thomisson, who compiled the most important +of the early Danish hymnals, thus includes five “old hymns” in his +collection with the explanation that he had done so to show “that +even during the recent times of error there were pious Christians +who, by the grace of God, preserved the true Gospel. And though +these songs were not sung in the churches—which were filled with +songs in Latin that the people did not understand—they were sung +in the homes and before the doors”.</p> +<p>Most of these earlier hymns no doubt were songs to the Virgin +Mary or legendary hymns, two types of songs which were then +very common and popular throughout the church. Of the few real +hymns in use, some were composed with alternating lines of Danish +and Latin, indicating that they may have been sung responsively. +Among these hymns we find the oldest known Danish Christmas +hymn, which, in the beautiful recast of Grundtvig, is still one of +the most favored Christmas songs in Danish.</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Christmas with gladness sounds,</p> +<p class="t0">Joy abounds</p> +<p class="t0">When praising God, our Father,</p> +<p class="t0">We gather.</p> +<p class="t0">We were in bondage lying,</p> +<p class="t0">But He hath heard our prayer.</p> +<p class="t0">Our inmost need supplying,</p> +<p class="t0">He sent the Savior here.</p> +<p class="t0">Therefore with praises ringing,</p> +<p class="t0">Our hearts for joy are singing:</p> +<p class="t">All Glory, praise and might</p> +<p class="t">Be God’s for Christmas night.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Right in a golden year,</p> +<p class="t0">Came He here.</p> +<p class="t0">Throughout a world confounded</p> +<p class="t0">Resounded</p> +<p class="t0">The tidings fraught with gladness</p> +<p class="t0">For every tribe of man</p> +<p class="t0">That He hath borne our sadness</p> +<p class="t0">And brought us joy again,</p> +<p class="t0">That He in death descended,</p> +<p class="t0">Like sun when day is ended,</p> +<p class="t">And rose on Easter morn</p> +<p class="t">With life and joy reborn.</p> +</div> +<div class="pb" id="pg_11">[11]</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">He hath for every grief</p> +<p class="t0">Brought relief.</p> +<p class="t0">Each grateful heart His praises</p> +<p class="t0">Now raises.</p> +<p class="t0">With angels at the manger,</p> +<p class="t0">We sing the Savior’s birth,</p> +<p class="t0">Who wrought release from danger</p> +<p class="t0">And peace to man on earth,</p> +<p class="t0">Who satisfies our yearning,</p> +<p class="t0">And grief to joy is turning</p> +<p class="t">Till we with Him arise</p> +<p class="t">And dwell in Paradise.</p> +</div> +<p>The earliest Danish texts were translations from the Latin. Of +these the fine translations of the well known hymns, “Stabat Mater +Dolorosa”, and “Dies Est Laetitia in Ortu Regali”, are still used, the +latter especially in Grundtvig’s beautiful recast “Joy is the Guest +of Earth Today”.</p> +<p>At a somewhat later period, but still well in advance of the +Reformation, the first original Danish hymns must have appeared. +Foremost among these, we may mention the splendid hymns, “I +Will Now Hymn His Praises Who All My Sin Hath Borne”, “On +Mary, Virgin Undefiled, Did God Bestow His Favor”, and the +beautiful advent hymn, “O Bride of Christ, Rejoice”, all hymns that +breathe a truly Evangelical spirit and testify to a remarkable skill +in the use of a language then so sorely neglected.</p> +<p>Best known of all Pre-Reformation songs in Danish is “The +Old Christian Day Song”—the name under which it was printed +by Hans Thomisson. Of the three manuscript copies of this song, +which are preserved in the library of Upsala, Sweden, the oldest +is commonly dated at “not later than 1450”. The song itself, however, +is thought to be much older, dating probably from the latter +part of the 14th century. Its place of origin is uncertain, with both +Sweden and Denmark contending for the honor. The fact that the +text printed by Hans Thomisson is identical, except for minor variations +in dialect, with that of the oldest Swedish manuscript +proves, at least, that the same version was also current in Danish, +and that no conclusion as to its origin can now be drawn from the +chance preservation of its text in Sweden. The following translation +is based on Grundtvig’s splendid revision of the song for the +thousand years’ festival of the Danish church.<sup><a id="fr_1" href="#fn_1">[1]</a></sup></p> +<div class="pb" id="pg_12">[12]</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">With gladness we hail the blessed day</p> +<p class="t0">Now out of the sea ascending,</p> +<p class="t0">Illuming the earth upon its way</p> +<p class="t0">And cheer to all mortals lending.</p> +<p class="t0">God grant that His children everywhere</p> +<p class="t0">May prove that the night is ending.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">How blest was that wondrous midnight hour</p> +<p class="t0">When Jesus was born of Mary!</p> +<p class="t0">Then dawned in the East with mighty power</p> +<p class="t0">The day that anew shall carry</p> +<p class="t0">The light of God’s grace to every soul</p> +<p class="t0">That still with the Lord would tarry.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Should every creature in song rejoice,</p> +<p class="t0">And were every leaflet singing,</p> +<p class="t0">They could not His grace and glory voice,</p> +<p class="t0">Though earth with their praise were ringing,</p> +<p class="t0">For henceforth now shines the Light of Life,</p> +<p class="t0">Great joy to all mortals bringing.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Like gold is the blush of morning bright,</p> +<p class="t0">When day has from death arisen.</p> +<p class="t0">Blest comfort too holds the peaceful night</p> +<p class="t0">When skies in the sunset glisten.</p> +<p class="t0">So sparkle the eyes of those whose hearts</p> +<p class="t0">In peace for God’s summons listen.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Then journey we to our fatherland,</p> +<p class="t0">Where summer reigns bright and vernal.</p> +<p class="t0">Where ready for us God’s mansions stand</p> +<p class="t0">With thrones in their halls supernal.</p> +<p class="t0">So happily there with friends of light</p> +<p class="t0">We joy in the peace eternal.</p> +</div> +<p>In this imperishable song, Pre-Reformation hymnody reached +its highest excellence, an excellence that later hymnody seldom +has surpassed. “The Old Christian Day Song” shows, besides, that +Northern hymnwriters even “during the time of popery” had +caught the true spirit of Evangelical hymnody. Their songs were +few, and they were often bandied about like homeless waifs, but +they embodied the purest Christian ideals of that day and served +in a measure to link the old church with the new.</p> +<div class="fnblock"> +<div class="fndef"><sup><a id="fn_1" href="#fr_1">[1]</a></sup>Other translations: +<br />“O day full of grace, which we behold” by C. Doving +in “Hymnal for Church and Home.” +<br />“The dawn from on high is on our shore” by S. D. Rodholm +in “World of Song”. +</div> +</div> +</div> +<div id="c02" title="Reformation Hymnody"> +<div class="pb" id="pg_13">[13]</div> +<h4>Chapter Two +<span class="chaptertitle">Reformation Hymnody</span></h4> +<p>The Danish Reformation began quietly about 1520, and +culminated peacefully in the establishment of the Lutheran +church as the church of the realm in 1536. The movement was +not, as in some other countries, the work of a single outstanding +reformer. It came rather as an almost spontaneous uprising of the +people under several independent leaders, among whom men like +Hans Tausen, Jorgen Sadolin, Claus Mortensen, Hans Spandemager +and others merely stand out as the most prominent. And it was +probably this very spontaneity which invested the movement with +such an irresistible force that within in a few years it was able to +overthrow an establishment that had exerted a powerful influence +over the country for more than seven centuries.</p> +<p>In this accomplishment Evangelical hymnody played a prominent +part. Though the Reformation gained little momentum before +1526, the Papists began as early as 1527, to preach against “the +sacrilegious custom of roaring Danish ballads at the church service”. +As no collection of hymns had then been published, the +hymns thus used must have been circulated privately, showing the +eagerness of the people to adopt the new custom. The leaders of +the Reformation were quick to recognize the new interest and make +use of it in the furtherance of their cause. The first Danish hymnal +was published at Malmø in 1528 by Hans Mortensen. It contained +ten hymns and a splendid liturgy for the morning service. This +small collection proved so popular that it was soon enlarged by +the addition of thirty new hymns and appropriate liturgies for the +various other services, that were held on the Sabbath day. Independent +collections were almost simultaneously published by Hans +Tausen, Arvid Petersen and others. And, as these different collections +all circulated throughout the country, the result was confusing. +At a meeting in Copenhagen of Evangelical leaders from +all parts of the country, it was decided to revise the various collections +and to combine them into one hymnal. This first common +hymnal for the Danish church appeared in 1531, and served as the +hymnal of the church till 1544, when it was revised and enlarged +by Hans Tausen. Tausen’s hymnal was replaced in 1569 by <b>The +Danish Psalmbook</b>, compiled by Hans Thomisson, a pastor of the +<span class="pb" id="pg_14">[14]</span> +Church of Our Lady at Copenhagen, and the ablest translator and +hymnwriter of the Reformation period. <b>Hans Thomisson’s Hymnal</b>—as +it was popularly named—was beyond question the finest +hymnal of the transition period. It was exceptionally well printed, +contained 268 hymns, set to their appropriate tunes, and served +through innumerable reprints as the hymnal of the Danish church +for more than 150 years.</p> +<div class="img" title="Den Danske Psalmebog"> +<img height="784" width="500" alt="Den Danske Psalmebog" src="images/psalmbok.png" /> +</div> +<p>Thus the Reformation, in less than fifty years, had produced an +acceptable hymnal and had established congregational singing as +an indispensable part of the church service. The great upheaval +had failed, nevertheless, to produce a single hymnwriter of outstanding +merit. The leaders in the movement were able men, +striving earnestly to satisfy a pressing need. But they were not +poets. Their work consisted of passable translations, selections +from Pre-Reformation material and a few original hymns by Claus +Mortensen, Arvid Petersen, Hans Thomisson and others. It represented +an honest effort, but failed to attain greatness. People loved +their new hymns, however, and clung to them despite their halting +metres and crude style, even when newer and much finer songs +<span class="pb" id="pg_15">[15]</span> +were available. But when these at last had gained acceptance, the +old hymns gradually disappeared, and very few of them are now +included in the Danish hymnal. The Reformation produced a +worthy hymnal, but none of the great hymnwriters whose splendid +work later won Danish hymnody an honorable place in the church.</p> +<p>Hans Chrestensen Sthen, the first notable hymnwriter of the +Danish church, was already on the scene, however, when Hans +Thomisson’s Hymnal left the printers. He is thought to have been +born at Roskilde about 1540; but neither the date nor the place +of his birth is now known with certainty. He is reported to have +been orphaned at an early age, and subsequently, to have been +adopted and reared by the renowned Royal Chamberlain, Christopher +Walkendorf. After receiving an excellent education, he became +rector of a Latin school at Helsingør, the Elsinore of Shakespeare’s +<b>Hamlet</b>, and later was appointed to a pastorate in the +same city. In this latter office he was singularly successful. Lysander, +one of his biographers, says of him that he was exceptionally +well educated, known as a fine orator and noted as a successful +author and translator. His hymns prove that he was also an earnest +and warm-hearted Christian. The peoples of Helsingør loved him +dearly, and for many years, after he had left their city, continued +to “remember him with gifts of love for his long and faithful service +among them”. In 1583, to the sorrow of his congregation he +had accepted a call to Malmø, a city on the eastern shore of the +Sound. But in this new field his earnest Evangelical preaching, +provoked the resentment of a number of his most influential parishioners, +who, motivated by a wish to blacken his name and secure +his removal, instigated a suit against him for having mismanaged +an inheritance left to his children by his first wife. The children +themselves appeared in his defence, however, and expressed +their complete satisfaction with his administration of their property; +and the trumped up charge was wholly disproved. But his +enemies still wanted to have him removed and, choosing a new +method of attack, forwarded a petition to the king in which they +claimed that “Master Hans Chrestensen Sthen because of weakness +and old age was incompetent to discharge his duties as a pastor”, +and asked for his removal to the parishes of Tygelse and Klagstrup. +Though the king is reported to have granted the petition, +other things seem to have intervened to prevent its execution, and +the ill-used pastor appears to have remained at Malmø until his +death, the date of which is unknown.</p> +<p>Sthen’s fame as a poet and hymnwriter rests mainly on two +<span class="pb" id="pg_16">[16]</span> +thin volumes of poetry. <b>A Small Handbook, Containing Diverse +Prayers and Songs Together with Some Rules for Life, Composed +in Verse</b>, which appeared in 1578, and <b>A Small Wander Book</b>, +published in 1591. The books contain both a number of translations +and some original poems. In some of the latter Sthen readopts +the style of the old folk songs with their free metre, native imagery +and characteristic refrain. His most successful compositions in +this style are his fine morning and evening hymns, one of which +is given below.</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">The gloomy night to morning yields,</p> +<p class="t0">So brightly the day is breaking;</p> +<p class="t0">The sun ascends over hills and fields,</p> +<p class="t0">And birds are with song awaking.</p> +<p class="t">Lord, lend us Thy counsel and speed our days,</p> +<p class="t">The light of Thy grace surround us.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Our grateful thanks to God ascend,</p> +<p class="t0">Whose mercy guarded our slumber.</p> +<p class="t0">May ever His peace our days attend</p> +<p class="t0">And shield us from troubles somber.</p> +<p class="t">Lord, lend us Thy counsel and speed our days,</p> +<p class="t">The light of Thy grace surround us.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Redeem us, Master, from death’s strong hand,</p> +<p class="t0">Thy grace from sin us deliver;</p> +<p class="t0">Enlighten us till with Thine we stand,</p> +<p class="t0">And make us Thy servants ever.</p> +<p class="t">Lord, lend us Thy counsel and speed our days,</p> +<p class="t">The light of Thy grace surround us.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Then shall with praise we seek repose</p> +<p class="t0">When day unto night hath yielded,</p> +<p class="t0">And safe in Thine arms our eyelids close</p> +<p class="t0">To rest by Thy mercy shielded.</p> +<p class="t">Lord, lend us Thy counsel and speed our days,</p> +<p class="t">The light of Thy grace surround us.</p> +</div> +<p>Sthen’s hymns all breathe a meek and lowly spirit. They express +in the simplest words the faith, hope and fears of a humble, +earnest Christian. The following still beloved hymn thus presents +a vivid picture of the meek and prayerful spirit of its author.</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">O Lord, my heart is turning</p> +<p class="t0">To Thee with ceaseless yearning</p> +<p class="t0">And praying for Thy grace.</p> +<p class="t0">Thou art my sole reliance</p> +<p class="t0">Against my foes’ defiance;</p> +<p class="t0">Be Thou my stay in every place.</p> +</div> +<div class="pb" id="pg_17">[17]</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">I offer a confession</p> +<p class="t0">Of my severe transgression;</p> +<p class="t0">In me is nothing good.</p> +<p class="t0">But, Lord, Thou wilt not leave me</p> +<p class="t0">And, like the world, deceive me;</p> +<p class="t0">Thou hast redeemed me with Thy blood.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Blest Lord of Life most holy,</p> +<p class="t0">Thou wilt the sinner lowly</p> +<p class="t0">Not leave in sin and death;</p> +<p class="t0">Thine anger wilt not sever</p> +<p class="t0">The child from Thee forever</p> +<p class="t0">That pleads with Thee for life and breath.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">O Holy Spirit, guide me!</p> +<p class="t0">With wisdom true provide me;</p> +<p class="t0">Help me my cross to bear.</p> +<p class="t0">Uphold me in my calling</p> +<p class="t0">And, when the night is falling,</p> +<p class="t0">Grant me Thy heavenly home to share.</p> +</div> +<p>Most widely known of all Sthen’s hymns is his beloved “Lord +Jesus Christ, My Savior Blest”. In its unabbreviated form this +hymn contains eight stanzas of which the initial letters spell the +words: “Hans Anno”; and it has become known therefore as +“Sthen’s Name Hymn”. The method of thus affixing one’s name +to a song was frequently practiced by authors for the purpose of +impressing people with their erudition. The meek and anxious +spirit that pervades this hymn makes it unlikely, however, that +Sthen would have employed his undoubted skill as a poet for such +a purpose. The hymn is thought to have been written at Malmø +at the time its author encountered his most severe trials there. +And its intimate personal note makes it likely that he thus ineradicably +affixed his name to his hymn in order to indicate its +connection with his own faith and experience. “Sthen’s Name +Hymn” thus should be placed among the numerous great hymns +of the church that have been born out of the sorrows and travails +of their authors’ believing but anxious hearts. The translation +given below is from the abbreviated text now used in all Danish +hymnals.</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Lord Jesus Christ,</p> +<p class="t0">My Savior blest,</p> +<p class="t0">My refuge and salvation,</p> +<p class="t0">I trust in Thee,</p> +<p class="t0">Abide with me,</p> +<p class="t0">Thy word shall be</p> +<p class="t0">My shield and consolation.</p> +</div> +<div class="pb" id="pg_18">[18]</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">I will confide,</p> +<p class="t0">Whate’er betide,</p> +<p class="t0">In Thy compassion tender.</p> +<p class="t0">When grief and stress</p> +<p class="t0">My heart oppress,</p> +<p class="t0">Thou wilt redress</p> +<p class="t0">And constant solace render.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">When grief befalls</p> +<p class="t0">And woe appalls</p> +<p class="t0">Thy loving care enfolds me.</p> +<p class="t0">I have no fear</p> +<p class="t0">When Thou art near,</p> +<p class="t0">My Savior dear;</p> +<p class="t0">Thy saving hand upholds me.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Lord, I will be</p> +<p class="t0">Alway with Thee</p> +<p class="t0">Wherever Thou wilt have me.</p> +<p class="t0">Do Thou control</p> +<p class="t0">My heart and soul</p> +<p class="t0">And make me whole;</p> +<p class="t0">Thy grace alone can save me.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Yea, help us, Lord,</p> +<p class="t0">With one accord</p> +<p class="t0">To love and serve Thee solely,</p> +<p class="t0">That henceforth we</p> +<p class="t0">May dwell with Thee</p> +<p class="t0">Most happily</p> +<p class="t0">And see Thy presence holy.</p> +</div> +<p>With Sthen the fervid spirit of the Reformation period appears +to have spent itself. The following century added nothing to Danish +hymnody. Anders Chrestensen Arrebo, Bishop at Tronhjem, +and an ardent lover and advocate of a richer cultivation of the +Danish language and literature, published a versification of the +Psalms of David and a few hymns in 1623. But the Danish church +never became a psalm singing church, and his hymns have disappeared. +Hans Thomisson’s hymnal continued to be printed with +occasional additions of new material, most of which possessed no +permanent value. But the old hymns entered into the very heart +and spirit of the people and held their affection so firmly that even +Kingo lost much of his popularity when he attempted to revise +them and remove some of their worst poetical and linguistic defects. +They were no longer imprinted merely on the pages of a +book but in the very heart and affection of a nation.</p> +</div> +<div id="s1" title="Thomas Kingo, the Easter Poet of Denmark"> +<div class="pb" id="pg_19">[19]</div> +<h2>Thomas Kingo, the Easter Poet of Denmark</h2> +<div id="c03" title="Kingo’s Childhood and Youth"> +<div class="pb" id="pg_21">[21]</div> +<h4>Chapter Three +<span class="chaptertitle">Kingo’s Childhood and Youth</span></h4> +<p>Thomas Kingo, the first of the great Danish hymnwriters, +grew forth as a root out of dry ground. There was nothing +in the religious and secular life of the times to foreshadow +the appearance of one of the great hymnwriters, not only of Denmark +but of the world.</p> +<p>The latter part of the 16th and the first half of the 17th centuries +mark a rather barren period in the religious and cultural +life of Denmark. The spiritual ferment of the Reformation had +subsided into a staid and uniform Lutheran orthodoxy. Jesper +Brochman, a bishop of Sjælland and the most famous theologian +of that age, praised king Christian IV for “the zeal with which from +the beginning of his reign he had exerted himself to make all his +subjects think and talk alike about divine things”. That the foremost +leader of the church thus should recommend an effort to +impose uniformity upon the church by governmental action proves +to what extent church life had become stagnant. Nor did such +secular culture as there was present a better picture. The Reformation +had uprooted much of the cultural life that had grown up +during the long period of Catholic supremacy, but had produced +no adequate substitute. Even the once refreshing springs of the +folk-sings had dried up. Writers were laboriously endeavoring to +master the newer and more artistic forms of poetry introduced +from other countries, but when the forms had been achieved the +spirit had often fled, leaving only an empty shell. Of all that was +written during these years only one song of any consequence, +“Denmark’s Lovely Fields and Meadows”, has survived.</p> +<p>Against this bleak background the work of Kingo stands out +<span class="pb" id="pg_22">[22]</span> +as an amazing achievement. Leaping all the impediments of an +undeveloped language and an equally undeveloped form, Danish +poetry by one miraculous sweep attained a perfection which later +ages have scarcely surpassed.</p> +<div class="img" title="Thomas Kingo"> +<img height="633" alt="Thomas Kingo" width="500" src="images/kingo.png" /> +<p class="center">Thomas Kingo</p> +</div> +<p>Of this accomplishment, Grundtvig wrote two hundred years +later: “Kingo’s hymns represent not only the greatest miracle of +the 17th century but such an exceptional phenomenon in the realm +of poetry that it is explainable only by the fates who in their wisdom +preserved the seed of an Easter Lily for a thousand years, +and then returned it across the sea that it might flower in its original +soil”. Kingo’s family on the paternal side had immigrated to +Denmark from that part of Scotland which once had been settled +by the poetic Northern sea rovers, and Grundtvig thus conceives +the poetic genius of Kingo to be a revival of an ancestral gift, +brought about by the return of his family to its original home and +a new infusion of pure Northern blood. The conception, like so +much that Grundtvig wrote is at least ingenious, and it is recommended +<span class="pb" id="pg_23">[23]</span> +by the fact that Kingo’s poetry does convey a spirit of +robust realism that is far more characteristic of the age of the Vikings +than of his own.</p> +<p>Thomas Kingo, the grandfather of the poet, immigrated from +Crail, Scotland, to Denmark about 1590, and settled at Helsingør, +Sjælland, where he worked as a tapestry weaver. He seems to have +attained a position of some prominence, and it is related that King +James IV of Scotland, during a visit to Helsingør, lodged at his +home. His son, Hans Thomeson Kingo, who was about two years +old when the family arrived in Denmark, does not appear to have +prospered as well as his father. He learned the trade of linen and +damask weaving, and established a modest business of his own at +Slangerup, a town in the northern part of Sjælland and close to +the famous royal castle of Frederiksborg. At the age of thirty-eight +he married a young peasant girl, Karen Sørendatter, and +built a modest but eminently respectable home. In this home, +Thomas Kingo, the future hymnwriter, was born December 15, 1634.</p> +<p>It was an unusually cold and unfriendly world that greeted +the advent of the coming poet. The winter of his birth was long +remembered as one of the hardest ever experienced in Denmark. +The country’s unsuccessful participation in the Thirty Year’s War +had brought on a depression that threatened its very existence as +a nation; and a terrible pestilence followed by new wars increased +and prolonged the general misery, making the years of Kingo’s +childhood and youth one of the darkest periods in Danish history.</p> +<p>But although these conditions brought sorrow and ruin to +thousands, even among the wealthy, the humble home of the +Kingos somehow managed to survive. Beneath its roof industry +and frugality worked hand in hand with piety and mutual love to +brave the storms that wrecked so many and apparently far stronger +establishments. Kingo always speaks with the greatest respect +and gratitude of his “poor but honest parents”. In a poetic description +of his childhood years he vividly recalls their indulgent +kindness to him.</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">I took my pilgrim staff in hand</p> +<p class="t0">Ere I attempted talking;</p> +<p class="t0">I had scarce left my swaddling-band</p> +<p class="t0">Before they set me walking.</p> +<p class="t0">They coached me onward with a smile</p> +<p class="t0">And suited me when tearful.</p> +<p class="t0">One step was farther than a mile,</p> +<p class="t0">For I was small and fearful.</p> +</div> +<div class="pb" id="pg_24">[24]</div> +<p>But discipline was not forgotten. Parents in those days usually +kept the rod close to the apple, often too close. And Kingo’s parents, +despite their kindness, made no exception to the rule. He +was a lively, headstrong boy in need of a firm hand, and the hand +was not wanting.</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">As a child my daily bread</p> +<p class="t0">I with rod and penance had,</p> +</div> +<p>he wrote later, adding that the fruits of that chastisement are now +sweet to him. Nor do his parents ever appear to have treated him +with the cold, almost loveless austerity that so many elders frequently +felt it their duty to adopt toward their children. Their +discipline was tempered by kindness and an earnest Christian +faith. Although Hans Kingo seems to some extent to have been +influenced by the strict Presbyterianism of his Scotch forebears, +he does not appear, like so many followers of that stern faith, to +have taught his children to believe in God as the strict judge rather +than as the loving Father of Jesus Christ. In his later years the +son at least gives us an attractive picture of his childhood faith:</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">I gratefully remember</p> +<p class="t0">God’s loving care for me</p> +<p class="t0">Since from my nursery chamber</p> +<p class="t0">I toddled fearfully.</p> +<p class="t0">I lived contented in His care</p> +<p class="t0">And trusted in His children’s prayer.</p> +</div> +<p>These bright years of his happy childhood were somewhat darkened, +however, when, at the age of six, he entered the Danish and, +two years later, the Latin school of his home town. Nothing could +be more unsuited for a child of tender years than the average +school of those days. The curriculum was meager, the teaching +poor and the discipline cruel. Every day saw its whipping scenes. +For a day’s unexplained absence the punishment for the smaller +boys was three lashes on their bare seats and for the larger an +equal number on their bare backs. For graver offences up to +twenty lashes might be administered. On entering the Latin school +every boy had to adopt a new language. Only Latin could be +spoken within its classical confines; and woe be to the tike who so +far forgot himself as to speak a word in the native tongue anywhere +upon the school premises. The only way anyone, discovered +to have perpetrated such a crime, could escape the severest punishment +was to report another culprit guilty of the same offense. +Under such conditions one cannot wonder that Kingo complains:</p> +<div class="pb" id="pg_25">[25]</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">The daily round from home to school</p> +<p class="t0">Was often hard and weary.</p> +<p class="t0">It did my youthful ardour cool</p> +<p class="t0">And made my childhood dreary.</p> +</div> +<p>At the age of fifteen Kingo, for reasons now unknown, was +transferred from the school of his home town to that at the neighboring +city of Hillerød. Here, on account of his outstanding ability, +he was accepted into the home of his new rector, Albert Bartholin, +a young man of distinguished family and conspicuous personal +endowments.</p> +<p>Although the school at Hillerød was larger, it probably was +not much better than that at Slangerup; but the close association +of the humble weaver’s son with his distinguished rector and his +refined family, no doubt, was a distinct advantage to him. The +location of Hillerød on the shores of the idyllic Frederiksborg Lake +and close to the magnificent castle of the same name is one of the +loveliest in Denmark. The castle had recently been rebuilt, and +presented, together with its lovely surroundings, a most entrancing +spectacle. Its famous builder, Christian IV, had just gone the +way of all flesh; but the new king, Frederik, known for his fondness +for royal pomp, frequently resided at the castle together with +his court, and thus Kingo must often have enjoyed the opportunity +to see both the king and the outstanding men of his government.</p> +<p>It is not unlikely that this near view of the beauty and splendor +of his country, the finest that Denmark had to offer, served +to awaken in Kingo that ardent love for all things Danish for which +he is noticed. While still at Hillerød he, at any rate, commenced a +comprehensive study of Danish literature, a most unusual thing +for a young student to do at a time when German was the common +language of all the upper classes and Danish was despised as the +speech of traders and peasants. As neither his school nor the general +sentiment of the intellectual classes did anything to encourage +interest in native culture, some other influence must have aroused +in the young Kingo what one of his early biographers calls “his +peculiar inclination for his native tongue and Danish poetry”. A +few patriotic and forward looking men, it is true, had risen above +the general indifference and sought to inspire a greater interest +in the use and cultivation of the Danish language; but this work +was still very much in its infancy, and it is not likely that the +young Kingo knew much about it.</p> +<p>He graduated from Hillerød in the spring of 1654, and enrolled +<span class="pb" id="pg_26">[26]</span> +at the university of Copenhagen on May 6 of the same year. But +a terrific outbreak of the plague forced the university to close on +May 30, and Kingo returned to his home. The scourge raged for +about eight months, carrying away one third of the city’s population, +and it was winter before Kingo returned to the school and +enrolled in the department of theology. The rules of the university +required each student, at the beginning of his course, to choose a +preceptor, a sort of guardian who should direct his charge in his +studies and counsel him in his personal life and conduct. For this +very important position Kingo wisely chose one of the most distinguished +and respected teachers at the university, Prof. Bartholin, +a brother of his former rector. Professor Bartholin was not +only a learned man, known for his years of travel and study in +foreign parts, but he was also a man of rare personal gifts and sincere +piety. In his younger days he had spent four years at the +castle of Rosenholm where the godly and scholarly nobleman, +Holger Rosenkrans, then gathered groups of young nobles about +him for study and meditation. Rosenkrans was a close friend of +John Arndt, a leader in the early Pietist movement in Germany, +to which the young Bartholin under his influence became deeply +attached. Nor had this attachment lessened with the years. And +Bartholin’s influence upon Kingo was so strong that the latter, +when entering upon his own work, lost no time in showing his +adherence to the Arndt-Rosenkrans view of Christianity.</p> +<p>Meanwhile he applied himself diligently to his work at the +university. Like other disciplines the study of theology at that +time was affected by a considerable portion of dry-rust. Orthodoxy +ruled the cathedra. With that as a weapon, the student must +be trained to meet all the wiles of the devil and perversions of the +heretics. Its greatest Danish exponent, Jesper Brochman, had +just passed to his reward, but his monumental work, <b>The System +of Danish Theology</b>, remained after him, and continued to serve +as an authoritative textbook for many years to come. Though dry +and devoted to hairsplitting as orthodoxy no doubt was, it probably +was not quite as lifeless as later generations represent it to have +been. Kingo is often named “The Singer of Orthodoxy”, yet no +one can read his soul-stirring hymns with their profound sense of +sin and grace without feeling that he, at least, possessed a deeper +knowledge of Christianity than a mere dogmatic training could +give him.</p> +<p>Kingo’s last months at the university were disturbed by a new +war with Sweden that for a while threatened the independent existence +<span class="pb" id="pg_27">[27]</span> +of the country, a threat which was averted only by the +ceding of some of its finest provinces. During these stirring events, +Kingo had to prepare for his final examinations which he passed +with highest honors in the spring of 1658.</p> +<p>Thus with considerable deprivation and sacrifice, the humble +weaver’s son had attained his membership in the academic world, +an unusual accomplishment for a man of his standing in those days. +His good parents had reason to be proud of their promising and +well educated son who now, after his many years of study, returned +to the parental home. His stay there was short, however, +for he obtained almost immediate employment as a private tutor, +first with the family of Jørgen Sørensen, the overseer at Frederiksborg +castle, and later, with the Baroness Lena Rud of Vedby +Manor, a position which to an impecunious but ambitious young +man like Kingo must have appeared especially desirable. Lena +Rud belonged to what at that time was one of the wealthiest and +most influential families in the country. Many of her relatives +occupied neighboring estates, a circumstance which enabled Kingo +to become personally acquainted with a number of them; and with +one of them, the worthy Karsten Atke, he soon formed a close +and lasting friendship. He also appears to have made a very favorable +impression upon his influential patrons and, despite his subordinate +position, to have become something of a social leader, especially +among the younger members of the group.</p> +<p>Meanwhile the country once again had been plunged into a +desperate struggle. The Swedish king, Gustav X, soon repented +of the peace he had made when the whole country was apparently +at his mercy, and renewed the war in the hope of affixing the Danish +crown to his own. This hope vanished in the desperate battle +of Copenhagen in 1659, where the Swedish army suffered a decisive +defeat by the hand of an aroused citizenry. But detachments +of the defeated army still occupied large sections of the +country districts where they, like all armies of that day, robbed, +pillaged and murdered at will, driving thousands of people away +from their homes and forcing them to roam homeless and destitute +through the wasted countryside. Acts of robbery and violence +belonged to the order of the day. Even Kingo received a bullet +through his mouth in a fight with a Swedish dragoon, whom he +boldly attempted to stop from stealing one of his employer’s horses. +When the country finally emerged from the conflict, her resources +were depleted, her trade destroyed, and large sections of her country +districts laid waste, losses which it required years for her to +<span class="pb" id="pg_28">[28]</span> +regain. But youth must be served. Despite the gravity and hardships +of the day, the young people from Vedby managed to have +their parties and other youthful diversions. And at these, Kingo +soon became a welcome and valued guest. His attractive personality, +sprightly humor and distinct social gifts caused his highly +placed friends to accept him with delight.</p> +<p>This popularity, if he had cared to exploit it, might have carried +him far. In those days the usual road to fame and fortune for +an obscure young man was to attach himself to some wealthy +patron and acquire a position through him. With the aid of his +wealthy friends Kingo could easily enough have obtained employment +as a companion to some young noble going abroad for travel +and study. It came, therefore, as a surprise to all when he accepted +a call as assistant to the Reverend Jacobsen Worm at Kirkehelsinge, +a country parish a few miles from Vedby. The position was +so far short of what a young man of Kingo’s undoubted ability and +excellent connections might have obtained, that one may well ask +for his motive in accepting it. And although Kingo himself has +left no direct explanation of his action, the following verses, which +he is thought to have written about this time, may furnish a key.</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Wherever in the world I went</p> +<p class="t0">Upon my work or pleasure bent,</p> +<p class="t0">I everywhere my Lord did find,</p> +<p class="t0">He so absorbed my heart and mind</p> +<p class="t0">That I His blessed image traced</p> +<p class="t0">In everything I saw or faced.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">My thoughts on heaven ever dwelt,</p> +<p class="t0">For earth I but aversion felt.</p> +<p class="t0">My heart exalted Jesus’ name,</p> +<p class="t0">His kingdom was my constant theme;</p> +<p class="t0">My prayer was, by repentance true,</p> +<p class="t0">All carnal passions to subdue.</p> +</div> +<p>It is understandable, at least, that a young man with such sentiments +should forego the prospect of worldly honor for a chance +to serve his Master.</p> +<p>Kingo was ordained in the Church of Our Lady at Copenhagen +in September, 1661, and was installed in his new office a few +weeks later. The seven years that he spent in the obscure parish +were, no doubt, among the most fruitful years of Kingo’s life, +proving the truth of the old adage that it is better that a man +should confer honor on his position than that the position should +confer honor upon him. His fiery, forceful eloquence made him +<span class="pb" id="pg_29">[29]</span> +known as an exceptionally able and earnest pastor, and his literary +work established his fame as one of the foremost Danish poets of +his day.</p> +<p>While still at Vedby, Kingo had written a number of poems +which, widely circulated in manuscripts, had gained him a local +fame. But he now published a number of new works that attained +nation-wide recognition. These latter works compare well with +the best poetry of the period and contain passages that still may +be read with interest. The style is vigorous, the imagery striking +and at times beautiful, but the Danish language was too little cultivated +and contemporary taste too uncertain to sustain a work of +consistent excellence. Most successful of Kingo’s early poems are +“Karsten Atke’s Farewell to Lion County”, a truly felt and finely +expressed greeting to his friends, the Atkes, on their departure +from their former home, and “Chrysillis”, a lovesong, written in +a popular French style that was then very much admired in Denmark. +Both poems contain parts that are surprisingly fine, and +they attained an immense popularity. But although Kingo throughout +his life continued to write secular poetry that won him the +highest praise, that part of his work is now well nigh forgotten. +It is truly interesting to compare the faded beauty of his secular +poems with the perennial freshness of his hymns.</p> +<p>It was inevitable that Kingo, with his high ambitions and +undoubted ability should desire a larger field of labor. His salary +was so small that he had to live in the home of his employer, a +circumstance that for various reasons was not always pleasant. +Pastor Worm had married thrice and had a large family of children +of all ages from a babe in arms to a son at the university. +This son, Jacob Worm, was a brilliant but irascible and excessively +proud youth only a few years younger than Kingo. From +what we know about him in later years, it is likely that Kingo’s +contact with him during his vacations at home must have proved +exceedingly trying. The bitter enmity that later existed between +the two men probably had its inception at this time. In 1666, Kingo, +therefore, applied for a waiting appointment to his home church +at Slangerup, where the pastor was growing old and, in the course +of nature, could be expected ere long to be called to his reward. +The application was granted, and when the pastor did die two +years later, Kingo at once was installed as his successor.</p> +<p>Slangerup was only a small city, but it had a new and very +beautiful church, which still stands almost unchanged. One may +still sit in the same pews and see the same elaborately carved +<span class="pb" id="pg_30">[30]</span> +pulpit and altar which graced its lofty chancel during the pastorate +of the great hymnwriter. A beautiful chandelier, which he donated +and inscribed, still adorns the arched nave. In this splendid +sanctuary it must have been inspiring to listen to the known eloquence +of its most famous pastor as he preached the gospel or, +with his fine musical voice, chanted the liturgy before the altar. +The church was always well attended when Kingo conducted +the service. People soon recognized his exceptional ability and +showed their appreciation of his devoted ministry. The position +of a pastor was then much more prominent than it is now. He was +the official head of numerous enterprises, both spiritual and civic, +and the social equal of the best people in the community. With +many people the custom of calling him “Father” was then by no +means an empty phrase. Parishioners sought their pastor and +accepted his counsel in numerous affairs that are now considered +to be outside of his domain. In view of Kingo’s humble antecedents, +a position of such prominence might well have proved difficult +to maintain among a people that knew his former station. But +of such difficulties the record of his pastorate gives no indication. +He was, it appears, one exception to the rule that a prophet is not +respected in his own country.</p> +<p>When he moved to Slangerup, Kingo was still unmarried. But +about two years later he married the widow of his former superior, +Pastor Worm, becoming at once the head of a large family consisting +of the children of his wife and those of her first husband +by his previous marriage. It was a serious responsibility to assume, +both morally and financially. The parish was quite large, +but his income was considerably reduced by the payment of a +pension to the widow of the former pastor and the salary to an +assistant. With such a drain on his income and with a large family +to support, Kingo’s economic circumstances must have been +strained. But he was happy with his wife and proved himself a +kind and conscientious stepfather to her children who, even after +their maturity, maintained a close relationship with him.</p> +<p>Kingo’s happiness proved, however, to be but a brief interlude +to a period of intense sorrows and disappointments. His wife died +less than a year after their marriage; his father, whom he loved +and revered, passed away the same year; and the conduct of his +stepson, the formerly mentioned Jacob Worm, caused him bitter +trouble and humiliation. The bright prospect of this brilliant but +erratic youth had quickly faded. After a number of failures, he had +been forced to accept a position as rector of the small and insignificant +<span class="pb" id="pg_31">[31]</span> +Latin school at Slangerup, thus coming under the immediate +authority of Kingo, who, as pastor, supervised the educational +institutions of the parish. Worm always seems to have thought of +Kingo as a former assistant to his father, and his position as an +inferior to a former inferior in his own home, therefore, bitterly +wounded his pride. Seeking an outlet for his bitterness, he wrote +a number of extremely abusive poems about his stepfather and +circulated them among the people of the parish. This unwarranted +abuse aroused the anger of Kingo and provoked him to answer in +kind. The ensuing battle of vituperation and name-calling brought +no honor to either side. Worm’s conduct toward his superior, the +man who was unselfishly caring for his minor sisters and brothers, +deserves nothing but condemnation; but it is painful, nevertheless, +to behold the great hymnwriter himself employing the abusive +language of his worthless opponent. The times were violent, however, +and Kingo possessed his share of their temper. Kingo’s last +act in this drama between himself and his stepson throws a somewhat +softening light upon his conduct. Embittered by persistent +failures, Worm continued to pour out his bitterness not only upon +his stepfather, but upon other and much higher placed persons +until at last he was caught and sentenced to die on the gallows for +“having written and circulated grossly defamatory poems about +the royal family”. In this extremity, he appealed to Kingo, who +successfully exerted his then great influence to have the sentence +commuted to banishment for life to the Danish colony in India.</p> +</div> +<div id="c04" title="Kingo, the Hymnwriter"> +<h4>Chapter Four +<span class="chaptertitle">Kingo, the Hymnwriter</span></h4> +<p>Kingo’s first hymns appeared shortly before Christmas, +1673, in a small volume entitled <b>Spiritual Song-Choir, Part I</b>. +The book contained fifteen morning and evening hymns and +seven paraphrases of the psalms. Later editions were enlarged by +seven “Morning and Evening Sighs” short hymns that belong to +the very best in the collection.</p> +<p>In a foreword addressed to the king, Kingo states that “he has +written these hymns with the hope that they might serve to edify +his fellow Christians, advance the teaching of the Gospel and benefit +<span class="pb" id="pg_32">[32]</span> +the royal household at those daily devotions which it is the duty +of every Christian home to practice”. He prays, therefore, he continues, +that “the king will graciously bestow the same approval +upon this work that he has so kindly given to his previous efforts, +and thereby encourage him to continue his endeavor until the +Danes shall possess a hymnody that they have neither begged nor +borrowed from other nations. For the Danish spirit,” he concludes, +“is assuredly neither so weak nor so poor that it cannot fly as +high toward heaven as that of other peoples without being borne +upon strange and foreign wings”.</p> +<div class="img" title="Spiritual Song-Choir, Part I"> +<img height="785" width="500" alt="Spiritual Song-Choir, Part I" src="images/songkoor.png" /> +</div> +<p>Commenting on the content of the book, Kingo further explains +that he expects sensitive readers will discover imperfections in +his work which he himself has failed to see, and that it would +please him to have such blemishes called to his attention so that +they might be corrected in future issues. His choice of tunes will, +he fears, provoke criticism. He has set a number of hymns to the +melodies of popular songs in order that “those, who for the sake +of its tune, now gladly listen to a song of Sodom may, if they be +Christians, with the more pleasure use it with a hymn about Zion. +<span class="pb" id="pg_33">[33]</span> +By examining the work of other hymnwriters possible critics might +assure themselves, however, that he had in this matter only followed +their example.” But Kingo need not have apologized for his +choice of tunes, for they were on the whole fine and were received +without objection.</p> +<p>It would be difficult to overstate the enthusiasm with which +Kingo’s hymns were received. Within a few years they were +printed in numerous editions and translated into several foreign +languages. Their enthusiastic reception was well deserved. Viewed +against the background of literary mediocrity that characterized +the period, Kingo’s hymns stand out with amazing perfection. +Danish hymnody contained nothing that could compare with them, +and other countries, as far as morning and evening hymns were +concerned, were in the same position. Paul Gerhardt’s fine hymn, +“Now Rests Beneath Night’s Shadow”, which was written twenty +years earlier, had been ridiculed into disuse; Ken’s famous morning +hymn dates from twenty years later; and none of these are as +fine as the best of Kingo’s.</p> +<p>As might be expected, the hymns are not all of the same merit. +Some of them are exceedingly fine; others show the defects of +an imperfectly developed language and a deficient literary taste. +In the matter of style and form the author had almost nothing to +guide him. It is not surprising, therefore, that his work shows +crudities which no present day writer would commit, but that +it should contain so much that is truly beautiful, even when measured +by the standards of today.</p> +<p>Kingo had the true poet’s ability to see things poetically. To +him the rays of the rising sun were not only shining but “laughing +on the roof” of his home. His imagery is rich and skillfully applied. +Many of his hymns abound in striking similes. Their outstanding +characteristic, however, is a distinctive, forceful realism. Kingo, +when he chose to do so, could touch the lyre with enhancing +gentleness, but he preferred the strong note and searched always +for the most graphic expression, sometimes too graphic, as when +he speaks of the “frothing wrath of God” and “the oozy slime of +sin”. Yet it is this trait of robust reality that invests his hymns +with a large part of their enduring merit. “When Kingo sings of +God, one feels as though He were right there with him”, one of his +commentators exclaims. Nor is that realism a mere literary pose. +Like most great hymns, his best hymns are reflections of his own +experiences. Kingo never attained a state of saintly serenity. +Whatever peace he found was gained only through a continuous +<span class="pb" id="pg_34">[34]</span> +struggle with his own fiery and passionate nature. Few hymns +convey a more vivid impression of a believing, struggling soul than +Kingo’s.</p> +<p>His morning hymns are among his best. He loved light and +gloried in the birth of each new day. The sun is his favorite symbol. +Its rising signifies to him the final triumph of life over death, +and the new day is a token thereof. It sounds a joyful call to wake +and resume life anew.</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">“Awake, my soul, the sun is risen,</p> +<p class="t0">Upon my roof its rays now laugh,—”</p> +</div> +<p>Every Christian should rejoice in the newborn day and thank +God for it:</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Break now forth in Jesus’ name,</p> +<p class="t0">Blessed morn, in all thy splendor!</p> +<p class="t0">I will sweetest music render</p> +<p class="t0">And thy wondrous gifts proclaim.</p> +<p class="t0">All my spirit with rejoicing</p> +<p class="t0">Thanks the Lord for rest and care</p> +<p class="t0">And, His grace and goodness voicing,</p> +<p class="t0">Wings its way to Him in prayer.</p> +</div> +<p>But the commencing day also calls for consecration lest its hours +be wasted and its opportunities lost:</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Grant me, Lord, that on this day</p> +<p class="t0">Now with light and grace beginning,</p> +<p class="t0">I shall not submit to sinning</p> +<p class="t0">Nor Thy word and way betray.</p> +<p class="t0">Blessed Jesus, hover ever</p> +<p class="t0">Over me, my Sun and Shield,</p> +<p class="t0">That I firm may stand and never</p> +<p class="t0">Unto sin and Satan yield.</p> +</div> +<p>And the passing hours must admonish the Christian to work +while it is day and to prepare for the evening that is coming:</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Let each fleeting hour of grace</p> +<p class="t0">And the chiming bells remind me</p> +<p class="t0">That to earth I must not bind me</p> +<p class="t0">But Thy life and gifts embrace.</p> +<p class="t0">And when dawns my final morrow,</p> +<p class="t0">Let me go to Thee for aye,</p> +<p class="t0">Let my sin and care and sorrow</p> +<p class="t0">With my dust be put away.</p> +</div> +<p>Finest of all Kingo’s morning hymns is the splendid “The Sun +Arises Now in Light and Glory”. This hymn presents all the finest +<span class="pb" id="pg_35">[35]</span> +traits of Kingo’s poetry, its vivid imagery, forceful style and robust +faith. The following translation is by the Rev. P. C. Paulsen.</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">The sun arises now</p> +<p class="t0">In light and glory</p> +<p class="t0">And gilds the rugged brow</p> +<p class="t0">Of mountains hoary.</p> +<p class="t0">Rejoice, my soul, and lift</p> +<p class="t0">Thy voice in singing</p> +<p class="t0">To God from earth below,</p> +<p class="t0">Thy song with joy aglow</p> +<p class="t0">And praises ringing.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">As countless as the sand</p> +<p class="t0">And beyond measure,</p> +<p class="t0">As wide as sea and land</p> +<p class="t0">So is the treasure</p> +<p class="t0">Of grace which God each day</p> +<p class="t0">Anew bestoweth</p> +<p class="t0">And which, like pouring rain,</p> +<p class="t0">Into my soul again</p> +<p class="t0">Each morning floweth.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Preserve my soul today</p> +<p class="t0">From sin and blindness;</p> +<p class="t0">Surround me on my way</p> +<p class="t0">With loving kindness.</p> +<p class="t0">Embue my heart, O Lord,</p> +<p class="t0">With joy from heaven;</p> +<p class="t0">I then shall ask no more</p> +<p class="t0">Than what Thou hast of yore</p> +<p class="t0">In wisdom given.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Thou knowest best my needs,</p> +<p class="t0">My sighs Thou heedest,</p> +<p class="t0">Thy hand Thy children leads,</p> +<p class="t0">Thine own Thou feedest.</p> +<p class="t0">What should I more desire,</p> +<p class="t0">With Thee deciding</p> +<p class="t0">The course that I must take,</p> +<p class="t0">Than follow in the wake</p> +<p class="t0">Where Thou art guiding.</p> +</div> +<p>Evening naturally inspires a different sentiment than morning. +The rising sun calls for activity, the setting sun for reflection. As +the sun sets, as work ceases and the busy day merges into the +quiet night the soul begins to take account of its gains and losses, +its assets and liabilities. The dying day also conveys a sense of +insecurity, of approaching death and the need for pardon and protection. +All these sentiments, so different from the hopes and +<span class="pb" id="pg_36">[36]</span> +prospects of the morning, are wonderfully portrayed in Kingo’s +evening hymns, as for instance:</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Vanish now all sinful dreaming,</p> +<p class="t0">Let the joy from heaven streaming</p> +<p class="t0">Occupy my soul and mind.</p> +<p class="t0">Watch, my spirit, and prepare thee,</p> +<p class="t0">Lest the cunning foe ensnare thee</p> +<p class="t0">When repose hath made thee blind.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Sleep now in God’s care appeasing.</p> +<p class="t0">While the noise of day is ceasing,</p> +<p class="t0">Lean upon thy Savior’s breast.</p> +<p class="t0">He will guard thee through the somber</p> +<p class="t0">Night and make thy final slumber</p> +<p class="t0">Quiet, peaceful, happy, blest.</p> +</div> +<p>In the last line with its crescendo of peace and happiness one +almost sees the night merge into the final rest.</p> +<p>Among his evening hymns now available in English, the following, +perhaps, is the best known.</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Softly now the day is ending,</p> +<p class="t0">Night o’er hill and vale descending,</p> +<p class="t0">I will kneel before Thee, Lord.</p> +<p class="t0">Unto Thee my thanks I render</p> +<p class="t0">That Thou didst in mercy tender</p> +<p class="t0">Life and peace to me accord.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">May Thy church Thy peace inherit,</p> +<p class="t0">Guide our leaders by Thy spirit,</p> +<p class="t0">Grant our country strength and peace.</p> +<p class="t0">To the straying, sad and dreary,</p> +<p class="t0">To each Christian faint or weary</p> +<p class="t0">Grant Thou solace and surcease.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Keep me, Jesus, while I slumber!</p> +<p class="t0">From my perils without number,</p> +<p class="t0">Shield me, Master, in Thy might,</p> +<p class="t0">That, released from sin and sorrow,</p> +<p class="t0">I may sing this song tomorrow:</p> +<p class="t0">Jesus was my Sun this night.</p> +</div> +<p>The publication of these hymns firmly established Kingo’s reputation +as the foremost poet of his country. Expressions of appreciation +poured in upon him from high and low. The king, to whom +the hymns were dedicated, so greatly appreciated the gift that, +only three years later, he called their otherwise obscure author to +become bishop of Fyn, one of the largest and most important +dioceses of the country.</p> +<div class="pb" id="pg_37">[37]</div> +<p>Kingo was only forty-two years old when he assumed his new +position. His quick elevation from an obscure parish to one of the +highest offices within the church might well have strained the +abilities of an older and more experienced man. But there can be +no doubt that he filled his high position with signal ability. He was +both able and earnest, both practical and spiritual. His diocese +prospered under his care and his work as a bishop, aside from his +renown as a poet, was outstanding enough to give him an enviable +reputation in his own generation.</p> +<p>But since his permanent fame and importance rest upon his +achievement as a hymnwriter, his appointment as bishop probably +must be counted as a loss, both to himself and to the church. His +new responsibilities and the multifarious duties of his high office +naturally left him less time for other pursuits. He traveled, visited +and preached almost continuously throughout his large charge, +and it appears like a miracle that under these circumstances, he +still found time to write hymns. But in 1684, only two years after +his consecration as bishop, he published the second part of <b>Spiritual +Song-Choir</b>.</p> +<p>This book bears a dedication to the queen, Charlotte Amalia. +She was German by birth and a pious, able and distinguished +woman in her own right. Kingo praises her especially for her +effort to learn and speak the Danish language. In this respect, he +declares, “Her Majesty put many to shame who have eaten the +king’s bread for thirty years without learning to speak thirty words +of Danish, because they hold it to be a homespun language, too +coarse for their silky tongues”.</p> +<p><b>Spiritual Song-Choir, Part II</b> contains twenty hymns and seventeen +“sighs”, thus outwardly following the arrangement of Part I. +But the content is very different. The hymns are songs of penitence, +repentance and faith. They show mastery of form, a wealth +of imagery, a facility for concentrated expression and a range of +sentiment from stark despair to the most confident trust that is, +perhaps, unequalled in Danish poetry. It is an embattled soul that +speaks through these hymns, a soul that has faced the abyss and +clung heroically, but not always successfully, to the pinnacle of +faith. One feels that the man who penned the following lines has +not merely imagined the nearness of the pit but felt himself standing +on the very brink of it.</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Mountains of transgressions press</p> +<p class="t0">On my evil burdened shoulders,</p> +<p class="t0">Guilt bestrews my path with boulders,</p> +<div class="pb" id="pg_38">[38]</div> +<p class="t0">Sin pollutes both soul and flesh,</p> +<p class="t0">Law and justice are proclaiming</p> +<p class="t0">Judgment on my guilty head,</p> +<p class="t0">Hell’s eternal fires are flaming,</p> +<p class="t0">Filling all my soul with dread.</p> +</div> +<p>Of an even darker mood is the great hymn: “Sorrow and Unhappiness”, +with the searching verse:</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Is there then no one that cares,</p> +<p class="t0">Is there no redress for sorrow,</p> +<p class="t0">Is there no relief to borrow,</p> +<p class="t0">Is there no response to prayers,</p> +<p class="t0">Is the fount of mercy closing,</p> +<p class="t0">Is the soul to bondage sold,</p> +<p class="t0">Is the Lord my plea opposing,</p> +<p class="t0">Is His heart to sinners cold?</p> +</div> +<p>The poet answers his questions in the following stanzas by +assuring himself that the Sun of God’s grace can and will pierce +even his “cloud of despair”, and that he must wait therefore in +quietness and trust:</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">O my soul, be quiet then!</p> +<p class="t0">Jesus will redress thy sadness,</p> +<p class="t0">Jesus will restore thy gladness,</p> +<p class="t0">Jesus will thy help remain.</p> +<p class="t0">Jesus is thy solace ever</p> +<p class="t0">And thy hope in life and death;</p> +<p class="t0">Jesus will thee soon deliver;</p> +<p class="t0">Thou must cling to that blest faith.</p> +</div> +<p>The uncertainty of life and its fortunes furnished a favored +theme for many of his hymns, as for instance in the splendid—</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Sorrow and gladness oft journey together,</p> +<p class="t0">Trouble and happiness swift company keep;</p> +<p class="t0">Luck and misfortune change like the weather;</p> +<p class="t0">Sunshine and clouds quickly vary their sweep.</p> +</div> +<p>which is, poetically at least, one of his finest compositions. The +poet’s own career so far had been one of continuous and rather +swift advancement. But there was, if not in his own outward fortune, +then in the fortunes of other notables of his day, enough to +remind him of the inconstancy of worldly honor and glory. Only +a few months before the publication of his hymns, Leonora Christine +Ulfeldt, the once beautiful, admired and talented daughter +<span class="pb" id="pg_39">[39]</span> +of Christian IV, had been released from twenty-two years of imprisonment +in a bare and almost lightless prison-cell; Peder Griffenfeldt, +a man who from humble antecedents swiftly had risen to +become the most powerful man in the kingdom, had been stript +even more swiftly of all his honors and thrown into a dismal +prison on a rocky isle by the coast of Norway; and there were +other and well known instances of swift changes in the fortunes +of men in those days when they were subject not only to the +ordinary vicissitudes of human existence but to the fickle humor +of an absolute monarch. It is, therefore, as though Kingo at the +height of his own fortune would remind himself of the quickness +with which it might vanish, of the evanescense and vanity of all +worldly glory. That idea is strikingly emphasized in the following +famous hymn:</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t">Vain world, fare thee well!</p> +<p class="t0">I purpose no more in thy bondage to dwell;</p> +<p class="t0">The burdens which thou hast enticed me to bear,</p> +<p class="t0">I cast now aside with their troubles and care.</p> +<p class="t0">I spurn thy allurements, which tempt and appall;</p> +<p class="t">’Tis vanity all!</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t">What merit and worth</p> +<p class="t0">Hath all that the world puts so temptingly forth!</p> +<p class="t0">It is naught but bubbles and tinctured glass,</p> +<p class="t0">Loud clamoring cymbals and shrill sounding brass.</p> +<p class="t0">What are their seductions which lure and enthrall;</p> +<p class="t">’Tis vanity all!</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t">O honor and gold,</p> +<p class="t0">Vain idols which many with worship behold!</p> +<p class="t0">False are your affluence, your pleasure and fame;</p> +<p class="t0">Your wages are envy, deception and shame,</p> +<p class="t0">Your garlands soon wither, your kingdom shall fall;</p> +<p class="t">’Tis vanity all!</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t">O carnal desire,</p> +<p class="t0">Thou tempting, consuming and treacherous fire,</p> +<p class="t0">That catches like tinder and scorches like flame,</p> +<p class="t0">Consigning the victim to sorrow and shame,</p> +<p class="t0">Thy honeyest potion is wormwood and gall;</p> +<p class="t">’Tis vanity all!</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t">Then, fare thee farewell,</p> +<p class="t0">Vain world, with thy tempting and glamorous spell!</p> +<p class="t0">Thy wiles shall no longer my spirit enslave,</p> +<p class="t0">Thy splendor and joy are designed for the grave</p> +<p class="t0">I yearn for the solace from sorrows and harm</p> +<p class="t">Of Abraham’s arm!</p> +</div> +<div class="pb" id="pg_40">[40]</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t">There shall all my years</p> +<p class="t0">I bloom like the lily when summer appears;</p> +<p class="t0">There day is not ruled by the course of the sun</p> +<p class="t0">Nor night by the silvery light of the moon;</p> +<p class="t0">Lord Jesus shall shine as my sun every day</p> +<p class="t">In heaven for aye.</p> +</div> +<p>This is an eloquent farewell, clothed in all the expressive wealth +of language and imagery of which Kingo was such a master. One +cannot repress the feeling, however, that it presents a challenge +rather than a farewell. A man that so passionately avows his +repudiation of the world must have felt its attraction, its power to +tempt and enthrall. He fights against it; the spirit contends with +the flesh, but the fight is not easy. And it is in part this very +human trait in Kingo that endears his song to us. What Christian +does not recognize some of his own experiences in the following +characteristic song:</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Ever trouble walks beside me,<sup><a id="fr_2" href="#fn_2">[2]</a></sup></p> +<p class="t0">Ever God with grace provides me,</p> +<p class="t0">Ever have I fear and grief,</p> +<p class="t0">Ever Jesus brings relief.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Ever sin my heart accuses,</p> +<p class="t0">Ever Jesus help induces,</p> +<p class="t0">Ever am I weighed with care,</p> +<p class="t0">Ever full of praise and prayer.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">So is joy by grief attended,</p> +<p class="t0">Fortune with misfortune blended;</p> +<p class="t0">Blessings mixed with grief and strife</p> +<p class="t0">Is the measure of my life.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">But, O Jesus, I am crying:</p> +<p class="t0">Help that faith, on Thee relying,</p> +<p class="t0">Over sin and grief alway</p> +<p class="t0">Shall prevail and gain the day.</p> +</div> +<p>Some statements in this hymn have frequently been criticized +as contradictory, for how can one be “always” full of care and +“always” full of praise and prayer? The terms cancel each other. +But are not such contradictions expressive of life itself? Few—if +any—are wholly one thing or wholly another. People are complex. +Their joys struggle with their sorrows, their most earnest +faith with their doubts and fears. It brings Kingo nearer to us to +know that he shared that struggle. His songs have appealed to +<span class="pb" id="pg_41">[41]</span> +millions because they are both so spiritual and so human. How +expressive of human need and Christian trust are not the following +brief lines:</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Lord, though I may</p> +<p class="t0">The whole long day</p> +<p class="t0">Find no relief from sorrow,</p> +<p class="t0">Yea, should the night</p> +<p class="t0">Afford no light</p> +<p class="t0">To ease my plight—</p> +<p class="t0">Thou comest on the morrow.</p> +</div> +<div class="fnblock"> +<div class="fndef"><sup><a id="fn_2" href="#fr_2">[2]</a></sup>Another translation:<br />“Ever is a peril near me” by C. Doving in “Hymnal for Church and Home”. +</div> +</div> +</div> +<div id="c05" title="Kingo’s Psalmbook"> +<h4>Chapter Five +<span class="chaptertitle">Kingo’s Psalmbook</span></h4> +<p>After the publication of <b>Spiritual Song-Choir II</b>, Kingo stood +at the very height of his fame. His hymns were sung everywhere, +and nobles and commoners vied with each other in +chanting his praises. But a much more difficult task now awaited +him—that of preparing a new hymnal.</p> +<p>Hans Thomisson’s hymnal had become antiquated after serving +the church for nearly one hundred and twenty-five years. It had +served its purpose well. Its hymns had been sung by high and low +until they had entered into the thoughts and conscience of all. A +changing language and a fast developing literary taste long ago +had shown their need for revision; but the people so far had opposed +all attempts to change their beloved old songs. Their defects +by now had become so conspicuous, however, that even the more +conservative admitted the desirability of at least a limited revision. +And the only man for the undertaking of such a task was, of course, +Kingo.</p> +<p>In March, 1683, King Christian V, therefore, commissioned +Thomas Kingo to prepare and publish a new church hymnal for +the kingdom of Denmark and Norway. The carefully prepared instructions +of his commission directed him to eliminate undesirable +hymns; to revise antiquated rhymes and expressions; to adopt at +least two new hymns by himself or another for every pericope and +epistle of the church year, but under no circumstances to make any +changes in Luther’s hymns that would alter their meaning.</p> +<p>Kingo would undoubtedly have saved himself a great deal of +<span class="pb" id="pg_42">[42]</span> +disappointment if he had conscientiously followed his instructions. +But the draft of the first half of the hymnal, which was sent to the +king six years later, showed that, intentionally or otherwise, he had +ignored them almost completely. The draft contained 267 hymns of +which 137 were his own and the remainder those of various authors, +both old and new. Though Kingo might reasonably have been criticized +for adopting such a proportionally large number of his own +compositions, it was not, however, his selection of new hymns but +his treatment of the old hymns that provoked the greatest opposition. +For he had not contented himself with merely revising the +latter but in many instances had rewritten them so completely that +they were unrecognizable. And it mattered not that the new texts +were on the whole much finer than the old, for people were not +yet ready to relinquish these. The opposition grew so strong that +the king, though he had already approved the proposed hymnal, +a few weeks later revoked not only his approval but Kingo’s commission.</p> +<p>This summary action came as an almost stunning blow to Kingo, +affecting seriously both his pride and his finances. On the +strength of the king’s approval, he had already bought a printing +press, acquired large quantities of material and printed a large edition +of the book. And these investments, which represented a large +part of his private fortune, were now apparently lost. It helped but +little that the king, in order to salve the wound he had inflicted +upon one of his most distinguished subjects, elevated him to the +nobility, for the hurt was too deep to be healed by a mere gesture.</p> +<p>One cannot deny, however, that the monarch had serious reason +for his action. Not only had Kingo violated his instructions +but he had planned a book that hardly could have proved satisfactory. +It would have been both too large and too expensive for +common use. He himself, on the other hand, had reason to complain +that he had not been consulted before the work, on which he +had spent so much of his time and substance, was summarily rejected. +No doubt the king had acted with unseemly haste and lack +of consideration.</p> +<p>The work was now held in abeyance for a few years. But the +need for a new hymnal was too pressing to be permanently ignored. +The king, therefore, appointed Søren Jonasson, a provost at the +cathedral of Roskilde, to undertake the work. Jonasson was known +as an excellent translator of German hymns, and the choice appeared +reasonable. He worked fast and in less than two years was +able to present a draft of his work. This contained a well balanced +<span class="pb" id="pg_43">[43]</span> +selection of the old hymns and about twenty new hymns by +himself and various German authors, but not a single hymn by +Kingo. The omission no doubt reflects the envy that the poet’s +quick rise to fame had stirred up against him in certain influential +circles. His enemies, however, had overshot their mark. Even the +king realized that it would be impossible at this time to publish a +hymnal that ignored the work of the country’s greatest hymnwriter. +And so Jonasson’s work promptly shared the fate of his predecessor’s.</p> +<p>The troublesome problem now rested again for a few years until +it was revived by the zealous efforts of the king’s chaplain, Peter +Jespersen, a close friend of the Norwegian hymnwriter, Peter +Dass and himself a native of the northern country.</p> +<p>A committee was appointed to prepare and publish a new +hymnal “that should give due recognition” to the work of Kingo. +Although it was not specifically directed to do so, the committee +proved its good will toward the harshly treated poet by entering +into correspondence with him and asking him to forward the material +he already possessed, and to write the additional hymns that +might be needed to complete the hymnal. With this request Kingo +gladly complied, hoping that thus after all the greater part of +his work would be put to use. In this, however, he was disappointed. +When the hymnal finally appeared it contained 297 hymns of +which only 85 were by Kingo. This represented, it is true, a great +change from Jonasson’s proposal, but when it is remembered that +the first half of the work, proposed by himself, contained 136 of his +own hymns, and that he had written an additional number by the +request of the committee, it will be seen that even now less than +half of his hymns found a place in the hymnal.</p> +<p>Aside from this deplorable loss, it must be conceded that the +committee had done an excellent work and that its hymnal was +much better suited for general use than Kingo’s proposed hymnal +would have been. The committee also had shown its fairness toward +Kingo by commissioning him to print the hymnal and to enjoy exclusive +rights of its distribution for ten years, so that he might recoup +some of the losses he had sustained by the rejection of his own +book. He repaid the favor by turning out a most excellent piece of +work; and the book, both in content and appearance undoubtedly +rated as the finest hymnal the Danish church had so far produced. +It served the church for more than a hundred years, and was always +known as “Kingo’s Hymnal”, for, after all, his great hymns were +what gave it permanent value.</p> +</div> +<div id="c06" title="Kingo’s Church Hymns"> +<div class="pb" id="pg_44">[44]</div> +<h4>Chapter Six +<span class="chaptertitle">Kingo’s Church Hymns</span></h4> +<p>Kingo’s church hymns naturally differ from his spiritual +songs. They are more objective in form and less fiery in +spirit. Most of them follow their themes quite closely, reproducing +in many instances even the words of their text. Kingo +is too vital, however, to confine himself wholly to an objective +presentation. Usually the last stanzas of his hymns are devoted to +a brief and often striking application of their text. He possessed +to a singular degree the ability to express a thought tersely, as for +instance in the following stanza, the last of a hymn on the baptism +of the Lord:</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Our Lord is then our brother</p> +<p class="t0">In whom we may confide,</p> +<p class="t0">The Church of God our mother,</p> +<p class="t0">The Holy Ghost our guide;</p> +<p class="t0">Our blest baptismal dower</p> +<p class="t0">The bands of hell has riven</p> +<p class="t0">And opened us God’s heaven,</p> +<p class="t0">This is our faith each hour.</p> +</div> +<p>The hymns may be classed under four headings: Festival +Hymns, Sacramental Hymns, Historical Hymns and Hymns on the +Gospels and Epistles.</p> +<p>With the exception of his Easter anthem, his festival hymns +cannot compare with those of later authors. Some of his Pentecost +hymns, such as the hymns given below, are, however, still favorites.</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">The day of Pentecost draws nigh;</p> +<p class="t0">Come, Holy Spirit from on high,</p> +<p class="t0">Who with the Father and the Son</p> +<p class="t0">Is God eternal, three in one.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">O God triune, Thy grace impart</p> +<p class="t0">Into my carnal, sinful heart,</p> +<p class="t0">That it a temple blest may be</p> +<p class="t0">Prepared and set aside for Thee.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Come, Holy Ghost, and witness bear</p> +<p class="t0">That I the life of Christ do share,</p> +<p class="t0">And that I know no other name</p> +<p class="t0">To save my soul from guilt and shame.</p> +</div> +<div class="pb" id="pg_45">[45]</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">O Counselor of truth and light,</p> +<p class="t0">Teach me to know my Lord aright,</p> +<p class="t0">That from the way of faith I may</p> +<p class="t0">Not even for a moment stray.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Blest Spirit of my God and Lord,</p> +<p class="t0">Preserve me in Thy way and word,</p> +<p class="t0">Imbue me with Thy life and breath,</p> +<p class="t0">Console me in the hour of death.</p> +</div> +<p>Kingo frequently is referred to as “the Easter Singer of Denmark”. +His claim to this title rests mainly on one song. Easter with +its story of triumphant victory appealed especially to him; and +he wrote several excellent hymns on the theme, but they are all +overshadowed by the splendid anthem presented below.</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Like the golden sun ascending</p> +<p class="t0">In the darkly clouded sky</p> +<p class="t0">And on earth its glory spending</p> +<p class="t0">Until clouds and darkness fly,</p> +<p class="t0">So my Jesus from the grave,</p> +<p class="t0">From death’s dark, abysmal cave,</p> +<p class="t0">Rose triumphant Easter morning,</p> +<p class="t0">Brighter than the sun returning.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Thanks, O thanks, to Thee arisen</p> +<p class="t0">Lord and God Immanuel,</p> +<p class="t0">That the foe could not imprison</p> +<p class="t0">Thee within his hell-dark cell.</p> +<p class="t0">Thanks that Thou didst meet our foe</p> +<p class="t0">And his kingdom overthrow.</p> +<p class="t0">Jubilant my spirit raises</p> +<p class="t0">New Thy never ending praises.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Sin and death and every arrow</p> +<p class="t0">Satan hence may point at me</p> +<p class="t0">Fall now broken at the narrow</p> +<p class="t0">Tomb that saw Thy victory;</p> +<p class="t0">There Thou didst them all destroy</p> +<p class="t0">Giving me the cup of joy</p> +<p class="t0">That Thou glorious resurrection</p> +<p class="t0">Wrought my pardon and protection.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Thou wilt hence to life awake me</p> +<p class="t0">By Thy resurrection power;</p> +<p class="t0">Death may wound and overtake me,</p> +<p class="t0">Worms my flesh and bones devour,</p> +<p class="t0">But I face the threat of death</p> +<p class="t0">With the sure and joyful faith</p> +<p class="t0">That its fearful reign was ended</p> +<p class="t0">When Thy might its portal rended.</p> +</div> +<div class="pb" id="pg_46">[46]</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Blessed Jesus, let the Spirit</p> +<p class="t0">So imbue my heart with grace</p> +<p class="t0">That I walk by Thy blest merit</p> +<p class="t0">And no more the way retrace</p> +<p class="t0">To the vile and miry pit</p> +<p class="t0">Where I lay condemned, unfit,</p> +<p class="t0">Till redeemed to life victorious</p> +<p class="t0">By Thy resurrection glorious.</p> +</div> +<p>In this rugged hymn Kingo is at his best—fiery, vital, a master +of imagery and graphic expression.</p> +<p>His hymns on the sacraments faithfully reflect the doctrines +of the Lutheran Church. Here he most clearly shows his ability +to present objective truths in a devotional spirit. We meet in these +a Christian who humbly and prayerfully accepts the whole mystery +of God. For centuries these rugged songs have served to express +the sentiments of millions as they met at the baptismal font or +knelt before the altar. The following is one of the most favored +baptismal hymns both in the Danish and Norwegian churches:</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Whoso believes and is baptized<sup><a id="fr_3" href="#fn_3">[3]</a></sup></p> +<p class="t0">God’s kingdom shall inherit,</p> +<p class="t0">For he is cleansed by Jesus Christ</p> +<p class="t0">Who, by His grace and merit,</p> +<p class="t0">Adopts him as His child and heir,</p> +<p class="t0">Grants him in heaven’s bliss to share</p> +<p class="t0">And seals him with His Spirit.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">We ask with earnest faith of Thee,</p> +<p class="t0">Our Lord and blest Defender,</p> +<p class="t0">That Thou wilt guide us constantly</p> +<p class="t0">And, in Thy mercy tender,</p> +<p class="t0">Keep us in our baptismal grace</p> +<p class="t0">Until at last we take our place</p> +<p class="t0">With Thee ’midst heaven’s splendor.</p> +</div> +<p>Kingo’s communion hymns have to a large extent been superseded +by later hymns of Grundtvig and others. But some of them +are still in common use. The following characteristic hymn is +frequently used before the communion.</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Lord Jesus Christ receive me now</p> +<p class="t0">As with a heart contrite I bow</p> +<p class="t0">Before Thine altar, blessed Lamb,</p> +<p class="t0">Who bore my sorrow, sin and shame.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">I am today my Saviour’s guest.</p> +<p class="t0">Bethink, my soul, the honor blest,</p> +<div class="pb" id="pg_47">[47]</div> +<p class="t0">That He, Thy Lord, will sup with thee</p> +<p class="t0">And will Himself Thy nurture be.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">He offers to thee with the bread</p> +<p class="t0">His body riven for thy aid,</p> +<p class="t0">And with the wine His precious blood,</p> +<p class="t0">The price of thy eternal good.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">How this can be, I cannot tell;</p> +<p class="t0">He did not on the mystery dwell;</p> +<p class="t0">No mind the secret can perceive,</p> +<p class="t0">It is enough that I believe.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Rejoice, then, O my soul today</p> +<p class="t0">That God’s appointed servant may</p> +<p class="t0">Now offer thee the gift so free</p> +<p class="t0">Through which thy Lord unites with thee.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">O Lord, I offer Thee my soul</p> +<p class="t0">To nourish, strengthen and make whole.</p> +<p class="t0">Uphold me by Thy means of grace</p> +<p class="t0">Until I see Thee face to face.</p> +</div> +<p>The short hymn given below is a favorite after the communion +in numerous Danish and Norwegian churches.</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">O dearest Lord, receive from me</p> +<p class="t0">The heartfelt thanks I offer Thee,</p> +<p class="t0">Who through Thy body and Thy blood</p> +<p class="t0">Hast wrought my soul’s eternal good.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Break forth, my soul, in joy and praise;</p> +<p class="t0">What wealth is mine this day of days!</p> +<p class="t0">My Jesus dwells within my soul;</p> +<p class="t0">Let every tongue His grace extol.</p> +</div> +<p>Kingo’s historical hymns, that is, his hymns on the stories of +the Gospels, usually are not counted among the best. Yet there are +many fine hymns among them, such as the annunciation hymn, +“There Came a Message from the Sky”; the hymn about the wedding +at Cana, “How Blessed Was that Wedding Feast”; and the +splendid hymn on the transfiguration of the Lord, “I Lift My Eyes +and Spirit Up unto the Hallowed Mountain Top Where Jesus Once +Ascended”. Best known among this group of hymns is, however, +his great sequence of songs on our Lord’s passion. In these inspired +hymns we meet again the Kingo that we know from his spiritual +songs, fiery, eloquent, imaginative, seeking to picture every detail +and mood of the Savior’s suffering from the garden to the cross. +Though it is difficult to choose among hymns so universally fine, +the one given below is, at least, fairly representative of the group.</p> +<div class="pb" id="pg_48">[48]</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Over Kedron Jesus passes</p> +<p class="t0">Ready for His passion day,</p> +<p class="t0">While the Prince of Darkness masses</p> +<p class="t0">All his legions for the fray.</p> +<p class="t0">Wily foes with evil hearts</p> +<p class="t0">Bend their bows and point their darts,</p> +<p class="t0">Aiming at the Savior solely,</p> +<p class="t0">As the world forsakes Him wholly.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">David once in great affliction</p> +<p class="t0">Crossed the Kedron’s narrow stream,</p> +<p class="t0">While his foes without restriction</p> +<p class="t0">Hatched their vile and cunning scheme.</p> +<p class="t0">Darker far the shadows now</p> +<p class="t0">Bend about the Savior’s brow</p> +<p class="t0">As He hastens to His passion</p> +<p class="t0">For the sinful world’s salvation.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">See Him, torn by woe appalling,</p> +<p class="t0">Kneeling in the garden still,</p> +<p class="t0">And upon His Father calling</p> +<p class="t0">That, if possible, He will</p> +<p class="t0">Take the bitter cup away.</p> +<p class="t0">But how meekly He doth pray!</p> +<p class="t0">What the Father shall Him offer,</p> +<p class="t0">He obediently will suffer.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">See, what agony assails Him</p> +<p class="t0">In that dark and fearful hour;</p> +<p class="t0">Every friend deserts or fails Him;</p> +<p class="t0">Satan strikes with all his power;</p> +<p class="t0">And the flowers beneath Him grow</p> +<p class="t0">Crimson with the purple flow</p> +<p class="t0">From His anguished frame distilling</p> +<p class="t0">As His cup of woe is filling.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">But, O flower, whose tender blossom</p> +<p class="t0">Caught that precious, purple dew</p> +<p class="t0">From the Saviour’s riven bosom,</p> +<p class="t0">In a blessed hour you grew!</p> +<p class="t0">Eden’s flowers did not bear</p> +<p class="t0">Fruits that could with yours compare:</p> +<p class="t0">By the blood your petals staining,</p> +<p class="t0">I am now salvation gaining.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">When I like the flower must wither,</p> +<p class="t0">When I wilt and fade like grass,</p> +<p class="t0">When the hour of death draws hither,</p> +<p class="t0">When I from this world shall pass,</p> +<p class="t0">When my heart has ceased to beat</p> +<p class="t0">When I face God’s judgment seat,</p> +<p class="t0">Then His blood, which stained the garden,</p> +<p class="t0">Shall procure my lasting pardon.</p> +</div> +<div class="pb" id="pg_49">[49]</div> +<p>Kingo’s hymns on the pericopes have proved less resistant to +time than most of his other work. They are in reality brief commentaries, +presenting a practical rather than a poetical exposition +and application of their texts. But even so, the singular freshness +of their thought and style has preserved many of them until our day. +The following hymn on Matthew 8, 23-27, the stilling of the storm, +furnishes a characteristic example of this group of hymns.</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">What vessel is that passing</p> +<p class="t0">Across the boundless deep,</p> +<p class="t0">On which the billows massing</p> +<p class="t0">In foaming fury sweep?</p> +<p class="t0">She seems in sore distress</p> +<p class="t0">As though she soon would founder</p> +<p class="t0">Upon the shoals around her</p> +<p class="t0">And sink without redress.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">It is the storm-tossed vessel</p> +<p class="t0">Of God’s own church on earth,</p> +<p class="t0">With which the world doth wrestle,</p> +<p class="t0">And send its fury forth,</p> +<p class="t0">While Jesus oft appears</p> +<p class="t0">As though He still were sleeping,</p> +<p class="t0">With His disciples weeping</p> +<p class="t0">And crying out in fears.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">But let the world with fury</p> +<p class="t0">Against the church but rave,</p> +<p class="t0">And spend its might to bury</p> +<p class="t0">Her in the roaring wave!</p> +<p class="t0">It only takes a word</p> +<p class="t0">To hush the wild commotion</p> +<p class="t0">And show the mighty ocean</p> +<p class="t0">Her Lord is still aboard.</p> +</div> +<p>Kingo is often called the singer of orthodoxy. His hymns faithfully +present the accepted doctrines of his church. No hymnwriter +is more staunchly Lutheran than he. But he was too vital to become +a mere doctrinaire. With him orthodoxy was only a means +to an end, a more vigorous Christian life. Many of his hymns present +a forceful and straightforward appeal for a real personal life +with God. The following hymn may be called an orthodox revival +hymn. It was a favorite with the great Norwegian lay preacher, +Hans Nielsen Hauge.</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">The power of sin no longer</p> +<p class="t0">Within my heart shall reign;</p> +<p class="t0">Faith must grow ever stronger</p> +<p class="t0">And carnal lust be slain;</p> +<p class="t0">For when I was baptized,</p> +<div class="pb" id="pg_50">[50]</div> +<p class="t0">The bonds of sin were severed</p> +<p class="t0">And I by grace delivered</p> +<p class="t0">To live for Jesus Christ.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Would I accept the merit</p> +<p class="t0">Of my baptismal grace</p> +<p class="t0">And with my faith and spirit</p> +<p class="t0">The Savior’s cross embrace,</p> +<p class="t0">How great would be my blame</p> +<p class="t0">Should I abide in evil</p> +<p class="t0">And not renounce the devil</p> +<p class="t0">In Christ my Savior’s name.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">It can bestow no treasure</p> +<p class="t0">On me that Christ arose.</p> +<p class="t0">If I will not with pleasure</p> +<p class="t0">The power of death oppose,</p> +<p class="t0">And with my heart embrace</p> +<p class="t0">The Savior, who is risen</p> +<p class="t0">And has from error’s prison</p> +<p class="t0">Redeemed me by His grace.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Lord Jesus, help me ever</p> +<p class="t0">To fight “the old man” so</p> +<p class="t0">That he shall not deliver</p> +<p class="t0">Me to eternal woe,</p> +<p class="t0">But that I here may die</p> +<p class="t0">From sin and all offences</p> +<p class="t0">And, by the blood that cleanses,</p> +<p class="t0">Attain my home on high.</p> +</div> +<p>Thus, the permanent value of Kingo’s hymns rests not only on +their rugged and expressive poetry but on the earnest and warm-hearted +Christian spirit that breathes through them. In the perennial +freshness of this spirit succeeding generations have experienced +their kinship with the poet and found expression for their +own hope and faith. The following ageless prayer expresses not +only the spirit of the poet but that of earnest Christians everywhere +and of every age.</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Print Thine image pure and holy<sup><a id="fr_4" href="#fn_4">[4]</a></sup></p> +<p class="t0">On my heart, O Lord of Grace;</p> +<p class="t0">So that nothing high nor lowly</p> +<p class="t0">Thy blest likeness can efface.</p> +<p class="t0">Let the clear inscription be:</p> +<p class="t0">Jesus, crucified for me,</p> +<p class="t0">And the Lord of all creation,</p> +<p class="t0">Is my refuge and salvation.</p> +</div> +<div class="fnblock"> +<div class="fndef"><sup><a id="fn_3" href="#fr_3">[3]</a></sup>Another translation: “He that believes and is baptized” by G. T. Rygh in “Hymnal for Church and Home”. +</div> +<div class="fndef"><sup><a id="fn_4" href="#fr_4">[4]</a></sup>Another translation: “On my heart imprint thine image” by P. O. Stromme in “Hymnal for Church and Home”. +</div> +</div> +</div> +<div id="c07" title="Kingo’s Later Years"> +<div class="pb" id="pg_51">[51]</div> +<h4>Chapter Seven +<span class="chaptertitle">Kingo’s Later Years</span></h4> +<p>Kingo’s work with the hymnal had brought him much +disappointment and some loss of popularity. He felt not +without justification that he had been ill treated. He did not +sulk in his tent, however, but pursued his work with unabated zeal. +His diocese was large, comprising not only Fyn but a large number +of smaller islands besides. The work of making periodical visits to all +parishes within such a far-flung charge was, considering the then +available means of transportation, not only strenuous but hazardous. +Roads were bad and vessels weak and slow. Hardships and danger +beset his almost continuous voyages and journeys. A number of +poems relating the adventures of the traveler are reminiscenses of +his own experiences.</p> +<p>But his work of visiting the churches constituted, of course, +only a part of his duties. He had to preach in the cathedral at +Odense at least every Wednesday in Lent and on all festival Sundays; +examine the work and conduct of all pastors within the +diocese; act as an arbiter in disputes between them and their parishioners; +make sure that the financial affairs of the church and +its institutions were honestly conducted; attend to the collection +of church taxes; and superintend all schools, hospitals and institutions +of charity. The efficient accomplishment of all these tasks +might well test the strength and ability of any man.</p> +<p>His manifold duties also engendered numerous occasions for +friction, especially with the civil authorities, whose rights and +duties often overlapped his own. And he did not escape the danger +of such bickerings with their resultant ill-feeling. There is nothing +to indicate that he was contentious by nature. But he was no doubt +zealous in defending the prerogatives of his office. His temper was +quick and somewhat martial. “One could very well,” one of his +biographers declares, “envision him as a knight in full armor +leading a troop in the charge.” With the exception of his active +enemies, most of his contemporaries agree, however, that he was +commonly more than patient in his dealings with others.</p> +<div class="pb" id="pg_52">[52]</div> +<p>Kingo was an able administrator, and the institutions and finances +of the diocese prospered under his care. But it was as an earnest +Christian and a tireless worker for the spiritual improvement +of his people that he won their respect. He was known as an “eloquent +man, mighty in the Scriptures.” One of his contemporaries +said of him: “Were we not forced after hearing him preach to say +with the disciples, ‘Did not our hearts burn within us when he +opened the Scriptures to us and, like a son of thunder, published +the sins of the house of Jacob, or, like Barnabas, the son of comfort, +bound up our wounds and comforted us with the comfort with +which he had himself been so richly comforted by God.’” The few +extracts of his sermons that have come down to us verify the truth +of this statement. They show us a man firmly grounded in his +own faith and zealous in impressing its truth upon others. His +preaching was strictly orthodox and yet fiery and practical. The +poetical language and forceful eloquence of his sermons remind +one of the best of his spiritual songs.</p> +<p>Kingo’s writings and frequent travels brought him into contact +with most of the outstanding personages of his country in his +day. His charming personality, lively conversation and fine +sense of humor made him a welcome guest wherever he appeared. +On the island of Taasinge, he was a frequent and beloved guest in +the stately castle of the famous, pious and revered admiral, Niels +Juul, and his equally beloved wife, Birgitte Ulfeldt. His friendship +with this worthy couple was intimate and lasting. When admiral +Juul died, Kingo wrote the beautiful epitaph that still adorns his +tomb in the Holmen church at Copenhagen. On the island of Falster +he often visited the proud and domineering ex-queen, Carolina +Amalia. He was likewise a frequent visitor at the neighboring +estate of the once beautiful and adored daughter of king Christian +IV, Leonora Ulfeldt, whom the pride and hatred of the ex-queen +had consigned for twenty-two years to a dark and lonely +prison cell. Years of suffering, as we learn from her still famous +book <i>Memories of Misery</i>, had made the princess a deeply religious +woman. Imprisonment had aged her body, but had neither dulled +her brilliant mind nor hardened her heart. She spent her remaining +years in doing good, and she was a great admirer of Kingo.</p> +<p>Thus duty and inclination alike brought him in contact with +people of very different stations and conditions in life. His position +and high personal endowments made him a notable figure wherever +he went. But he had his enemies and detractors as well as +<span class="pb" id="pg_53">[53]</span> +his friends. It was not everyone who could see why a poor weaver’s +son should be raised to such a high position. Kingo was accused +of being greedy, vain, over-ambitious and self-seeking, all of which +probably contained at least a grain of truth. We should have missed +some of his greatest hymns, if he had been a saint, and not a man +of flesh and blood, of passionate feelings and desires, a man who +knew from his own experiences that without Christ he could do +nothing.</p> +<p>Despite certain peculiar complications, Kingo’s private life was +quite happy. Four years after the death of his first wife, he entered +into marriage with Johanne Lund, a widow many years older +than he. She brought with her a daughter from her former marriage. +And Kingo thus had the exceptional experience of being +stepfather to three sets of children, the daughter of his second wife +and the children and stepchildren of his first. To be the head of +such a family must inevitably have presented confusing problems +to a man who had no children of his own. But with the exception +of his stepson, all the children appear to have loved him and +maintained their relation to him as long as he lived.</p> +<p>His second wife died in 1694, when she was seventy-six and he +sixty years old. During the later years of her life she had been a +helpless invalid, demanding a great deal of patience and care of her +busy husband. Contemporaries comment on the frequent sight of +the famous bishop good-humoredly carrying his wife about like a +helpless child. Less than a year after her death, Kingo entered into +a new marriage, this time with an attractive young lady of the +nobility, Birgitte Balslev, his junior by more than thirty years. This +new marriage provoked a great deal of gossip and many predictions +of disaster on account of the great disparity in years of the +contracting parties. But the predictions proved wholly unfounded, +and the marriage singularly happy. Kingo and Birgitte, a contemporary +tells us, were “inseparable as heart and soul.” She was an +accomplished and highly intelligent woman, and Kingo found in +her, perhaps for the first time in his life, a woman with whom he +could share fully the rich treasure of his own heart and mind. He +is credited with the remark that he had done what all ought to do: +married an elderly woman in his young days, whom he could care +for when she grew old, and a young woman in his later years, who +could comfort him in his old age.</p> +<p>But Kingo did not show the effect of his years. He was still as +energetic and vigorous as ever in the prosecution of his manifold +<span class="pb" id="pg_54">[54]</span> +duties. For a number of years after his marriage, he even continued +his strenuous visits to all parts of his see, now always accompanied +by his wife. His leisure hours were usually spent on +a beautiful estate a few miles from Odense, which belonged to his +wife. At this favored retreat and in the company of friends, he +still could relax and become the liveliest of them all.</p> +<p>The years, however, would not be denied. At the turn of the +century, he suffered a first attack of the illness, a bladder complaint, +that later laid him in his grave. He made light of it and refused +to ease his strenuous activity. But the attack returned with +increasing frequency and, on a visit to Copenhagen in the fall of +1702, he was compelled to take to his bed. He recovered somewhat +and was able to return home. But it was now clear to all that the +days of the great bishop were numbered. Early in the new year he +became bedfast and suffered excruciatingly at times. “But he submitted +himself wholly to God’s will and bore his terrible suffering +with true Christian patience,” one of his biographers tells us. To +those who asked about his condition, his invariable answer was, +that all was well with him. If anyone expressed sympathy with +him, he usually smiled and said that “it could not be expected that +the two old friends, soul and body, should part from each other +without pain.” When someone prayed or sang for him he followed +him eagerly, expressing his interest with his eyes, hands and whole +being.</p> +<p>A week before his death he called the members of his family +to his bed, shared the Holy Communion with them and thanked +them and especially his wife, for their great kindness to him during +his illness. On October 13, a Saturday, he slept throughout +the day, but awoke in the evening and exclaimed: “Lord God, tomorrow +we shall hear wonderful music!” And on the morning of +October 14, 1703, just as the great bells of the cathedral of St. Knud +called people to the service, his soul departed peacefully to join +the Church above. God had heard at last the earnest prayer of his +own great hymns:</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">But, O Jesus, I am crying:</p> +<p class="t0">Help that faith, on Thee relying,</p> +<p class="t0">Over sin and sorrow may</p> +<p class="t0">Ever rise and win the day.</p> +</div> +<p>His body was laid to rest in a small village church a few miles +outside of Odense. There one still may see the stone of his tomb, +<span class="pb" id="pg_55">[55]</span> +bearing an inscription that likens him to a sun which, although it +has set, still lights the way for all true lovers of virtue. Other +monuments to his memory have been raised at Slangerup, Odense and +other places. But his finest and most lasting memorials are his own +great hymns. In these his warm, passionate spirit still speaks to +a larger audience than he ever reached in his own day. The years +have served only to emphasize the truth of Grundtvig’s beautiful +epitaph to him on his monument at Odense:</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Thomas Kingo is the psalmist</p> +<p class="t0">Of the Danish temple choir.</p> +<p class="t0">This his people will remember</p> +<p class="t0">Long as song their hearts inspire.</p> +</div> +</div> +</div> +<div id="cs2" title="Hans Adolph Brorson, the Christmas Singer of Denmark"> +<div class="pb" id="pg_57">[57]</div> +<h2>Hans Adolph Brorson, the Christmas Singer of Denmark</h2> +<div id="c08" title="Brorson’s Childhood and Youth"> +<div class="pb" id="pg_59">[59]</div> +<h4>Chapter Eight +<span class="chaptertitle">Brorson’s Childhood and Youth</span></h4> +<p>Hans Adolph Brorson came from Schleswig, the border +province between Denmark and Germany which for centuries has constituted +a battleground between the two countries +and cost the Danes so much in blood and tears. His family +was old in the district and presented an unbroken line of substantial +farmers until his grandfather, Broder Pedersen, broke it by +studying for the ministry and becoming pastor at Randrup, a small +country parish on the west coast of the province.</p> +<p>Broder Pedersen remained at Randrup till his death in 1646, +and was then succeeded by his son, Broder Brodersen, a young +man only twenty-three years old, who shortly before his installation +had married Catherine Margaret Clausen, a daughter of the +manager of Trojborg manor, the estate to which the church at +Randrup belonged. Catherine Clausen bore her husband three +sons, Nicolaj Brodersen, born July 23, 1690, Broder Brodersen, +born September 12, 1692, and Hans Adolph Brodersen—or Brorson—as +his name was later written—born June 20, 1694.</p> +<p>Broder Brodersen was a quiet, serious-minded man, anxious +to give his boys the best possible training for life. Although his +income was small, he managed somehow to provide private tutors +for them. Both he and his wife were earnest Christians, and the +fine example of their own lives was no doubt of greater value to +their boys than the formal instruction they received from hired +teachers. Thus an early biographer of the Brorsons writes: “Their +good parents earnestly instructed their boys in all that was good, +but especially in the fear and knowledge of God. Knowing that a +good example is more productive of good than the best precept, +they were not content with merely teaching them what is good, +but strove earnestly to live so that their own daily lives might present +a worthy pattern for their sons to follow.”</p> +<p>Broder Brodersen was not granted the privilege of seeing his +sons attain their honored manhood. He died in 1704, when the +<span class="pb" id="pg_60">[60]</span> +eldest of them was fourteen and the youngest only ten years old. +Upon realizing that he must leave them, he is said to have comforted +himself with the words of Kingo:</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">If for my children I</p> +<p class="t0">Would weep and sorrow</p> +<p class="t0">And every moment cry:</p> +<p class="t0">Who shall tomorrow</p> +<p class="t0">With needful counsel, home and care provide them?</p> +<p class="t0">The Lord still reigns above,</p> +<p class="t0">He will with changeless love</p> +<p class="t0">Sustain and guide them.</p> +</div> +<p>Nor was the faith of the dying pastor put to shame. A year after +his death, his widow married his successor in the pastorate, Pastor +Ole Holbeck, who proved himself a most excellent stepfather to +his adopted sons.</p> +<p>Reverend Holbeck personally taught the boys until Nicolaj, +and a year later, Broder and Hans Adolph were prepared to enter +the Latin school at Ribe. This old and once famous school was then +in a state of decay. The town itself had declined from a proud city, +a favored residence of kings and nobles, to an insignificant village +of about fifteen hundred inhabitants. Of its former glory only a +few old buildings and, especially, the beautiful cathedral still remained. +And the Latin school had shared the fate of the city. Its +once fine buildings were decaying; its faculty, which in former +times included some of the best known savants of the country, was +poorly paid and poorly equipped; and the number of its students +had shrunk from about 1200 to less than a score. Only the course +of study remained unchanged from the Middle Ages. Latin and +religion were still the main subjects of instruction. It mattered +little if the student could neither speak nor write Danish correctly, +but he must be able to define the finest points in a Latin grammar +of more than 1200 pages. Attendance at religious services was compulsory; +but the services were cold and spiritless, offering little +attraction to an adolescent youth.</p> +<p>The boys completed their course at Ribe and entered the university +of Copenhagen, Nicolaj in the fall of 1710 and the younger +brothers a year later. But the change offered them little improvement. +The whole country suffered from a severe spiritual decline. +Signs of an awakening were here and there, but not at the university +where Lutheran orthodoxy still maintained its undisputed +reign of more than a hundred years, though it had now become +more dry and spiritless than ever.</p> +<div class="pb" id="pg_61">[61]</div> +<p>The brothers all intended to prepare for the ministry. But after +two years Nicolaj for various reasons left the University of Copenhagen +to complete his course at the University of Kiel. Broder +remained at Copenhagen, completing his course there in the spring +of 1715. Hans Adolph studied for three years more and, even then, +failed to complete his course.</p> +<div class="img" title="Hans Adolph Brorson"> +<img height="631" width="500" alt="Hans Adolph Brorson" src="images/brorson.png" /> +<p class="center">Hans Adolph Brorson</p> +</div> +<p>It was a period of transition and spiritual unrest. The spiritual +revival now clearly discernible throughout the country had at +last reached the university. For the first time in many years the +prevailing orthodoxy with its settled answers to every question +of faith and conduct was meeting an effective challenge. Many +turned definitely away from religion, seeking in other fields such +as history, philosophy and especially the natural sciences for a +more adequate answer to their problems than religion appeared to +offer. Others searched for a solution of their difficulty in new +approaches to the old faith. The result was a spiritual confusion such +as often precedes the dawn of a new awakening. And Brorson appears +<span class="pb" id="pg_62">[62]</span> +to have been caught in it. His failure to complete his course +was by no means caused by indolence. He had, on the contrary, +broadened his studies to include a number of subjects foreign to +his course, and he had worked so hard that he had seriously impaired +his health. But he had lost his direction, and also, for the time +being, all interest in theology.</p> +<p>It was, therefore, as a somewhat spiritually confused and +physically broken young man that he gave up his studies and returned +to his home at Randrup. His brothers were already well +started upon their conspicuously successful careers, while he was +still drifting, confused and uncertain, a failure, as some no doubt +would call him. His good stepfather, nevertheless, received him +with the utmost kindness. If he harbored any disappointment in +him, he does not appear to have shown it. His stepson remained +with him for about a year, assisting him with whatever he could, +and had then so far recovered that he was able to accept a position +as tutor in the family of his maternal uncle, Nicolaj Clausen, at +Løgum Kloster.</p> +<p>Løgum Kloster had once been a large and powerful institution +and a center of great historic events. The magnificent building of +the cloister itself had been turned into a county courthouse, at +which Nicolaj Clausen served as county president, but the splendid +old church of the cloister still remained, serving as the parish +church. In these interesting surroundings and in the quiet family +circle of his uncle, Brorson made further progress toward normal +health. But his full recovery came only after a sincere spiritual +awakening in 1720.</p> +<p>The strong revival movement that was sweeping the country +and displacing the old orthodoxy, was engendered by the German +Pietist movement, entering Denmark through Slesvig. The two +conceptions of Christianity differed, it has been said, only in their +emphasis. Orthodoxy emphasized doctrine and Pietism, life. Both +conceptions were one-sided. If orthodoxy had resulted in a lifeless +formalism, Pietism soon lost its effectiveness in a sentimental subjectivism. +Its neglect of sound doctrine eventually gave birth to +Rationalism. But for the moment Pietism appeared to supply what +orthodoxy lacked: an urgent call to Christians to live what they +professed to believe.</p> +<p>A number of the early leaders of the movement in Denmark +lived in the neighborhood of Løgum Kloster, and were personally +known to Brorson. But whether or not any of these leaders was +<span class="pb" id="pg_63">[63]</span> +instrumental in his awakening is now unknown. One of his contemporaries +simply states that “Brorson at this time sought to employ +his solitude in a closer walk with God in Christ and, in so doing, +received a perfect assurance of the Lord’s faithfulness to those that +trust in Him.” Thus whatever influence neighboring Pietists may +have contributed to the great change in his life, the change itself +seems to have been brought about through his own Jacob-like +struggle with God. And it was a complete change. If he had formerly +been troubled by many things, he henceforth evinced but +one desire to know Christ and to be known by Him.</p> +<p>A first fruit of his awakening was an eager desire to enter the +ministry. He was offered a position as rector of a Latin school, but +his stepfather’s death, just as he was considering the offer, caused +him to refuse the appointment and instead to apply for the pastorate +at Randrup. His application granted, he at once hastened back +to the university to finish his formerly uncompleted course and obtain +his degree. Having accomplished this in the fall of the same +year, on April 6, 1722, he was ordained to the ministry together +with his brother, Broder Brorson, who had resigned a position as +rector of a Latin school to become pastor at Mjolden, a parish adjoining +Randrup. As his brother, Nicolaj Brorson, shortly before +had accepted the pastorate of another adjoining parish, the three +brothers thus enjoyed the unusual privilege of living and working +together in the same neighborhood.</p> +<p>The eight years that Brorson spent at Randrup where his father +and grandfather had worked before him were probably the +happiest in his life. The parish is located in a low, treeless plain +bordering the North Sea. Its climate, except for a few months of +summer, is raw and blustery. In stormy weather the sea frequently +floods its lower fields, causing severe losses in crops, stocks and +even in human life. Thus Brorson’s stepfather died from a cold +caught during a flight from a flood that threatened the parsonage. +The severe climate and constant threat of the sea, however, fosters +a hardy race. From this region the Jutes together with their neighbors, +the Angles and Saxons, once set out to conquer and settle +the British Isles. And the hardihood of the old sea-rovers was not +wholly lost in their descendants when Brorson settled among them, +although it had long been directed into other and more peaceful +channels.</p> +<p>The parsonage in which the Brorsons lived stood on a low +ridge, rising gently above its surroundings and affording a splendid +<span class="pb" id="pg_64">[64]</span> +view over far reaches of fields, meadows and the ever changing +sea. The view was especially beautiful in early summer when wild +flowers carpeted the meadows in a profusion of colors, countless +birds soared and sang above the meadows and shoals of fish played +in the reed bordered streams. It was without doubt this scene that +inspired the splendid hymn “Arise, All Things that God Hath +Made.”</p> +<p>Brorson was happy to return to Randrup. The parish was just +then the center of all that was dearest to him in this world. His +beloved mother still lived there, his brothers were close neighbors, +and he brought with him his young wife, Catherine Clausen, whom +he had married a few days before his installation.</p> +<p>Nicolaj and Broder Brorson had, like him, joined the Pietist +movement, and the three brothers, therefore, could work together +in complete harmony for the spiritual revival of their parishes. +And they did not spare themselves. Both separately and cooperatively, +they labored zealously to increase church attendance, revive +family devotions, encourage Bible reading and hymn singing, +and minimize the many worldly and doubtful amusements that, +then as now, caused many Christians to fall. They also began to +hold private assemblies in the homes, a work for which they were +bitterly condemned by many and severely reprimanded by the +authorities. It could not be expected, of course, that a work so +devoted to the furtherance of a new conception of the Christian +life would be tolerated without opposition. But their work, nevertheless, +was blest with abundant fruit, both in their own parishes +and throughout neighboring districts. Churches were refilled with +worshippers, family altars rebuilt, and a new song was born in +thousands of homes. People expressed their love for the three +brothers by naming them “The Rare Three-Leafed Clover from +Randrup.” It is said that the revival inspired by the Brorsons even +now, more than two hundred years later, is plainly evident in the +spiritual life of the district.</p> +<p>Thus the years passed fruitfully for the young pastor at Randrup. +He rejoiced in his home, his work and the warm devotion +of his people. It came, therefore, as a signal disappointment to all +that he was the first to break the happy circle by accepting a call +as assistant pastor at Christ church in Tønder, a small city a few +miles south of Randrup.</p> +</div> +<div id="c09" title="The Singer of Pietism"> +<div class="pb" id="pg_65">[65]</div> +<h4>Chapter Nine +<span class="chaptertitle">The Singer of Pietism</span></h4> +<p>The city of Tønder, when Brorson located there, had about +two thousand inhabitants. At one time it had belonged to +the German Dukes of Gottorp, and it was still largely German +speaking. Its splendid church had three pastors, two of whom +preached in German and the third, Brorson, in Danish.</p> +<p>The parish Pastor, Johan Herman Schraeder, was an outstanding +and highly respected man. Born at Hamburg in 1684, he +had in his younger days served as a tutor for the children of King +Frederick IV, Princess Charlotte Amalia and Prince Christian, +now reigning as King Christian VI.</p> +<p>Pastor Schraeder was a zealous Pietist and a leader of the +Pietist movement in Tønder and its neighboring territory. Like +the Brorsons he sought to encourage family devotions, Bible reading +and, especially, hymn singing. People are said to have become +so interested in the latter that they brought their hymnals +with them to work so that they might sing from them during lunch +hours. He himself was a noted hymnwriter and hymn collector, +who, shortly after Brorson became his assistant, published a German +hymnal, containing no less than 1157 hymns.</p> +<p>Schraeder, we are told, had been personally active in inducing +Brorson to leave his beloved Randrup and accept the call to +Tønder. As Brorson was known as an ardent Pietist, Schraeder’s +interest in bringing him to Tønder may have originated in a natural +wish to secure a congenial co-worker, but it may also have +sprung from an acquaintance with his work as a hymnwriter. For +although there is no direct evidence that any of Brorson’s hymns +were written at Randrup, a number of circumstances make it +highly probable that some of them were composed there and that +Schraeder was acquainted with them. Such a mutual interest +also helps to explain why Brorson should leave his fruitful work +at Randrup for an inferior position in a new field. It is certain +that the change brought him no outward advantages, and his +position as a Danish pastor in a largely German speaking community +must have presented certain unavoidable difficulties.</p> +<div class="pb" id="pg_66">[66]</div> +<p>Although Brorson to our knowledge took no part in the endless +contest between German and Danish, his personal preference was, +no doubt, for the latter. It is thus significant that, although he must +have been about equally familiar with both languages, he did not +write a single hymn in German. He showed no ill will toward his +German speaking compatriots, however, and worked harmoniously +with his German speaking co-workers. But this strongly +German atmosphere does constitute a peculiar setting for one of +the greatest hymnwriters of the Danish church.</p> +<p>The congregation at Tønder had formed the peculiar custom of +singing in German—even at the Danish service. It is self-evident, +however, that such a custom could not be satisfactory to Brorson. +He was a Pietist with the fervent longing of that movement for a +real spiritual communion with his fellow Christians. But a custom +that compelled the pastor and his congregation to speak in different +tongues was, of necessity, a hindrance to the consummation +of such a desire. And now Christmas was drawing near, that +joyful season which Brorson, as his hymns prove, loved so well +and must heartily have desired to share with his hearers, a desire +which this mixture of tongues to a certain extent, made impossible. +He and his congregation had to be one in language before they +could wholly be one in spirit.</p> +<p>And so, shortly before the great festival in 1732, he published a +small and unpretentious booklet entitled: <b>Some Christmas Hymns, +Composed to the Honor of God, the Edification of Christian Souls +and, in Particular, of My Beloved Congregation during the Approaching +Joyful Christmastide, Humbly and Hastily Written by +Hans Adolph Brorson</b>.</p> +<p>This simple appearing booklet at once places Brorson among the +great hymnwriters of the Christian church. It contains ten hymns, +seven of which are for the Christmas season. Nearly every one +of them is now counted among the classics of Danish hymnody.</p> +<p>Brorson seems at once to have reached the height of his ability +as a hymnwriter. His Christmas hymns present an intensity of +sentiment, a mastery of form and a perfection of poetical skill that +he rarely attained in his later work. They are frankly lyrical. +Unlike his great English contemporary, Isaac Watts, who held that +a hymn should not be a lyrical poem and deliberately reduced +the poetical quality of his work, Brorson believed that a Christian +should use “all his thought and skill to magnify the grace of God”. +The opinion of an English literary critic “that hymns cannot be +<span class="pb" id="pg_67">[67]</span> +considered as poetry” is disproved by Brorson’s work. Some of +his hymns contain poetry of the highest merit. Their phrasing is +in parts extremely lyrical, utilizing to the fullest extent the softness +and flexibility that is supposed to be an outstanding characteristic +of the Danish tongue; their metres are most skillfully blended +and their rhymes exceedingly varied. His masterly use of what +was often considered an inconsequential appendage to poetry is +extraordinarily skillful. Thus he frequently chooses a harsh or a +soft rhyme to emphasize the predominating sentiment of his verse.</p> +<p>Brorson is without doubt the most lyrical of all Danish hymnwriters. +Literary critics have rated some of his hymns with the +finest lyrics in the Danish language. Yet his poetry seldom degenerates +to a mere form. His fervid lyrical style usually serves +as an admirable vehicle for the warm religious sentiment of his song.</p> +<p>In their warm spirit and fervid style Brorson’s hymns in some +ways strikingly resemble the work of his great English contemporaries, +the Wesleys. Nor is this similarity a mere chance. The +Wesleys, as we know, were strongly influenced first by the Moravians +and later by the German Pietists. Besides a number of +Moravian hymns, John Wesley also translated several hymns from +the hymnbook compiled by the well-known Pietist, Johan Freylinghausen. +The fervid style and varied metres of these hymns +introduced a new type of church song into the English and American +churches. But Freylinghausen’s <b>Gesang-Buch</b> also formed the +basis of the hymnal compiled by Johan Herman Schraeder from +which Brorson chose most of the originals of his translations. Thus +both he and the Wesleys in a measure drew their inspiration from +the same source. The Danish poet and his English contemporaries +worked independently and mediated their inspiration in their +own way, but the resemblance of their work is unmistakable. In +poetical merit, however, the work of Brorson far excels that of +the Wesleys. But his Christmas hymns also surpass most earlier +Danish hymns and even the greater part of his own later work.</p> +<p>One’s first impression of the booklet that so greatly has enriched +the Christmas festival of Denmark and Norway, is likely to +be disappointing. At the time of Brorson the festival was frequently +desecrated by a ceaseless round of worldly amusements. +People attended the festival services of the church and spent the +remainder of the season in a whirl of secular and far from innocent +pleasures. With his Pietistic views Brorson naturally deplored +<span class="pb" id="pg_68">[68]</span> +such a misuse of the season. And his first hymn, therefore, sounds +an earnest call to cease these unseemly pleasures and to use the +festival in a Christian way.</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Cast out all worldly pleasure</p> +<p class="t0">This blessed Christmastide,</p> +<p class="t0">And seek the boundless treasure</p> +<p class="t0">That Jesus doth provide.</p> +</div> +<p>But although such a warning may have been timely, then as +now, it hardly expresses the real Christmas spirit. In the next +hymn, however, he at once strikes the true festival note in one +of the most triumphant Christmas anthems in the Danish or any +other language.</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">This blessed Christmastide we will,</p> +<p class="t0">With heart and mind rejoicing,</p> +<p class="t0">Employ our every thought and skill,</p> +<p class="t0">God’s grace and honor voicing.</p> +<p class="t0">In Him that in the manger lay</p> +<p class="t0">We will with all our might today</p> +<p class="t0">Exult in heart and spirit,</p> +<p class="t0">And hail Him as our Lord and King</p> +<p class="t0">Till earth’s remotest bounds shall ring</p> +<p class="t0">With praises of His merit.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">A little Child of Jesse’s stem,</p> +<p class="t0">And Son of God in heaven,</p> +<p class="t0">To earth from heaven’s glory came</p> +<p class="t0">And was for sinners given.</p> +<p class="t0">It so distressed His loving heart</p> +<p class="t0">To see the world from God depart</p> +<p class="t0">And in transgression languish,</p> +<p class="t0">That He forsook His home above</p> +<p class="t0">And came to earth in tender love</p> +<p class="t0">To bear our grief and anguish.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Therefore we hymn His praises here</p> +<p class="t0">And though we are but lowly,</p> +<p class="t0">Our loud hosannas everywhere</p> +<p class="t0">Shall voice His mercy holy.</p> +<p class="t0">The tent of God is now with man,</p> +<p class="t0">And He will dwell with us again</p> +<p class="t0">When in His name assembling.</p> +<p class="t0">And we shall shout His name anew</p> +<p class="t0">Till hell itself must listen to</p> +<p class="t0">Our Christmas song with trembling.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">And though our song of joy be fraught</p> +<p class="t0">With strains of lamentation,</p> +<p class="t0">The burden of our cross shall not</p> +<div class="pb" id="pg_69">[69]</div> +<p class="t0">Subdue our jubilation.</p> +<p class="t0">For when the heart is most distressed,</p> +<p class="t0">The harp of joy is tuned so best</p> +<p class="t0">Its chords of joy are ringing,</p> +<p class="t0">And broken hearts best comprehend</p> +<p class="t0">The boundless joy our Lord and Friend</p> +<p class="t0">This Christmas day is bringing.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Hallelujah, our strife is o’er!</p> +<p class="t0">Who would henceforth with sadness</p> +<p class="t0">Repine and weep in sorrow sore</p> +<p class="t0">This blessed day of gladness.</p> +<p class="t0">Rejoice, rejoice, ye saints on earth,</p> +<p class="t0">And sing the wonders of His birth</p> +<p class="t0">Whose glory none can measure.</p> +<p class="t0">Hallelujah, the Lord is mine,</p> +<p class="t0">And I am now by grace divine</p> +<p class="t0">The heir of all His treasure!</p> +</div> +<p>Equally fine but more quietly contemplative is the next hymn +in the collection which takes us right to the focal point of Christmas +worship, the stable at Bethlehem.</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">My heart remains in wonder</p> +<p class="t0">Before that lowly bed</p> +<p class="t0">Within the stable yonder</p> +<p class="t0">Where Christ, my Lord, was laid.</p> +<p class="t0">My faith finds there its treasure,</p> +<p class="t0">My soul its pure delight,</p> +<p class="t0">Its joy beyond all measure,</p> +<p class="t0">The Lord of Christmas night.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">But Oh! my heart is riven</p> +<p class="t0">With grief and sore dismay</p> +<p class="t0">To see the Lord of heaven</p> +<p class="t0">Must rest on straw and hay,</p> +<p class="t0">That He whom angels offer</p> +<p class="t0">Their worship and acclaim</p> +<p class="t0">From sinful man must suffer</p> +<p class="t0">Such scorn, neglect and shame.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Why should not castles royal</p> +<p class="t0">Before Him open stand,</p> +<p class="t0">And kings, as servants loyal,</p> +<p class="t0">Obey His least command?</p> +<p class="t0">Why came He not in splendor</p> +<p class="t0">Arrayed in robes of light</p> +<p class="t0">And called the world to render</p> +<p class="t0">Its homage to His might?</p> +</div> +<div class="pb" id="pg_70">[70]</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">The sparrow finds a gable</p> +<p class="t0">Where it may build its nest,</p> +<p class="t0">The oxen know a stable</p> +<p class="t0">For shelter, food and rest;</p> +<p class="t0">Must then my Lord and Savior</p> +<p class="t0">A homeless stranger be,</p> +<p class="t0">Denied the simplest favor</p> +<p class="t0">His lowly creatures see.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">O come, my Lord, I pray Thee,</p> +<p class="t0">And be my honored guest.</p> +<p class="t0">I will in love array Thee</p> +<p class="t0">A home within my breast.</p> +<p class="t0">It cannot be a stranger</p> +<p class="t0">To Thee, who made it free.</p> +<p class="t0">Thou shalt find there a manger</p> +<p class="t0">Warmed by my love to Thee.</p> +</div> +<p>Far different from this song of quiet contemplation is the +searching hymn that follows it.</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">How do we exalt the Father</p> +<p class="t0">That He sent His Son to earth.</p> +<p class="t0">Many with indifference gather</p> +<p class="t0">At His gift of boundless worth.</p> +</div> +<p>This is followed by another hymn of praise.</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Lift up your voice once more</p> +<p class="t0">The Savior to adore.</p> +<p class="t0">Let all unite in spirit</p> +<p class="t0">And praise the grace and merit</p> +<p class="t0">Of Jesus Christ, the Holy,</p> +<p class="t0">Our joy and glory solely.</p> +</div> +<p>And then comes “The Fairest of Roses”, which a distinguished +critic calls “one of the most perfect lyrics in the Danish language”. +This hymn is inspired by a text from the Song of Songs “I am the +rose of Sharon and the lily of the valley”. It is written as +an allegory, a somewhat subdued form of expression that in this +case serves admirably to convey an impression of restrained fire. +Its style is reminiscent of the folk songs, with the first stanza +introducing the general theme of the song, the appearance of the +rose, that is, of the Savior in a lost and indifferent world. The +remainder of the verses are naturally divided into three parts: a +description of the dying world in which God causes the rose to +appear, a lament over the world’s indifference to the gift which it +should have received with joy and gratitude, and a glowing +declaration of what the rose means to the poet himself.</p> +<div class="pb" id="pg_71">[71]</div> +<p>Many chapters have been written about the poetic excellencies +of this hymn, such as the perfect balance of its parts, the admirable +treatment of the contrast between the rose and the thorns, +and the skillful choice of rhymes to underscore the predominating +sentiment of each verse. But some of these excellencies have no +doubt been lost in the translation and can be appreciated only +by a study of the original. English translations of the hymn have +been made by German-, Swedish-, and Norwegian-American writers, +indicating its wide popularity. The following is but another +attempt to produce a more adequate rendering of this beautiful +song.</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Now found is the fairest of roses,</p> +<p class="t0">Midst briars it sweetly reposes.</p> +<p class="t0">My Jesus, unsullied and holy,</p> +<p class="t0">Abode among sinners most lowly.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Since man his Creator deserted,</p> +<p class="t0">And wholly His image perverted,</p> +<p class="t0">The world like a desert was lying,</p> +<p class="t0">And all in transgressions were dying.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">But God, as His promises granted,</p> +<p class="t0">A rose in the desert hath planted,</p> +<p class="t0">Which now with its sweetness endoweth</p> +<p class="t0">The race that in sinfulness groweth.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">All people should now with sweet savor</p> +<p class="t0">Give praise unto God for His favor;</p> +<p class="t0">But many have ne’er comprehended</p> +<p class="t0">The rose to the world hath descended.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Ye sinners as vile in behavior</p> +<p class="t0">As thorns in the crown of the Savior,</p> +<p class="t0">Why are ye so prideful in spirit,</p> +<p class="t0">Content with your self-righteous merit?</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">O seek ye the places more lowly,</p> +<p class="t0">And weep before Jesus, the Holy,</p> +<p class="t0">Then come ye His likeness the nearest;</p> +<p class="t0">The rose in the valley grows fairest.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">My Jesus, Thou ever remainest</p> +<p class="t0">My wonderful rose who sustainest</p> +<p class="t0">My heart in the fullness of pleasure;</p> +<p class="t0">Thy sweetness alone I will treasure.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">The world may of all things bereave me,</p> +<p class="t0">Its thorns may assail and aggrieve me,</p> +<p class="t0">The foe may great anguish engender:</p> +<p class="t0">My rose I will never surrender.</p> +</div> +<div class="pb" id="pg_72">[72]</div> +<p>The last Christmas hymn of the collection is printed under the +heading: “A Little Hymn for the Children”, and is composed from +the text “Have ye not read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings +thou hast perfected praise”. Said to be the oldest children’s +hymn in Danish, it is still one of the finest. It is written as a +processional. The children come hastening on to Bethlehem to find +the new-born Lord and offer Him their homage. One almost hears +their pattering feet and happy voices as they rush forward singing:</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Here come Thy little ones, O Lord,</p> +<p class="t0">To Thee in Bethlehem adored.</p> +<p class="t0">Enlighten now our heart and mind</p> +<p class="t0">That we the way to Thee may find.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">We hasten with a song to greet</p> +<p class="t0">And kneel before Thee at Thy feet.</p> +<p class="t0">O blessed hour, O sacred night,</p> +<p class="t0">When Thou wert born, our soul’s Delight!</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Be welcome from Thy heavenly home</p> +<p class="t0">Unto this vale of tears and gloom,</p> +<p class="t0">Where man to Thee no honor gave</p> +<p class="t0">But stable, manger, cross and grave.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">But Jesus, oh! how can it be</p> +<p class="t0">That but so few will think of Thee</p> +<p class="t0">And of that tender, wondrous love</p> +<p class="t0">Which drew Thee to us from above?</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">O draw us little children near</p> +<p class="t0">To Thee, our Friend and Brother dear,</p> +<p class="t0">That each of us so heartily</p> +<p class="t0">In faith and love may cling to Thee.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Let not the world lead us astray</p> +<p class="t0">That we our Christian faith betray,</p> +<p class="t0">But grant that all our longings be</p> +<p class="t0">Directed always unto Thee.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Then shall the happy day once come</p> +<p class="t0">When we shall gather in Thy home</p> +<p class="t0">And join the angels’ joyful throng</p> +<p class="t0">In praising Thee with triumph song.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">We gather now about Thee close</p> +<p class="t0">Like leaves around the budding rose,</p> +<p class="t0">O grant us, Savior, that we may</p> +<p class="t0">Thus cluster round Thy throne for aye.</p> +</div> +<div class="pb" id="pg_73">[73]</div> +<p>His Christmas hymns were so well received that Brorson was +encouraged to continue his writing. During the following year +he published no less than five collections bearing the titles: <b>Some +Advent Hymns</b>, <b>Some Passion Hymns</b>, <b>Some Easter Hymns</b>, <b>Some +Pentecost Hymns</b>, and <b>Hymns for the Minor Festivals</b>. All of these +hymns were likewise kindly received and therefore he continued +to send out new collections, publishing during the following years +a whole series of hymns on various phases of Christian faith and +life. In 1739, all these hymns were collected into one volume and +published under the title: <b>The Rare Clenod of Faith</b>.</p> +<p>This now famous book contains in all 67 original and 216 translated +hymns. The arrangement of the hymns follows in the main +the order of the Lutheran catechism, covering not only every +division but almost every subdivision of the book. Brorson, it +appears, must have written his hymns after a preconceived plan, +a rather unusual method for a hymnwriter to follow.</p> +<p><b>The Rare Clenod of Faith</b> fails as a whole to maintain the high +standard of the Christmas hymns. Although the language, as in +all that Brorson wrote, is pure and melodious, the poetic flight and +fresh sentiment of his earlier work is lacking to some extent in +the latter part of the collection. One reason for this is thought to +be that Brorson, on locating at Tønder, had come into closer contact +with the more extreme views of Pietism. The imprint of that +movement, at least, is more distinct upon his later than upon his +earlier work. The great preponderance of his translated over his +original hymns also affects the spirit of the collection. He was not +always fortunate in the selection of the original material for his +translations. Some of these express the excessive Pietistic contemplation +of the Savior’s blood and wounds; others are rhymed +sermons rather than songs of praise.</p> +<p>Despite these defects, <b>The Rare Clenod of Faith</b>, still ranks +with the great books of hymnody. It contains a wealth of hymns +that will never die. Even the less successful of its compositions +present a true Evangelical message, a message that, at times, +sounds a stern call to awake and “shake off that sinful sleep before +to you is closed the open door” and, at others, pleads softly for a +closer walk with God, a deeper understanding of His ways and a +firmer trust in His grace. There are many strings on Brorson’s +harp, but they all sound a note of vital faith.</p> +<p>Judging Brorson’s original hymns to be far superior to his +translations, some have deplored that he should have spent so +<span class="pb" id="pg_74">[74]</span> +much of his time in transferring the work of others. And it is, no +doubt, true that his original hymns are as a whole superior to his +translations. But many of these are so fine that their elimination +would now appear like an irreplaceable loss to Danish hymnody. +The constant love with which many of them have been used for +more than two hundred years should silence the claim that a translated +hymn must of necessity be less valuable than an original. A +considerable number of the originals of Brorson’s most favored +translations have long been forgotten.</p> +<p>As a translator Brorson is usually quite faithful to the originals, +following them as closely as the differences in language +and mode of expression permit. He is not slavishly bound, however, +to his text. His constant aim is to reproduce his text in a pure +and idiomatic Danish. And as his own poetic skill in most cases +was superior to that of the original writer, his translations are +often greatly superior to their originals in poetical merit.</p> +<p>Although the translation of a translation of necessity presents +a very unreliable yard-stick of a man’s work, the following translation +of Brorson’s version of the well-known German hymn, “Ich +Will Dich Lieben, Meine Starke” may at least indicate the nature +of his work as a translator.</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Thee will I love, my strength, my Treasure;</p> +<p class="t0">My heart in Thee finds peace and joy.</p> +<p class="t0">Thee will I love in fullest measure,</p> +<p class="t0">And in Thy cause my life employ.</p> +<p class="t0">Thee will I love and serve alone.</p> +<p class="t0">Lord, take me as Thine own.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Thee will I love, my Life Eternal,</p> +<p class="t0">My Guide and Shepherd on Life’s way.</p> +<p class="t0">Thou leadest me to pastures vernal,</p> +<p class="t0">And to the light of endless day.</p> +<p class="t0">Thee will I love, Whose blood was spilt</p> +<p class="t0">To cleanse my soul from guilt.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Long, long wert Thou to me a stranger,</p> +<p class="t0">Though Thou didst love me first of all,</p> +<p class="t0">I strayed afar in sin and danger</p> +<p class="t0">And heeded not Thy loving call</p> +<p class="t0">Until I found that peace of heart</p> +<p class="t0">Thou canst alone impart.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Lord, cast not out Thy child, returning</p> +<p class="t0">A wanderer, naked and forlorn.</p> +<p class="t0">The tempting world, I sought with yearning,</p> +<div class="pb" id="pg_75">[75]</div> +<p class="t0">Had naught to give but grief and scorn.</p> +<p class="t0">In Thee alone for all its grief</p> +<p class="t0">My heart now finds relief.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Thee will I love and worship ever,</p> +<p class="t0">My Lord, my God and Brother dear!</p> +<p class="t0">Must every earthly tie I sever</p> +<p class="t0">And naught but sorrow suffer here,</p> +<p class="t0">Thee will I love, my Lord divine;</p> +<p class="t0">O Jesus, call me Thine.</p> +</div> +<p>Equally characteristic of his work is his translation of the less-known +but appealing German hymn “Der Schmale Weg Ist Breit +Genug zum Leben”.</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">The narrow way is wide enough to heaven</p> +<p class="t0">For those who walk straight-forward and with care</p> +<p class="t0">And take each step with watchfulness and prayer.</p> +<p class="t0">When we are by the Spirit driven,</p> +<p class="t0">The narrow way is wide enough to heaven.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">The way of God is full of grace and beauty</p> +<p class="t0">For those who unto Him in faith have turned</p> +<p class="t0">And have His way with love and ardor learned.</p> +<p class="t0">When we accept His call and duty,</p> +<p class="t0">The way of God is full of grace and beauty.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">The yoke of God is not too hard to carry</p> +<p class="t0">For those who love His blessed will and way</p> +<p class="t0">And shall their carnal pride in meekness slay.</p> +<p class="t0">When we with Him in faith will tarry,</p> +<p class="t0">The yoke of God is not too hard to carry.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">O Jesus, help me Thy blest way to follow.</p> +<p class="t0">Thou knowest best my weak and fainting heart</p> +<p class="t0">And must not let me from Thy way depart.</p> +<p class="t0">I shall Thy name with praises hallow,</p> +<p class="t0">If Thou wilt help me Thy blest way to follow.</p> +</div> +<p>But fine as many of his translations are, Brorson’s main claim +to fame must rest, of course, upon his original compositions. +These are of varying merit. His Christmas hymns were followed +by a number of hymns for the festivals of the church year. While +some of these are excellent, others are merely rhymed meditations +upon the meaning of the season and lack the freshness of his +Christmas anthems. The triumphant Easter hymn given below +belongs to the finest of the group.</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Christians, who with sorrow</p> +<p class="t0">On this Easter morrow</p> +<p class="t0">Watch the Savior’s tomb,</p> +<div class="pb" id="pg_76">[76]</div> +<p class="t0">Banish all your sadness,</p> +<p class="t0">On this day of gladness</p> +<p class="t0">Joy must vanquish gloom.</p> +<p class="t0">Christ this hour</p> +<p class="t0">With mighty power</p> +<p class="t0">Crushed the foe who would detain Him;</p> +<p class="t0">Nothing could restrain Him.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Rise, ye feeble-hearted,</p> +<p class="t0">Who have pined and smarted,</p> +<p class="t0">Vexed by sin and dread.</p> +<p class="t0">He has burst the prison</p> +<p class="t0">And with might arisen,</p> +<p class="t0">Jesus, Who was dead.</p> +<p class="t0">And His bride</p> +<p class="t0">For whom He died,</p> +<p class="t0">He from sin and death now raises;</p> +<p class="t0">Hail Him then with praises.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">When our sins aggrieve us,</p> +<p class="t0">Jesus will receive us,</p> +<p class="t0">All our debt He paid.</p> +<p class="t0">We, who were transgressors</p> +<p class="t0">Are now blest possessors</p> +<p class="t0">Of His grace and aid.</p> +<p class="t0">When in death</p> +<p class="t0">He gave His breath</p> +<p class="t0">To the cruel foe He yielded</p> +<p class="t0">That we should be shielded.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Earth! where are thy wonders!</p> +<p class="t0">Hell! where are thy thunders!</p> +<p class="t0">Death, where is thy sting!</p> +<p class="t0">Jesus rose victorious,</p> +<p class="t0">Reigns in heaven glorious</p> +<p class="t0">As our Lord and King.</p> +<p class="t0">Him, the Lord,</p> +<p class="t0">Who did accord</p> +<p class="t0">Us so great a joy and favor,</p> +<p class="t0">We will praise forever.</p> +</div> +<p>Brorson’s other hymns are too numerous to permit a more than +cursory review. Beginning with the subject of creation, he wrote +a number of excellent hymns on the work and providence of God. +Best known among these is the hymn given below, which is said +to have so pleased the king that he chose its author to become +bishop. The hymn is thought to have been written while Brorson +was still at Randrup. But whether this be so or not, it is evidently +inspired by the natural scenery of that locality.</p> +<div class="pb" id="pg_77">[77]</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Arise, all things that God hath made<sup><a id="fr_5" href="#fn_5">[5]</a></sup></p> +<p class="t0">And praise His name and glory;</p> +<p class="t0">Great is the least His hand arrayed,</p> +<p class="t0">And tells a wondrous story.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Would all the kings of earth display</p> +<p class="t0">Their utmost pomp and power,</p> +<p class="t0">They could not make a leaflet stay</p> +<p class="t0">And grow upon a flower.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">How could the wisdom I compass</p> +<p class="t0">To show the grace and wonder</p> +<p class="t0">Of but the smallest blade of grass</p> +<p class="t0">On which the mind would ponder.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">What shall I say when I admire</p> +<p class="t0">The verdant meadows blooming,</p> +<p class="t0">And listen to the joyful choir</p> +<p class="t0">Of birds above them zooming.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">What shall I say when I descry</p> +<p class="t0">Deep in the restless ocean</p> +<p class="t0">The myriad creatures passing by</p> +<p class="t0">In swift and ceaseless motion.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">What shall I say when I behold</p> +<p class="t0">The stars in countless numbers</p> +<p class="t0">Display their light and charm untold</p> +<p class="t0">While nature sweetly slumbers.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">What shall I say when I ascend</p> +<p class="t0">To Him Who made creation,</p> +<p class="t0">And see the angel host attend</p> +<p class="t0">His throne with adoration.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">What shall I say—vain are my words</p> +<p class="t0">And humble my opinion!</p> +<p class="t0">Great is Thy wisdom, Lord of lords,</p> +<p class="t0">Thy glory and dominion!</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Lift up your voice with one accord</p> +<p class="t0">Now, every tribe and nation:</p> +<p class="t0">Hallelujah, great is our Lord</p> +<p class="t0">And wondrous His creation!</p> +</div> +<p>The Pietist movement is known for its fervid glorification of +the Savior, and particularly of His blood and wounds, a glorification +which at times appears objectionable because of the too-familiar +and realistic terms in which it is expressed. Brorson did +not wholly escape the excesses of the movement in this respect, +<span class="pb" id="pg_78">[78]</span> +especially in his translations. In his original hymns the excesses +are less apparent. However faithful he might be to the movement +he possessed a wholesome restraint which, when he was +not following others, caused him to moderate its most inappropriate +extravagances. What can be more reverent than this beautiful +tribute to the Savior:</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Jesus, name of wondrous grace,</p> +<p class="t0">Fount of mercy and salvation,</p> +<p class="t0">First fruit of the new creation,</p> +<p class="t0">Weary sinners’ resting place,</p> +<p class="t0">Banner of the faith victorious,</p> +<p class="t0">Anchor of our hope and love,</p> +<p class="t0">Guide us in Thy footsteps glorious,</p> +<p class="t0">Bear us to Thy home above.</p> +</div> +<p>Or more expressive than this jubilant hymn of adoration:</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">O Thou blest Immanuel!</p> +<p class="t0">What exceeding joy from heaven</p> +<p class="t0">Hast Thou caused in me to dwell</p> +<p class="t0">By Thy life for sinners given.</p> +<p class="t0">Thou hast broke the bands at last</p> +<p class="t0">Which my yearning soul held fast.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">In Thine arms I find relief,</p> +<p class="t0">Soon Thy home I shall inherit,</p> +<p class="t0">Sin and sorrow, death and grief</p> +<p class="t0">Nevermore shall vex my spirit.</p> +<p class="t0">For Thy word confirms the pledge</p> +<p class="t0">Of my lasting heritage.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Lord, my praise ascends to Thee</p> +<p class="t0">For these days of joy and sorrow;</p> +<p class="t0">They shall end in jubilee</p> +<p class="t0">On that blest eternal morrow</p> +<p class="t0">When the Sun of Paradise</p> +<p class="t0">Shall for me in splendor rise.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Rise in joyful faith, my soul!</p> +<p class="t0">Banish all thy grief and sadness.</p> +<p class="t0">Strong the stream of life shall roll</p> +<p class="t0">Through my heart with constant gladness.</p> +<p class="t0">Jesus, Who mine anguish bore,</p> +<p class="t0">Be now praised for evermore.</p> +</div> +<p>Most beautiful is also his hymn to the Lamb of God, translated +by Pastor D. G. M. Bach.</p> +<div class="pb" id="pg_79">[79]</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">I see Thee stand, O Lamb of God,</p> +<p class="t0">On Zion’s mountain peak.</p> +<p class="t0">But Oh the way that Thou hast trod,</p> +<p class="t0">So long, so hard, so bleak!</p> +<p class="t0">What Thou didst suffer for our woe,</p> +<p class="t0">No man can ever know.</p> +</div> +<p>Though Brorson made a number of excellent translations of +hymns to the Spirit such as the beautiful, “Come, Rains from the +Heavens, to Strengthen and Nourish the Languishing Field,” he +wrote no outstanding Pentecost hymns of his own composition. +It remained for Grundtvig to supply the Danish church with a +wealth of unexcelled hymns on the Holy Ghost.</p> +<p>Aside from his Christmas hymns, Brorson’s greatest contribution +to hymnody is perhaps his revival hymns, a type in which +the Lutheran church is rather poor. The special message of the +Pietist movement was an earnest call to awake, and Brorson +repeated that call with an appealing insistence and earnestness. +The word of God has been sown, but where are its fruits?</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">O Father, may Thy word prevail</p> +<p class="t0">Against the power of Hell!</p> +<p class="t0">Behold the vineyard Thou hast tilled</p> +<p class="t0">With thorns and thistles filled.</p> +<p class="t0">’Tis true, the plants are there,</p> +<p class="t0">But ah, how weak and rare,</p> +<p class="t0">How slight the power and evidence</p> +<p class="t0">Of word and sacraments.</p> +</div> +<p>It is, therefore, time for all Christians to awake.</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Awaken from your idle dreaming!</p> +<p class="t0">Ye lukewarm Christians, now arise.</p> +<p class="t0">Behold, the light from heaven streaming</p> +<p class="t0">Proclaims the day of mercy flies.</p> +<p class="t0">Throw off that sinful sleep before</p> +<p class="t0">To you is closed the open door.</p> +</div> +<p>Many are heedless, taking no thought of the day when all shall +appear before the judgment of God. Such people should arouse +themselves and prepare for the rendering of their account.</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">O heart, prepare to give account</p> +<p class="t0">Of all thy sore transgression.</p> +<p class="t0">To God, of grace and love the Fount,</p> +<p class="t0">Make thou a full confession.</p> +<p class="t0">What hast thou done these many years</p> +<div class="pb" id="pg_80">[80]</div> +<p class="t0">The Lord hath thee afforded.</p> +<p class="t0">Nothing but sin and earthly cares</p> +<p class="t0">Is in God’s book recorded.</p> +</div> +<p>He realizes that many continue in their sin because of ignorance, +and with these he pleads so softly:</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">If thou but knew the life that thou are leading</p> +<p class="t0">In sin and shame is Satan’s tyranny,</p> +<p class="t0">Thou wouldest kneel and with the Lord be pleading</p> +<p class="t0">That He thy soul from bondage would set free.</p> +<p class="t0">Oh, how the Saviour would rejoice</p> +<p class="t0">If thou today should’st listen to His voice!</p> +</div> +<p>And the day of salvation is now at hand.</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">O, seek the Lord today,</p> +<p class="t0">Today He hath salvation.</p> +<p class="t0">Approach Him while He may</p> +<p class="t0">Still hear thy supplication.</p> +<p class="t0">Repent and seek His grace</p> +<p class="t0">While yet His call doth sound,</p> +<p class="t0">Yea turn to Him thy face</p> +<p class="t0">While still He may be found.</p> +</div> +<p>Orthodoxy had instilled a formal, but often spiritless faith. +Pietism aimed to awaken the great mass of formal believers to a +new life, a living and active faith. This is strongly expressed in +the very popular hymn below.</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">The faith that Christ embraces<sup><a id="fr_6" href="#fn_6">[6]</a></sup></p> +<p class="t0">And purifies the hearts</p> +<p class="t0">The faith that boldly faces</p> +<p class="t0">The devil’s fiery darts,</p> +<p class="t0">That faith is strong and must</p> +<p class="t0">Withstand the world’s temptation</p> +<p class="t0">And in all tribulation,</p> +<p class="t0">In Christ, the Saviour, trust.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">The faith that knows no struggle</p> +<p class="t0">Against the power of sin,</p> +<p class="t0">The faith that sounds no bugle</p> +<p class="t0">To waken, fight and win,</p> +<p class="t0">That faith is dead and vain,</p> +<p class="t0">Its sacred name disgracing,</p> +<p class="t0">And impotent when facing</p> +<p class="t0">The devil’s mighty reign.</p> +</div> +<div class="pb" id="pg_81">[81]</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">A Christian wears his armor</p> +<p class="t0">To wage the war of faith</p> +<p class="t0">Against the crafty charmer,</p> +<p class="t0">His foe in life and death.</p> +<p class="t0">With Jesus he must stand</p> +<p class="t0">Undaunted and victorious,</p> +<p class="t0">If he would win his glorious</p> +<p class="t0">Reward at God’s right hand.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">It is a comfort pleasing</p> +<p class="t0">In our embattled life,</p> +<p class="t0">To feel our strength increasing</p> +<p class="t0">In trying days of strife.</p> +<p class="t0">And as our days shall be</p> +<p class="t0">The Lord will help accord us</p> +<p class="t0">And with His gifts reward us</p> +<p class="t0">When striving faithfully.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">O Lord, my hope most fervent,</p> +<p class="t0">My refuge in all woe,</p> +<p class="t0">I will hence be Thy servant</p> +<p class="t0">Through all my days below.</p> +<p class="t0">Let come whatever may,</p> +<p class="t0">I will exalt Thee ever,</p> +<p class="t0">And ask no other favor</p> +<p class="t0">Than live with Thee for aye.</p> +</div> +<p>Although Brorson knew that—</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">The cost is greater than at first expected</p> +<p class="t0">To be in God's unbounded gifts perfected.</p> +</div> +<p>he holds that</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">It does not cost too hard a strife</p> +<p class="t0">To be a Christian, pure and heaven-minded,—</p> +</div> +<p>But a Christian must be steadfast and persevering, as he admonishes +himself and others in the following very popular hymn. +The translation is by Pastor P. C. Paulsen.</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Stand fast, my soul, stand fast</p> +<p class="t0">In Christ, thy Saviour!</p> +<p class="t0">Lose not the war at last</p> +<p class="t0">By faint behaviour.</p> +<p class="t0">It is of no avail</p> +<p class="t0">That thou hast known Him</p> +<p class="t0">If when thy foes assail,</p> +<p class="t0">Thou shalt His banner fail,</p> +<p class="t0">And thus disown Him.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">To brandish high thy sword,</p> +<p class="t0">With calm assurance,</p> +<p class="t0">And face the devil’s horde</p> +<div class="pb" id="pg_82">[82]</div> +<p class="t0">With brave endurance,</p> +<p class="t0">Is meet and well begun,</p> +<p class="t0">And merits praising.</p> +<p class="t0">But from the strife to run,</p> +<p class="t0">When blows thy courage stun,</p> +<p class="t0">Is most disgracing.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Let Satan rave and rage</p> +<p class="t0">By hosts attended,</p> +<p class="t0">The war for Christ I wage</p> +<p class="t0">Until it’s ended.</p> +<p class="t0">When leaning on His arm</p> +<p class="t0">With firm reliance,</p> +<p class="t0">I need not take alarm,</p> +<p class="t0">To me can come no harm</p> +<p class="t0">From Hell’s defiance.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">When Jesus’ love I see,</p> +<p class="t0">It me constraineth,</p> +<p class="t0">So that from carnal glee</p> +<p class="t0">My soul abstaineth.</p> +<p class="t0">When heaven to me is dear,</p> +<p class="t0">Its joys attractive,</p> +<p class="t0">Of hell I have no fear,</p> +<p class="t0">For Christ, my Lord, is near,</p> +<p class="t0">In battle active.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">In just a little while</p> +<p class="t0">The strife is ended,</p> +<p class="t0">And I from Satan’s guile</p> +<p class="t0">For aye defended.</p> +<p class="t0">Then I, where all is well,</p> +<p class="t0">In heaven’s glory,</p> +<p class="t0">Among the saints shall dwell,</p> +<p class="t0">And with rejoicing tell</p> +<p class="t0">Salvation’s story.</p> +</div> +<p>Therefore children of God should rejoice.</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Children of God, born again by His Spirit,</p> +<p class="t0">Never ye cease in His name to rejoice;</p> +<p class="t0">Jesus believing and saved by His merit,</p> +<p class="t0">Come we to Him with a jubilant voice.</p> +</div> +<p>But even a child of God must not expect to escape from the +common trials and perils of life. God promises assistance but not +exemption to those who love Him. In the following striking hymn, +Brorson vividly pictures both the trials and the comfort of a +child of God.</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">I walk in danger everywhere,<sup><a id="fr_7" href="#fn_7">[7]</a></sup></p> +<p class="t0">The thought must never leave me,</p> +<div class="pb" id="pg_83">[83]</div> +<p class="t0">That Satan watches to ensnare</p> +<p class="t0">And with his guile deceive me.</p> +<p class="t0">His cunning pitfalls may</p> +<p class="t0">Make me an easy prey</p> +<p class="t0">Unless I guard myself with care;</p> +<p class="t0">I walk in danger everywhere.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">I walk through trials everywhere;</p> +<p class="t0">The world no help can offer.</p> +<p class="t0">The burdens I am called to bear</p> +<p class="t0">I must with patience suffer;</p> +<p class="t0">Though often I discern</p> +<p class="t0">No place where I may turn</p> +<p class="t0">When clouds surround me far and near;</p> +<p class="t0">Death walks beside me everywhere.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Death walks besides me everywhere;</p> +<p class="t0">Its shadows oft appall me.</p> +<p class="t0">I know not when the hour is here</p> +<p class="t0">When God from earth shall call me.</p> +<p class="t0">A moment’s failing breath,</p> +<p class="t0">And I am cold in death,</p> +<p class="t0">Faced with eternity fore’er;</p> +<p class="t0">Death walks besides me everywhere.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">I walk ’mongst angels everywhere;</p> +<p class="t0">They are my sure defenders;</p> +<p class="t0">The hordes of hell in vain prepare</p> +<p class="t0">Against such strong contenders.</p> +<p class="t0">All doubts and fears must flee,</p> +<p class="t0">With angels guarding me;</p> +<p class="t0">No foe can harm me in their care;</p> +<p class="t0">I walk ’mongst angels everywhere.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">I walk with Jesus everywhere;</p> +<p class="t0">His goodness never fails me.</p> +<p class="t0">I rest beneath His shielding care</p> +<p class="t0">When trouble sore assails me.</p> +<p class="t0">And by His footsteps led,</p> +<p class="t0">My path I safely tread.</p> +<p class="t0">Despite all ills my foes prepare:</p> +<p class="t0">I walk with Jesus everywhere.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">I walk to heaven everywhere,</p> +<p class="t0">Preparing for the morrow</p> +<p class="t0">When God shall hear my anxious prayer</p> +<p class="t0">And banish all my sorrow.</p> +<p class="t0">Be quiet then, my soul,</p> +<p class="t0">Press onward to thy goal.</p> +<p class="t0">All carnal pleasures thou forswear,</p> +<p class="t0">And walk to heaven everywhere.</p> +</div> +<div class="pb" id="pg_84">[84]</div> +<p>Unlike Kingo and Grundtvig, Brorson wrote no outstanding +hymns on the sacraments. Pietism was in the main a revival +movement and placed no special emphasis on the means of grace. +And although Brorson remained a loyal son of the established +church, he wrote his finest hymns on those phases of Christianity +most earnestly emphasized by the movement to which he belonged. +While this is only what could be expected, it indicates both his +strength and limitation as a hymnwriter. He was above all the +sweet singer of Pietism.</p> +<p>The hymns of Brorson that appeared during his lifetime were +all written within the space of four years. In that brief period he +composed a volume of songs that rank with the finest in the Christian +church, and just as he might have been expected to produce +his finest work, he discontinued his effort. The hymns of the +<b>Swan-Song</b>—which we shall discuss later—though written for his +own edification, indicate what he might have attained if he had +continued to write for publication. His reason for thus putting +aside the lyre, which for a little while he had played so appealingly, +is unknown. Some have suggested that he wrote his hymns +according to a preconceived plan, which, when completed, he felt +no inclination to enlarge; others have surmised that the new and +ardent duties, bestowed upon him about this time, deprived him +of the leisure to write. But as Brorson himself expressed no reason +for his action, no one really knows why this sweet singer of Pietism +so suddenly ceased to sing.</p> +<div class="fnblock"> +<div class="fndef"><sup><a id="fn_5" href="#fr_5">[5]</a></sup>Another translation with the same first line by A. M. Andersen in “Hymnal for Church and Home”. +</div> +<div class="fndef"><sup><a id="fn_6" href="#fr_6">[6]</a></sup>Another translation: “The faith that God believeth” by P. C. Paulsen in “Hymnal for Church and Home”. +</div> +<div class="fndef"><sup><a id="fn_7" href="#fr_7">[7]</a></sup>Another translation: “I walk in danger all the way” by D. G. Ristad in “Hymnal for Church and Home”. +</div> +</div> +</div> +<div id="c10" title="Brorson’s SWAN-SONG"> +<h4>Chapter Ten +<span class="chaptertitle">Brorson’s SWAN-SONG</span></h4> +<p>The Pietist movement, new and numerically small when +the Brorsons aligned themselves with it, made such sweeping +progress that within a few years it became the most powerful +movement within the Danish church. And in 1739, it ascended the +throne in the persons of King Christian VI and his consort, Queen +Sophia Magdalene of Kulmbach, an event of great significance to +the fortunes of the Brorsons.</p> +<div class="pb" id="pg_85">[85]</div> +<p>In Denmark the king is officially the head of the church. At +the time of Brorson all church appointments belonged to him, and +King Christian VI, if he had so wanted, could thus have filled all +vacancies with adherents of the movement in which he sincerely +believed. He was, however, no fanatic. Earnestly concerned, as +he no doubt was, to further the spiritual welfare of his subjects, +his only desire was to supply all church positions at his disposal +with good and able men. And as such the Brorsons were recommended +to him by his old tutor and adviser in church affairs, +John Herman Schraeder. On this recommendation, he successively +invited the brothers to preach at court. Their impression upon him +was so favorable that within a few years he appointed Nicolaj to +become pastor of Nicolaj church in Copenhagen, one of the largest +churches in the capital, Broder to become Provost of the cathedral +at Ribe and, two years later, Bishop of Aalborg, and Hans +Adolph to succeed his brother at Ribe and, four years later, to become +bishop of that large and historically famous bishopric. Thus +the brothers in a few years had been elevated from obscurity to +leading positions within their church.</p> +<p>Contemporaries express highly different estimates of Brorson +as a bishop. While praised by some, he is severely criticized by +others as unfit both by ability and temperament for the high office +he occupied. This last estimate now is generally held to be +unjust and, to some extent at least, inspired by jealousy of his quick +rise to fame and by antagonism to his pietistic views. A close +examination of church records and his official correspondence proves +him to have been both efficient in the administration of his office +and moderate in his dealings with others. He was by all accounts +an eloquent and effective speaker. Although Ribe was a small +city, its large cathedral was usually crowded whenever it was +known that Brorson would conduct the service. People came from +far away to hear him. And his preaching at home and on his frequent +visits to all parts of his large bishopric bore fruit in a signal +quickening of the Christian life in many of the parishes under his +charge. He was, we are told, as happy as a child when he found +pastors and their people working faithfully together for the upbuilding +of the kingdom. But his own zeal caused him to look +for the same earnestness in others. And he was usually stern and, +at times, implacable, in his judgment of neglect and slothfulness, +especially in the pastors.</p> +<p>His private life was by all accounts exceptionally pure and +<span class="pb" id="pg_86">[86]</span> +simple, a true expression of his sincere faith and earnest piety. +A domestic, who for many years served in his home has furnished +us with a most interesting account of his home life. Brorson, she +testifies, was an exceptionally kind and friendly man, always +gentle and considerate in his dealing with others except when +they had provoked him by some gross neglect or inattention to +right and duty. He was generous to a fault toward others, but +very frugal, even parsimonious in his home and in his personal +habits. Only at Christmas or on other special occasion would he +urge his household to spare nothing. He was a ceaseless and +industrious worker, giving close personal attention to the multiple +duties of his important position and office. His daily life bore +eloquent witness of his sincere piety. When at home, no matter +how busy, he always gathered his whole household for daily devotions. +Music constituted his sole diversion. He enjoyed an evening +spent in playing and singing with his family and servants. If +he chanced to hear a popular song with a pleasing tune, he often +adopted it to his own words, and sang it in the family circle. Many +of the hymns in his Swan-Song are said to have been composed +and sung in that way.</p> +<p>His life was rich in trials and suffering. His first wife died just +as he was preparing to go to Copenhagen for his consecration as +a bishop, and the loss affected him so deeply that only the pleading +of his friends prevented him from resigning the office. He +later married a most excellent woman, Johanne Riese, but could +never forget the wife of his youth. Several of his children preceded +him in death, some of them while still in their infancy, and others +in the prime of their youth. His own health was always delicate +and he passed through several severe illnesses from which his +recovery was considered miraculous. His heaviest cross was, +perhaps, the hopeless insanity of his first-born son, who throughout +his life had to be confined to a locked and barred room as a +hopeless and dangerous lunatic. A visitor in the bishop’s palace, +it is related, once remarked: “You speak so often about sorrows +and trials, Bishop Brorson, but you have your ample income and +live comfortably in this fine mansion, so how can you know about +these things?” Without answering, Brorson beckoned his visitor +to follow him to the graveyard where he showed him the grave +of his wife and several of his children, and into the palace where +he showed him the sad spectacle of his insane son. Then the visitor +understood that position and material comfort are no guaranty +against sorrow.</p> +<div class="pb" id="pg_87">[87]</div> +<p>A very sensitive man, Brorson was often deeply afflicted by +his trials, but though cast down, he was not downcast. The words +of his own beloved hymn, “Whatever I am called to bear, I must +in patience suffer,” no doubt express his own attitude toward +the burdens of his life. His trials engendered in him, however, an +intense yearning for release, especially during his later years. The +hymns of his <b>Swan-Song</b> are eloquent testimonies of his desire +to depart and be at home with God.</p> +<p>With the passing years his health became progressively poorer +and his weakening body less able to support the strain of his +exacting office. He would listen to no plea for relaxation, however, +until his decreasing strength clearly made it impossible for him +to continue. Even then he refused to rest and planned to publish +a series of weekly sermons that he might thus continue to speak +to his people. But his strength waned so quickly that he +was able to complete only one of the sermons.</p> +<p>On May 29, 1764, he begged a government official to complete +a case before him at his earliest convenience “for I am now seventy +years old, feeble, bedridden and praying for release from this +unhappy world.” Only a day later, his illness took a grave turn +for the worse. He sank into a stupor that lasted until dusk when +he awoke and said clearly, “My Jesus is praying for me in heaven. +I see it by faith and am anxious to go. Come quickly, my Lord, +and take me home!” He lingered until the morning of June 3, when +he passed away peacefully just as the great bells of the cathedral +announced the morning service.</p> +<p>Several fine memorials have been raised to his memory, among +them an excellent statue at the entrance to the cathedral at Ribe, +and a tablet on the inside wall of the building right beside a similar +remembrance of Hans Tausen, the leader of the Danish reformation +and a former bishop of the diocese. But the finest memorial +was raised to him by his son through the publication of <b>Hans +Adolph Brorson’s Swan-Song</b>, a collection of hymns and songs +selected from his unpublished writings.</p> +<p>The songs of the <b>Swan-Song</b> were evidently written for the +poet’s own consolation and diversion. They are of very different +types and merit, and a number of them might without loss have +been left out of the collection. A few of them stand unexcelled, +however, for beauty, sentiment and poetic excellence. There are +songs of patience such as the inimitable:</p> +<div class="pb" id="pg_88">[88]</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Her vil ties, her vil bies,</p> +<p class="t0">Her vil bies, o svage Sind.</p> +<p class="t0">Vist skal du hente, kun ved at vente,</p> +<p class="t0">Kun ved at vente, vor Sommer ind.</p> +<p class="t0">Her vil ties, her vil bies,</p> +<p class="t0">Her vil bies, o svage Sind.</p> +</div> +<p>which one can hardly transfer to another language without +marring its tender beauty. And there are songs of yearning such +as the greatly favored,</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">O Holy Ghost, my spirit</p> +<p class="t0">With yearning longs to see</p> +<p class="t2">Jerusalem</p> +<p class="t2">That precious gem,</p> +<p class="t0">Where I shall soon inherit</p> +<p class="t0">The home prepared for me.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">But O the stormy waters!</p> +<p class="t0">How shall I find my way</p> +<p class="t2">Mid hidden shoals,</p> +<p class="t2">Where darkness rolls,</p> +<p class="t0">And join thy sons and daughters</p> +<p class="t0">Who dwell in thee for aye.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Lord, strengthen my assurance</p> +<p class="t0">Of dwelling soon with Thee,</p> +<p class="t2">That I may brave</p> +<p class="t2">The threatening wave</p> +<p class="t0">With firm and calm endurance;</p> +<p class="t0">Thyself my pilot be.</p> +</div> +<p>And there is “The Great White Host”, most beloved of all Brorson’s +hymns, which Dr. Ryden, a Swedish-American Hymnologist, +calls the most popular Scandinavian hymn in the English language. +Several English translations of this song are available. The translation +presented below is from the new English hymnal of the +Danish Lutheran churches in America.</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Behold the mighty, whiterobed band<sup><a id="fr_8" href="#fn_8">[8]</a></sup></p> +<p class="t0">Like thousand snowclad mountains stand</p> +<p class="t2">With waving palms</p> +<p class="t2">And swelling psalms</p> +<p class="t0">Above at God’s right hand.</p> +<p class="t0">These are the heroes brave that came</p> +<p class="t0">Through tribulation, war and flame</p> +<p class="t2">And in the flood</p> +<p class="t2">Of Jesus’ blood</p> +<p class="t0">Were cleansed from sin and shame.</p> +<p class="t0">Now with the ransomed, heavenly Throng</p> +<p class="t0">They praise the Lord in every tongue,</p> +<div class="pb" id="pg_89">[89]</div> +<p class="t2">And anthems swell</p> +<p class="t2">Where God doth dwell</p> +<p class="t0">Amidst the angels’ song.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">They braved the world’s contempt and might,</p> +<p class="t0">But see them now in glory bright</p> +<p class="t2">With golden crowns,</p> +<p class="t2">In priestly gowns</p> +<p class="t0">Before the throne of light.</p> +<p class="t0">The world oft weighed them with dismay.</p> +<p class="t0">And tears would flow without allay,</p> +<p class="t2">But there above</p> +<p class="t2">The Saviour’s love</p> +<p class="t0">Has wiped their tears away.</p> +<p class="t0">Theirs is henceforth the Sabbath rest,</p> +<p class="t0">The Paschal banquet of the blest,</p> +<p class="t2">Where fountains play</p> +<p class="t2">And Christ for aye</p> +<p class="t0">Is host as well as guest.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">All hail to you, blest heroes, then!</p> +<p class="t0">A thousand fold is now your gain</p> +<p class="t2">That ye stood fast</p> +<p class="t2">Unto the last</p> +<p class="t0">And did your goal attain.</p> +<p class="t0">Ye spurned all worldly joy and fame,</p> +<p class="t0">And harvest now in Jesus’ name</p> +<p class="t2">What ye have sown</p> +<p class="t2">With tears unknown</p> +<p class="t0">Mid angels’ glad acclaim.</p> +<p class="t0">Lift up your voice, wave high your palm,</p> +<p class="t0">Compass the heavens with your psalm:</p> +<p class="t2">All glory be</p> +<p class="t2">Eternally</p> +<p class="t0">To God and to the Lamb.</p> +</div> +<p>Brorson’s hymns were received with immediate favor. <b>The +Rare Clenod of Faith</b> passed through six editions before the death +of its author, and a new church hymnal published in 1740 contained +ninety of his hymns. Pietism swept the country and adopted +Brorson as its poet. But its reign was surprisingly short. King +Christian VI died in 1746, and the new king, a luxury-loving +worldling, showed little interest in religion and none at all in Pietism. +Under his influence the movement quickly waned. During +the latter part of the eighteenth century it was overpowered by a +wave of religious rationalism which engulfed the greater part of +the intellectual classes and the younger clergy. The intelligentsia +adopted Voltaire and Rousseau as their prophets and talked +endlessly of the new age of enlightenment in which religion was +<span class="pb" id="pg_90">[90]</span> +to be shorn of its mysteries and people were to be delivered from +the bonds of superstition.</p> +<p>In such an atmosphere the old hymns and, least of all, Brorson’s +hymns with their mystic contemplation of the Saviour’s blood and +wounds could not survive. The leading spirits in the movement +demanded a new hymnal that expressed the spirit of the new age. +The preparation of such a book was undertaken by a committee +of popular writers, many of whom openly mocked Evangelical +Christianity. Their work was published under the title <b>The Evangelical +Christian Hymnal</b>, a peculiar name for a book which, as +has been justly said, was neither Evangelical nor Christian. The +compilers had eliminated many of the finest hymns of Kingo and +Brorson and ruthlessly altered others so that they were irrecognizable. +To compensate for this loss, a great number of “poetically +perfect hymns” by newer writers—nearly all of whom have happily +been forgotten—were adopted.</p> +<p>But while would-be leaders discarded or mutilated the old +hymns and, with a zeal worthy of a better cause, sought to force +their new songs upon the congregations, many of these clung +tenaciously to their old hymnal and stoutly refused to accept the +new. In places the controversy even developed into a singing +contest, with the congregations singing the numbers from the old +hymnal and the deacons from the new. And these contests were, +of course, expressive of an even greater controversy than the choice +of hymns. They represented the struggle between pastors, working +for the spread of the new gospel, and congregations still clinging +to the old. With the highest authorities actively supporting +the new movement, the result of the contest was, however, a foregone +conclusion. The new enlightenment triumphed, and thousands +of Evangelical Christians became homeless in their own +church.</p> +<p>During the subsequent period of triumphant Rationalism, +groups of Evangelical laymen began to hold private assemblies +in their own homes and to provide for their own spiritual nourishment +by reading Luther’s sermons and singing the old hymns. +In these assemblies Brorson’s hymns retained their favor until +a new Evangelical awakening during the middle part of the nineteenth +century produced a new appreciation of the old hymns and +restored them to their rightful place in the worship of the church. +And the songs of the Sweet Singer of Pietism have, perhaps, +never enjoyed a greater favor in his church than they do today.</p> +<div class="fnblock"> +<div class="fndef"><sup><a id="fn_8" href="#fr_8">[8]</a></sup>Another translation: “Like thousand mountains brightly crowned” by S. D. Rodholm in “World of Song”. +</div> +</div> +</div> +</div> +<div id="s3" title="Nicolaj Frederik Severin Grundtvig the Singer of Pentecost"> +<div class="pb" id="pg_91">[91]</div> +<h2>Nicolaj Frederik Severin Grundtvig +<br />the Singer of Pentecost</h2> +<div id="c11" title="Nicolaj Frederik Severin Grundtvig the Singer of Pentecost"> +<div class="pb" id="pg_93">[93]</div> +<h4>Chapter Eleven +<span class="chaptertitle">Grundtvig’s Early Years</span></h4> +<p>The latter part of the eighteenth and the earlier part of +the nineteenth century produced a number of great changes +in the spiritual, intellectual and economic life of Denmark. +The strong Pietist movement at the time of Brorson, as we have +seen, lost much of its momentum with the death of King Christian +VI, and within a few years was overwhelmed by a wave of the +intellectual and religious Rationalism then engulfing a large part +of Europe. Religion, it was claimed, should be divested of its mysteries +and reason made supreme. Whatever could not justify itself +before the bar of the human intellect should be discarded as outworn +conceptions of a less enlightened age. The movement, however, +comprised all shades of opinions from pure agnosticism to +an idealistic belief in God, virtue and immortality.</p> +<p>Although firmly opposed by some of the most influential Danish +leaders of that day, such as the valiant bishop of Sjælland, Johan +Edinger Balle, Rationalism swept the country with irresistible +force. Invested in the attractive robe of human enlightenment and +appealing to man’s natural intellectual vanity, the movement attracted +the majority of the upper classes and a large proportion +of the clergy. Its adherents studied Rousseau and Voltaire, talked +resoundingly of human enlightenment, organized endless numbers +of clubs, and—in some instances—worked zealously for the social +and economic uplift of the depressed classes.</p> +<p>In this latter endeavor many pastors assumed a commendable +part. Having lost the old Gospel, the men of the cloth became +eager exponents of the “social gospel” of that day. While we may +not approve their Christmas sermons “on improved methods of +stable feeding,” or their Easter sermons “on the profitable cultivation +of buckwheat,” we cannot but recognize their devoted labor +for the educational and economic uplift, especially of the hard-pressed +peasants.</p> +<p>Their well-meant efforts, however, bore little fruit. The great +majority of the people had sunk into a slough of spiritual apathy +from which neither the work of the Rationalists nor the stirring +events of the time could arouse them.</p> +<div class="pb" id="pg_94">[94]</div> +<p>The nineteenth century began threateningly for Denmark, +heaping calamity after calamity upon her. England attacked her +in 1801 and 1807, robbing her of her fine fleet and forcing her to +enter the European war on the side of Napoleon. The war wrecked +her trade, bankrupted her finances and ended with the severance +of her long union with Norway in 1814. But through it all Holger +Danske slept peacefully, apparently unaware that the very existence +of the nation was threatened.</p> +<p>It is against this background of spiritual and national indifference +that the towering figure of Grundtvig must be seen. For +it was he, more than any other, who awakened his people from their +lethargic indifference and started them upon the road toward a +happier day spiritually and nationally.</p> +<p>Nicolaj Frederik Severin Grundtvig, like so many of Denmark’s +greatest men, was the son of a parson. He was born September +8, 1783, at Udby, a country parish in the south-eastern +part of Sjælland. His father, Johan Ottesen Grundtvig, was a pastor +of the old school, an upright, earnest and staunch supporter +of the Evangelical Lutheran faith. His mother, Catherine Marie +Bang, was a high-minded, finely educated woman with an ardent +love for her country, its history, traditions and culture. Her son +claimed that he had inherited his love of “song and saga” from her.</p> +<p>The Grundtvigs on both sides of the family were descendants +of a long line of distinguished forebears, the most famous of +whom was Archbishop Absalon, the founder of Copenhagen and +one of the most powerful figures in 13th Century Denmark. And +they still had relatives in high places. Thus Johan Edinger Balle, +the formerly mentioned bishop of Sjælland, was a brother-in-law +of Johan Grundtvig; Cathrine Grundtvig’s brother, Dr. Johan Frederik +Bang, was a well-known professor of medicine and the stepfather +of Jacob Peter Mynster; and her younger sister, Susanna +Kristine Steffens, was the mother of Henrik Steffens, a professor at +the universities of Halle and Breslau, a friend of Goethe and +Schiller, and a leader of the early Romantic movement, both in +Germany and Denmark.</p> +<p>Cathrine Grundtvig bore her husband five children, of whom +Nicolaj was the youngest. But even with such a large household +to manage, she found time to supervise the early schooling of her +youngest son. She taught him to read, told him the sagas of his +people and gave him his first lessons in the history and literature, +both of his own and of other nations.</p> +<div class="pb" id="pg_95">[95]</div> +<p>It was a period of stirring events. Wars and revolutions raged +in many parts of Europe. And these events were eagerly followed +and discussed in the parsonage. Listening to his elders, Grundtvig +saw, as it were, history in its making and acquired an interest in +the subject that produced rich fruits in later years. The wholesome +Christian life of his home and the devotional spirit of the services +in his father’s church also made a deep impression upon him, an +impression that even the scepticism of his youth could not eradicate.</p> +<p>But his happy childhood years ended all too quickly. At the +age of nine he left his home to continue his studies under a former +tutor, Pastor L. Feld of Thyregod, a country parish in Jylland. +There he spent six lonely but quite fruitful years, receiving among +other things a solid training in the classical languages. In 1798, he +completed his studies with Rev. Feld and enrolled in the Latin +school at Aarhus, the principal city of Jylland. But the change +proved most unfortunate for young Grundtvig. Under the wise +and kindly guidance of Rev. Feld he had preserved the wholesome, +eager spirit of his childhood, but the lifeless teaching, the compulsory +religious exercises and the whole spiritless atmosphere of his +new school soon changed him into an indifferent, sophisticated and +self-satisfied cynic with little interest in his studies, and none at +all in religion.</p> +<p>At the completion of his course, however, this attitude did not +deter him from enrolling at the University of Copenhagen with the +intention of studying for the ministry. A university education was +then considered almost indispensable to a man of his social position, +and his parents earnestly wished him to enter the church. Nor +was his attitude toward Christianity greatly different from that of +his fellow students or even from that of many pastors already +preaching the emasculated gospel of God, Virtue, and Immortality +which the Rationalists held to be the true essence of the Christian +religion. Believing the important part of the Gospel to be its ethical +precepts, Grundtvig, furthermore, prided himself upon the correctness +of his own moral conduct and his ability to control all unworthy +passions. “I was at that time,” he later complained, “nothing +but an insufferably vain and narrow-minded Pharisee.”</p> +<p>From this spirit of superior self-sufficiency, only two things +momentarily aroused him during his university years—the English +attacks upon Copenhagen; and a series of lectures by his cousin, +Henrik Steffens.</p> +<div class="pb" id="pg_96">[96]</div> +<p>Steffens, as a student at Jena, had met and become an enthusiastic +disciple of Schelling, the father of natural philosophy, a pantheistic +colored conception of life, opposed to the narrowly materialistic +views of most Rationalists. Lecturing at the university +during the years 1802-1803, Steffens aroused a tremendous enthusiasm, +both among the students and some of the older intellectuals. +“He was a fiery speaker,” Grundtvig remarks later, “and his lectures +both shocked and inspired us although I often laughed at him +afterward.”</p> +<p>Despite his attempt to laugh away the impression of the fiery +speaker, Grundtvig, nevertheless, retained at least two lasting memories +from the lectures—the power of the spoken word, a power +that even against his will could arouse him from his cynical indifference, +and the reverence with which Steffens spoke of Christ as +“the center of history.” The human race, he contended, had sunk +progressively lower and lower from the fall of man until the time +of Nero, when the process had been reversed and man had begun +the slow upward climb that was still continuing. And of this progress +the speaker in glowing terms pictured Christ as the living center.</p> +<p>Grundtvig was graduated from the university in the spring of +1803. He wished to remain in Copenhagen but could find no employment +and was forced, therefore, to return to his home. Here +he remained for about a year, after which he succeeded in obtaining +a position as tutor for the son of Lieutenant Steensen Leth +of Egelykke, a large estate on the island of Langeland.</p> +<p>Except for the fact that Egelykke was far from Copenhagen, +Grundtvig soon became quite satisfied with his new position. Both +the manor and its surroundings were extremely beautiful, and his +work was congenial. His employer, a former naval officer, proved +to be a rough, hard-drinking worldling; but his hostess, Constance +Leth, was a charming, well-educated woman whose cultural interests +made the manor a favored gathering place for a group of +like-minded ladies from the neighborhood. And with these cultured +women, Grundtvig soon felt himself much more at home than +with his rough-spoken employer and hard-drinking companions.</p> +<p>But if Grundtvig unexpectedly was beginning to enjoy his stay +at Egelykke, this enjoyment vanished like a dream when he suddenly +discovered that he was falling passionately in love with his +attractive hostess. It availed him nothing that others as he well +knew might have accepted such a situation with complacence; to +<span class="pb" id="pg_97">[97]</span> +him it appeared an unpardonable reproach both to his intelligence +and his honor. Having proudly asserted the ability of any intelligent +man to master his passions, he was both horrified and humiliated +to discover that he could not control his own.</p> +<div class="img" title="Nicolaj Frederik Severin Grundtvig"> +<img height="761" width="500" alt="Nicolaj Frederik Severin Grundtvig" src="images/grundtvg.png" /> +<p class="center">Nicolaj Frederik Severin Grundtvig</p> +</div> +<p>Grundtvig never consciously revealed his true sentiment to +Constance Leth. At the cost of an intense struggle, he managed +outwardly to maintain his code of honorable conduct. But he still +felt humbled and shaken by his inability to suppress his inner and +as he saw it guilty passion. And under this blow to his proud self-sufficiency, +he felt, perhaps for the first time in his life, the need +for a power greater than his own. “To win in this struggle,” he +wrote in his diary, “lies beyond my own power. I must look for +help from above or sink as the stone sinks while the lightly floating +leaves mock it and wonder why it cannot float as they do.”</p> +<p>The struggle against his passion engendered a need for work. +“In order to quiet the storm within me,” he writes, “I forced my +mind to occupy itself with the most difficult labor.” Although he +<span class="pb" id="pg_98">[98]</span> +had paid small attention to the suggestion at the time, he now remembered +and began to read some of the authors Steffens had +recommended in his lectures: Goethe, Schiller, Schelling, Fichte, +Shakespeare and others. He also studied the work of newer Danish +writers, such as Prof. Jens Møller, a writer on Northern mythology, +and Adam Oehlenschlaeger, a young man who, inspired by Steffens, +was becoming the foremost dramatic poet of Denmark. He +even renewed the study of his long neglected Bible. The motive +of his extensive reading was, no doubt, ethical rather than esthetic, +a search for that outside power of which the battle within him revealed +his urgent need. Thus he wrote:</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">My spirit opened its eyes,</p> +<p class="t0">Saw itself on the brink of the abyss,</p> +<p class="t0">Searched with trembling and fear</p> +<p class="t0">Everywhere for a power to save,</p> +<p class="t0">And found God in all things,</p> +<p class="t0">Found Him in the songs of the poets,</p> +<p class="t0">Found Him in the work of the sages,</p> +<p class="t0">Found Him in the myths of the North,</p> +<p class="t0">Found Him in the records of history,</p> +<p class="t0">But clearest of all it still</p> +<p class="t0">Found Him in the Book of Books.</p> +</div> +<p>The fate that appears to crush a man may also exalt him. And +so it was with Grundtvig. His suffering crushed the stony shell of +cynical indifference in which he had long enclosed his naturally +warm and impetuous spirit and released the great latent forces +within him. In the midst of his struggle, new ideas germinated +springlike in his mind. He read, thought and wrote, especially on +the subject that was always near to his heart, the mythology and +early traditions of the Northern peoples. And after three years of +struggle, he was at last ready to break away from Egelykke. If he +had not yet conquered his passion, he had so far mastered it that +he could aspire to other things.</p> +<p>Thus ended what a modern Danish writer, Skovgaard-Petersen, +calls “the finest love story in Danish history.” The event had +caused Grundtvig much pain, but it left no festering wounds. His +firm refusal to permit his passion to sully himself or degrade the +woman he loved had, on the contrary, made it one of the greatest +incitations to good in his whole life.</p> +<p>On his return to Copenhagen Grundtvig almost at once obtained +a position as teacher in history at Borch’s Collegium for boys. +His new position satisfied him eminently by affording him a chance +<span class="pb" id="pg_99">[99]</span> +to work with his favorite subject and to expand his other intellectual +interests. He soon made friends with a number of promising +young intellectuals who, in turn, introduced him to some of the outstanding +intellectual and literary lights of the country, and within +a short while the list of his acquaintances read like a Blue Book of +the city’s intelligentsia.</p> +<p>Although Grundtvig was still quite unknown except for a few +articles in a current magazine, there was something about him, an +originality of view, an arresting way of phrasing his thoughts, a +quiet sense of humor, that commanded attention. His young friends +willingly acknowledged his leadership, and the older watched him +with expectation. Nor were they disappointed. His <b>Northern Mythology</b> +appeared in 1808, and <b>Episodes from the Decay of Northern +Heroism</b> only a year later. And these strikingly original and finely +written works immediately established his reputation as one of +the foremost writers of Denmark. There were even those who in +their enthusiasm compared him with the revered Oehlenschlaeger. +A satirical poem, “The Masquerade Ball of Denmark,” inspired by +the frivolous indifference with which many people had reacted to +the English bombardment of Copenhagen in 1807, showed his power +of burning scorn and biting satire.</p> +<p>In the midst of this success and the preparation of plans for +new and more ambitious works, Grundtvig received a request from +his old father to come home and assist him with his parish work. +The request was not at all pleasing to him. His personal attitude +toward Christianity was still uncertain, and his removal from the +capital would interfere with his literary career. But as the wish +of his good parents could not be ignored, he reluctantly applied +for ordination and began to prepare his probation sermon.</p> +<p>This now famous sermon was delivered before the proper +officials March 17, 1810. Knowing that few besides the censors +would be present to hear him and feeling that an ordinary sermon +would be out of place before such an audience, Grundtvig prepared +his sermon as an historical survey of the present state of the church +rather than as an Evangelical discourse.</p> +<p>His study of history had convinced him of the mighty influence +Christianity had once exerted upon the nations, and he, therefore, +posed the question why this influence was now in decline. “Are the +glad tidings,” he asked, “which through seventeen hundred years +passed from confessing lips to listening ears still not preached?” +And the answer is “no”. Even the very name of Jesus is now without +<span class="pb" id="pg_100">[100]</span> +significance and worth to most people of the younger generation, +“for the Word of God has departed from His house and that +which is preached there is not the Word of God, but the earth-bound +speculations of men. The holy men of old believed in the +message they were called to preach, but the human spirit has now +become so proud that it feels itself capable of discovering the truth +without the light of the Gospel, and so faith has died. My Brethren!” +he exclaims, “Let us not, if we share this blindness and contempt +for the heavenly light, be false and shameless enough to desecrate +the Holy Place by appearing there as preachers of a Christianity in +which we ourselves do not believe!”</p> +<p>The sermon was delivered with much force and eloquence. +Grundtvig felt himself stirred by the strength of his own argument; +and a comparison of the warm devotional spirit of a church service, +as he remembered it from his childhood, with the cold indifference +of later days moved him to sentimental tears, the first pious tears +that he had shed for many years, he said later. Even the censors +were so impressed that they unanimously awarded him the mark +of excellent, a generosity they bitterly regretted a few weeks later. +For Grundtvig, contrary to his promise—as the censors asserted +but Grundtvig denied—published his sermon. And it was warmly +received by the Evangelicals as the first manna that had fallen in +a desert for many years. But the Rationalists violently condemned +it and presented the Committee on Church Affairs with an indignant +protest against its author “for having grossly insulted the +Danish clergy.”</p> +<p>Considering the enthusiastic approval the sermon had received +in various quarters, the committee would gladly have squashed the +complaint. But the complainers, comprising many of the most influential +pastors in the city, were too powerful to be ignored. And +so Grundtvig was found guilty “of having willfully insulted the +Danish clergy, both individually and as a body,” and sentenced to +receive a reprimand by the dean of the theological faculty.</p> +<p>When Grundtvig on January 11, 1811, presented himself before +the dean to receive his reprimand, he looked so pale and shaken +that even the worthy official took compassion upon him and advised +him privately that he must not take his sentence too seriously. +It was not, however, the stern reprimand of the dean but an experience +of far greater consequence that so visibly blanched the +cheeks of the defendant.</p> +<p>The prospect of entering the active ministry caused Grundtvig +<span class="pb" id="pg_101">[101]</span> +to examine seriously his own attitude toward Christianity. And +although the bishop vetoed his assignment to Udby and thus released +him from the immediate prospect of entering the pulpit, +this did not stop the trend of his thoughts. He had lost his former +indifference toward religion and discovered the historical significance +of Christianity, but just what did the Christian faith mean +to him personally?</p> +<p>He was still pondering this question, when in the fall of 1810, +he commenced a study of the Crusades, “the heroic age of Christianity,” +as one historian called the period. The phrase appealed +to him. He had lately wandered through the mystic halls of Northern +gods and heroes and deplored the decay of their heroic spirit. +He admired the heroic, and his heart still wavered between the +mighty Wodin and the meek and lowly Christ. But the heroic age +of Christianity—was it possible then that Christianity too could +rise to the heroic?</p> +<p>In the course of his study he read <b>The Early History of Prussia</b> +by A. von Kotzebue in which the author, after ridiculing “the missionary +zeal that, like a fire on the steppes, caught the kings of +Poland and Scandinavia and moved them to frantic efforts for the +conversion of neighboring peoples,” proudly stated, “But while her +neighbors all accepted Christianity and the withered cross drew +steadily nearer to the green oak, Prussia remained faithful to her +ancient gods.”</p> +<p>“The withered Cross!” The words stung Grundtvig to the +quick. He hurled the book away, sprang up and stormed about the +room, vowing that he would henceforth dedicate his life to the +cause of the spurned emblem.</p> +<p>A few weeks of restless exaltation followed. He read his Bible, +studied Luther’s catechism and pondered the ways and means of +accomplishing a reform of his church, especially a reform inspired +by pen and ink. But his <b>New Year’s Night</b>, a small book published +during this period, shows his still troublesome uncertainty, his constant +wavering between the old gods and the Christ of the Gospels, +between various degrees of Rationalism and a full acceptance of the +mystery of the cross. In a mighty hymn of praise to the suffering +Savior, he wrote many years later: “Yes, my heart believes the +wonder of Thy cross, which ages ponder”—but he had yet to pass +through the depths before he could say that. Even so, he now exultingly +wrote: “On the rim of the bottomless abyss toward which +our age is blindly hastening, I will stand and confront it with a picture, +<span class="pb" id="pg_102">[102]</span> +illumined by two shining lights, the Word of God, and the +testimony of history. As long as God gives me strength to lift up +my voice, I will call and admonish my people in His name.”</p> +<p>But from this pinnacle of proud exultation, he was suddenly +hurled into the abyss when, like a bolt of lightning, the thought +struck him: But are you yourself a Christian, have you received +the forgiveness of your sin?</p> +<p>“It struck me like a hammer, crashing the rock,” he said later, +“what the Lord tells the ungodly: ‘What hast thou to declare my +statutes or that thou shouldest take my covenant into thy mouth, +seeing that thou hatest my instruction and castest my word behind +thee!’” Gone like a dream were now all his proud fancies. Only +one thought filled his whole being—to obtain the forgiveness of +his sin and the assurance of God’s grace. But so violent became his +struggle that his mind at times reeled on the brink of insanity. His +young friends stood loyally by him, comforting and guarding him +as far as they could. And when it became clear that he must be +removed from the noise of the city, one of them, F. Sibbern, volunteered +to take him home. There his old parents received him +with understanding, even rejoicing that anxiety for his soul and +not other things had so disturbed his mind.</p> +<p>The peace of the quiet countryside, the understanding care of +his parents and the soothing influence of their firm Evangelical +faith acted as a balm to Grundtvig’s struggling spirit. He loved to +enter the old church of his childhood, to hear his father preach, or +sit alone before the altar in meditation and prayer. And there before +the altar of the church in which he had been baptized and +confirmed, he at last found peace, the true peace of God that passeth +all understanding.</p> +<p>After the great change in his life, Grundtvig now wished most +heartily to become his father’s assistant. The elder Grundtvig had +already forwarded his resignation from the pastorate but was more +than happy to apply for its return and for the appointment of his +son as his assistant. And so, Grundtvig was ordained at Copenhagen, +May 11, 1811, and installed at Udby a few days later. He +was back again in the old church of his childhood.</p> +</div> +<div id="c12" title="The Lonely Defender of the Bible"> +<div class="pb" id="pg_103">[103]</div> +<h4>Chapter Twelve +<span class="chaptertitle">The Lonely Defender of the Bible</span></h4> +<p>Grundtvig began his work at Udby with all the zeal of a +new convert. He ministered to young and old, spent himself +in work for the sick and the poor, and preached the Gospel +with a fervor that was new, not only to the people of Udby, but to +most people of that generation. If other things had not intervened, +like his father, he might have spent his life as a successful country +pastor. But his father died January 5, 1813. The authorities refused +to confirm Grundtvig in the vacant charge, and he and his +mother, shortly afterward, were compelled to leave the parsonage +that had been their home for more than forty years. His mother +settled in Prastø, a small city a few miles from Udby, and Grundtvig +returned to Copenhagen to search for a new position, a task +that this time proved both long and painful.</p> +<p>Among available positions, Grundtvig especially coveted a professorship +in history at the newly founded university of Oslo, Norway, +at which three of his friends, S. B. Hersleb, Niels Trechow +and George Sverdrup, had already obtained employment. But although +these friends worked zealously for his appointment, even +after the separation of Norway from Denmark, their efforts were +fruitless. Grundtvig was not destined to leave his native land. +Nor were his attempts to secure other work successful. In spite of +the fact that he applied for almost every vacancy in the church, +even the smallest, his powerful enemies among the Rationalists +were influential enough to prevent his appointment to any of them.</p> +<p>Meanwhile he was by no means idle. Following his conversion, +he felt for a time like a man suddenly emerging from darkness into +the brightness of a new day. Old things had passed away, but the +brilliance of the new light confused him. What could he do? How +many of his former interests were reconcilable with his new views? +Could he, for instance, continue his writings? “When my eyes were +opened,” he writes, “I considered all things not directly concerned +with God a hindrance to the blessed knowledge of my Lord, Jesus +Christ.” After a time he saw, however, that his ability to write +might be accepted as a gift from God to be used in His service. +“The poet when inspired,” he says, “may proclaim a message from +<span class="pb" id="pg_104">[104]</span> +above to the world below,” and so, “after dedicating it to Himself, +the Lord again handed me the harp that I had placed upon His +altar.”</p> +<p>During his brief stay at Udby, Grundtvig published three +larger works: <b>Episodes from the Battle between Ases and Norns</b>, +<b>Saga</b> and <b>A New Year’s Gift for 1812</b>.<sup><a id="fr_9" href="#fn_9">[9]</a></sup> +The first of these was nearly +completed before his conversion, and as he now reread the manuscript, +its content almost shocked him. Was it possible that he had +felt and written thus only a few months ago! He thought of destroying +the work but decided to recast it in conformity with his +present views and to express these clearly in a preface. With the +completion of this task, however, he took a long leave from the +“ice-cold giants of the North” that had so long engrossed his attention.</p> +<p>After his brief visit with the heroes of the past, Grundtvig +again turned his attention to their descendants in the present. And +the contrast was almost startling. The war still was dragging on +and the country sinking deeper and deeper into the morass of +political, commercial and economic difficulties. But the majority +of the people seemed completely indifferent to her plight. “They +talked of nothing,” Grundtvig says, “but of what they had eaten, +worn and amused themselves with yesterday, or what they would +eat, wear and amuse themselves with tomorrow.” Was it possible +that these people could be descendants of the giants whose valor +and aggressive spirit had once challenged the greater part of +Europe?</p> +<p>Grundtvig was convinced that the spiritual apathy of his people +resulted from the failure of their spiritual leaders to uphold the +Evangelical faith, and that the salvation of the nation depended on +a true revival of Evangelical Christianity. For this reason he now +exerted every means at his command to induce the people and, +especially, their leaders to return to the old paths. In numerous +works, both in verse and in prose, he urged the people to renew +the faith of their fathers and challenged their leaders to take a +definite stand for Biblical Christianity. He became the lonely +defender of the Bible.</p> +<p>Among outstanding personalities of that day, there were especially +two that attracted widespread attention: J. P. Mynster, +assistant pastor at the Church of Our Lady in Copenhagen, and +Adam Gottlieb Oehlenschlaeger, the dramatic poet, then at the +height of his fame. With their influence these men, as Grundtvig +<span class="pb" id="pg_105">[105]</span> +saw it, might give a strong impetus to the much needed awakening; +and, he therefore, approached them personally.</p> +<p>Rev. Mynster, a stepson of Grundtvig’s maternal uncle, after +a period of rationalism, had experienced a quiet conversion to +Evangelical faith and won a respected name as a faithful and gifted +preacher of the Gospel, a name which he retained throughout his +conspicuous career as pastor of the Church of Our Lady in Copenhagen +and, later, as Bishop of Sjælland. He and Grundtvig, working +to the same purpose, ought to have united with another, but +they were both too individualistic in temperament and views to +join forces. Mynster was coldly logical, calm and reserved, a lover +of form and orderly progress. Grundtvig was impetuous, and volcanic, +in constant ferment, always in search of spiritual reality +and wholly indifferent to outward appearances. His own experience +had led him to believe that a return to Evangelical Christianity +could be effected only through a clean break with Rationalism, and +he could not understand Mynster’s apparent attempt to temporize +and bring about a gradual transition from one to the other. There +should be no compromise between truth and falsehood. All believers +in the Gospel should stand up and proclaim it fearlessly, +no matter what the consequences.</p> +<p>And so Grundtvig wrote to Mynster: “Dear Rev. Mynster, I +owe you an apology for asking a question that in our days may appear +inexcusable: What is your real belief regarding the Bible and +the faith of Jesus Christ? If you humbly believe in God’s Word, +I shall rejoice with you even if you differ with me in all other +things. Dear Rev. Mynster—for you are that to me—if my question +appears unseemly, you must not let it hurt you, for I have +written only as my heart dictates.” But Mynster did feel offended +and answered Grundtvig very coldly that his questions implied an +unwarranted and offensive doubt of his sincerity that must make +future intercourse between them difficult—if not impossible.</p> +<p>Nor was Grundtvig more successful with a letter of similar +purport to Oehlenschlaeger whose later writings he found lacked +the spiritual sincerity of his earlier work. “My concern about this,” +he wrote, “is increased by the thought that this lessening of spirituality +must be expressive of a change in your own spiritual outlook, +your inner relationship with God whom all spiritual workers should +serve, counting it a greater achievement to inspire their fellow men +with a true adoration of our Lord than to win the acclaim of the +world.” But like Mynster the highly feted poet accepted this frank +<span class="pb" id="pg_106">[106]</span> +questioning of his inner motive as an unwarranted impertinence, +the stupid intrusion of an intolerable fanatic with whom no friend +of true enlightenment could have anything to do. Grundtvig was +fast finding out what it means to be counted a fool for Christ’s sake—or +for what he thought was Christ’s sake.</p> +<p>In the midst of these troubles Grundtvig again turned his attention +to history, his favorite subject from childhood days. His +retreat from the present to the past implied no abolition, however, +of his resolve to dedicate himself to a spiritual revival of his people. +Through his historical work he wished to show the influence +of Christianity upon the people of Europe. “That the life of every +people,” he writes, “is and must be a fruit of faith should be clear +to all. For who can dispute that every human action—irrespective +of how little considered it may have been—is expressive of its doer’s +attitude, of his way of feeling and thinking. But what determines +a man’s way of thinking except his essential thoughts concerning +the relationship between God and the world, the visible +and the invisible? Every serious thinker, therefore, must recognize +the importance of faith in the furtherance of science, the progress +of nations and the life of the state. It is a fearful delusion that +man can be immoral, an unbeliever, even an enemy of the cross +of Christ, and yet a furtherer of morality and science, a good neighbor +and a benefactor to his country.”</p> +<p><b>A Brief Survey of the World’s History</b>, which Grundtvig published +in 1812, is thus the opposite of an objective presentation of +historical events. It is a Christian philosophy of history, an attempt +to prove the truth of the Gospel by its effect upon the nations. +With the Bible before him Grundtvig weighs and evaluates +people and events upon the scale of the revealed word. And his +judgment is often relentless, stripping both persons and events of +the glorified robes in which history and traditions invested them. +In answer to countless protests against such a method of reading +history, Grundtvig contends that the Christian historian must accept +the consequences of his faith. He cannot profess the truth of +Christianity and ignore its implication in the life of the world. If +the Gospel be true, history must be measured by its relation to its +truth.</p> +<p>Grundtvig’s history caused a sensation, especially on account +of its frank appraisal of many well-known persons. Nearly all +praised its lucid style; a few, such as George Sverdrup, spoke highly +of its strikingly original estimate and correlation of events; but the +<span class="pb" id="pg_107">[107]</span> +intelligentsia condemned it as the work of an impossible fanatic. +With this work, they claimed, Grundtvig had clearly removed himself +from the pale of intelligent men.</p> +<p>But while his enemies raged, Grundtvig was already busy +with another work: <b>A Brief Account of God’s Way with the Danish +and Norwegian Peoples</b>. This history which, written in verse and +later published under the title of <b>Roskilde Rhymes</b>, was first read +at a diocesan convention in Roskilde Cathedral, the Westminster +Abbey of Denmark. Although the poem contained many urgent +calls to the assembled pastors to awake and return to the way of +the fathers, whose bones rested within the walls of the historic +sanctuary, its reading caused no immediate resentment. Most of +the reverend listeners are reported, in fact, to have been peacefully +asleep when late in the evening Grundtvig finished the reading of +his lengthy manuscript. But a paper on “Polemics and Tolerance” +which he read at another convention two years later kept his listeners +wide awake.</p> +<p>“Our day has inherited two shibboleths from the eighteenth +century: enlightenment and tolerance. By the last of these words +most people understand an attitude of superior neutrality toward +the opinions of others, even when these opinions concern the highest +spiritual welfare of man. Such an attitude has for its premise +that good and evil, truth and falsehood are not separate and irreconcilable +realities but only different phases of the same question. +But every Christian, thoroughly convinced of the antagonism +and irreconcilability of truth with falsehood, must inevitably hate +and reject such a supposition. If Christianity be true, tolerance toward +opinions and teachings denying its truth is nothing but a +craven betrayal of both God and man. It is written, ‘Judge and +condemn no one’ but not ‘Judge and condemn nothing.’ For every +Christian must surely both judge and condemn evil.</p> +<p>“There are times when to fight for Christianity may not be an +urgent necessity; but that cannot be so in our days when every one +of its divine truths is mocked and assailed.</p> +<p>“You call me a self-seeking fanatic, but if I be that, why are +you yourself silent? If I be misleading those who follow me, why +are you, the true watchmen of Zion, not exerting yourself to lead +them aright? I stand here the humblest of Danish pastors, a minister +without a pulpit, a man reviled by the world, shorn of my +reputation as a writer, and held to be devoid of all intelligence and +truth. Even so I solemnly declare that the religion now preached +<span class="pb" id="pg_108">[108]</span> +in our Danish church is not Christianity, is nothing but a tissue of +deception and falsehood, and that unless Danish pastors bestir +themselves and fight for the restoration of God’s word and the +Christian faith there will soon be no Christian church in Denmark.”</p> +<p>The immediate effect of this bold challenge was a stern reprimand +from Bishop Frederik Munter, accompanied by a solemn +warning that if he ever again ventured to voice a similar judgment +upon his fellow pastors, sterner measures would at once be taken +against him. Besides this, his enemies raved, some of his few remaining +friends broke with him, and H. C. Ørsted, the famous discoverer +of electro-magnetism, continued an attack upon him that +for bitterness has no counterpart in Danish letters. In the midst +of this storm Grundtvig remained self-possessed, answering his +critic quite calmly and even with a touch of humor. Although relentless +in a fight for principles, he was never vindictive toward his +personal enemies. In 1815, he published a collection of poems, +<b>Kvaedlinger</b>, in which he asks, “Who knoweth of peace who never +has fought, whoso has been saved and suffered naught?” And +these lines no doubt express his personal attitude toward the battles +of life.</p> +<p>Being without a pulpit of his own, Grundtvig, after his return +to Copenhagen, frequently accepted invitations to preach for other +pastors. But as the opposition against him grew, these invitations +decreased and, after the Roskilde affair, only one church, the church +of Frederiksberg, was still open to him. Grundtvig felt his exclusion +very keenly, but he knew that even friendly pastors hesitated +to invite him for fear of incurring the disapproval of superiors +or the displeasure of influential parishioners. And so, at +the close of a Christmas service in the Frederiksberg church in +1815, he solemnly announced that he would not enter a pulpit +again until he had been duly appointed to do so by the proper +authorities.</p> +<p>Grundtvig’s withdrawal from the church, though pleasing to +his active enemies, was a great disappointment to his friends. His +services had always been well attended, and his earnest message +had brought comfort to many, especially among the distressed +Evangelicals. But others, too, felt the power of his word. Thus a +man in Copenhagen, after attending one of his services, wrote to a +friend, “that he had laughed at the beginning of the sermon and +wept at its conclusion” and that “it was the only earnest testimony +<span class="pb" id="pg_109">[109]</span> +he had ever heard from a pulpit.” And a reporter writing to a +Copenhagen newspaper about his last service said, “Our famous +Grundtvig preached yesterday at Frederiksberg church to such a +crowd of people that the church was much too small to accommodate +them. Here were people from all walks of life, and the speaker, +we are convinced, stirred them to the bottom of their souls. Here +was a Mynster’s clarity, a Fallesen’s earnestness, and a Balle’s appeal +united with a Nordahl Brun’s manliness and admirable language.” +And this about a man for whom his church had no room!</p> +<p>Thus Grundtvig instead of the friendly co-operation he had +hoped for especially from the spiritual and intellectual leaders of +the people found himself virtually shut out from the circle to which +he naturally belonged, and from the church he loved, perhaps better +than any man of his generation.</p> +<p>But if his hope of enlisting the leaders in a campaign to revive +the spiritual life of the common people had been disappointed, his +own determination to devote his life to that purpose remained unshaken. +If he could look for no help from the recognized leaders +of his nation, he must somehow gain a hearing from the common +people themselves. His personal contact with these, however, was +rather slight. Except for his brief work as a pastor, he had so far +spent the greater part of his life in intellectual pursuits quite removed +from the interest of the common man. And the question was +then how he, a man without any special position and influence, +could reach the ears of his countrymen.</p> +<p>In searching for an answer to this question, he remembered +the two things that most profoundly had influenced his own spiritual +outlook, his study of the traditions and history of his people, +and his religious awakening in 1810. Was it not possible then that +a like change might be engendered in others by presenting them +with a picture of their own glorious past or, as his friend Ingemann +later expressed it, by calling forth the generations that died to testify +against the generation that lived? In presenting such a picture +he would not have to rely on his own inventiveness but could use +material already existing, foremost among which were the famous +<b>Sagas of Norwegian Kings</b> by Snorra Sturlason, and <b>Denmark’s +Chronicle</b> by Saxo Grammaticus, the former written in Icelandic, +and the latter in Latin.</p> +<p>When Grundtvig presented this plan to his remaining friends, +they received it at once with enthusiasm and began the organization +<span class="pb" id="pg_110">[110]</span> +of societies both in Denmark and Norway for the purpose of +sponsoring its execution, in itself a most herculean task.</p> +<p>The two books contain together about fifteen hundred large +and closely printed pages and present a circumstantial account of +the early mythological and factual history of the two nations. Even +a merely literal translation of them might well consume years of +labor. But Grundtvig’s plan went much farther than mere literal +translation. Wishing to appeal to the common people, he purposed +to popularize the books and to transcribe them in a purer and more +idiomatic Danish than the accepted literary language of the day, a +Danish to be based on the dialects of the common people, the folk-songs, +popular proverbs, and the old hymns. It was a bold undertaking, +comparable to the work of Luther in modelling the language +of the German Bible after the speech of the man in the street +and the mother at the cradle, or to the great effort of Norway in our +days to supplant the Danish-Norwegian tongue with a language from +the various dialects of her people. Nor can it be said that Grundtvig +was immediately successful in his attempt. His version of the +sagas sounds somewhat stilted and artificial, and it never became +popular among the common people for whom it was especially intended. +Eventually, however, he did develop his new style into a +plain, forceful mode of expression that has greatly enriched the +Danish language of today.</p> +<p>For seven years Grundtvig buried himself in “the giant’s +mount,” emerging only occasionally for the pursuit of various +studies in connection with his work or to voice his views on certain +issues that particularly interested him. He discovered a number of +errors in the Icelandic version of Beowulf and made a new Danish +translation of that important work; he engaged in a bitter literary +battle with Paul Mueller, a leader among the younger academicians, +in defence of the celebrated lyric poet, Jens Baggesen, who had +aroused the wrath of the students by criticising their revered dramatist, +Oehlenschlaeger; and he fought a furious contest with the +greatly admired song and comedy writer, John L. Heiberg, in defence +of his good friend, Bernhard Severin Ingemann, whose excellent +but overly sentimental lyrics had invited the barbed wit of +the humorist. But although Grundtvig’s contributions to these disputes +were both able and pointed, their main effect was to widen +the breach between him and the already antagonistic intellectuals.</p> +<p>In 1817 Grundtvig published the second part of <b>World Chronicles</b>, +and a few issues of a short-lived periodical entitled “Dannevirke” +which among other excellent contributions presented his +<span class="pb" id="pg_111">[111]</span> +splendid poem, “The Easter Lily,” a poetic dramatization of our +Lord’s resurrection, about which the poet, Baggesen, said that “it +outweighed all Oehlenschlaeger’s tragedies and that he himself +had moments when he would rather have been the author of this +incomparably beautiful poem than of everything he himself had +written.”</p> +<p>Grundtvig began his translation of the sagas on a wave of high +enthusiasm. But as the years multiplied, the interest of his supporters +waned and he himself wearied of the task. He began, besides, +to doubt his ability to resurrect the heroic dead in such a +manner that they could revive the dropping spirit of the living.</p> +<p>In a welcome to Ingemann, on his return from a tour abroad, +he expresses the hope that the poet will now devote his gifts to a +reincarnation of his country’s old heroes. He himself has tried to +do this. “He has made armor, shields and swords for them of saga’s +steel, and borrowed horses for them from the ancient bards, but he +has no cloth fit for the coats of such elegant knights nor feathers +beautiful enough to adorn their helmets. He can sound a challenge +but has no voice for singing; he can ring a bell but can not play +the lute.” In other words, he can depict the thoughts and ideals of +the old heroes but lacks the poetical ability to recreate them as +living personalities—a remarkably true estimate of his own limitations.</p> +<p>The discovery that his translation of the sagas was not accomplishing +its intended purpose, and a growing apprehension that the +written word was, perhaps, impotent to revive the spiritual life of +his people, engendered in him an increasing wish to leave “the +mount of the dead” and re-enter the world of the living. His economic +circumstances also necessitated a change. In 1818 he had married +Elizabeth Blicher, the daughter of a brother pastor, and he +found it well nigh impossible to support his wife and growing family +on the meager returns from his writings and a small pension +which the government allowed him for his work with the sagas.</p> +<p>Spurred by these reasons, he applied for almost every vacancy +in the church, even the smallest, and, in 1821, succeeded in obtaining +an appointment to the pastorate at Prastø, a small city on the +south-eastern shores of Sjælland.</p> +<p>Grundtvig was well satisfied with his new charge. He was +kindly received by his congregation; the city was quite close to his +beloved Udby, and his mother still lived there. “In the loveliest +surroundings my eyes have ever seen and among a friendly people,” +<span class="pb" id="pg_112">[112]</span> +he writes, “my strength soon revived so that I could continue +my literary work and even complete my wearisome translation of +the sagas.”</p> +<p>An incident is related from his work at Prastø which throws a +somewhat revealing light upon his ability as a pastor. At his only +confirmation service there, the confirmants, we are told, wept so +that he had to pause several times in his address to them in order +to let them regain their composure. Since he was always quite +objective in his preaching and heartily disbelieved in the usual revival +methods, the incident illustrates his rare ability to profoundly +stir even the less mature of his hearers by his objective presentation +of the Gospel. Even his bitterest enemies could not deny the evident +effectiveness of his ministry in every charge he served.</p> +<p>His work at Prastø was, however, of brief duration. In 1822, +less than two years after his installation, he received and accepted +a call as assistant pastor at Our Savior’s Church in Copenhagen, +thus attaining his long deferred wish for a pulpit in the capital.</p> +<div class="fnblock"> +<div class="fndef"><sup><a id="fn_9" href="#fr_9">[9]</a></sup>The printed +text is corrupt here. <b>Saga: A New Year’s Gift for 1812</b> is one +work. Possibly the third work referenced is <b>World Chronicles</b>, the +first part of which was published in 1812. +</div> +</div> +</div> +<div id="c13" title="The Living Word"> +<h4>Chapter Thirteen +<span class="chaptertitle">The Living Word</span></h4> +<p>Grundtvig began his ministry in the capital with high hopes, +but he was soon disappointed. His services as usual attracted +large audiences, audiences that frequently overflowed the +spacious sanctuary. But these came from all parts of the city, an +ever changing throng from which it was quite impossible to create +a real congregation. The parish itself was so large that the mere +routine duties of his office consumed much of his time. There were +mass weddings, mass baptisms, mass funerals for people of whom +he knew little and could have no assurance that he was not “giving +the holy unto dogs or casting pearls before swine.” With the prevailing +decay of church-life most pastors accepted these conditions +with equanimity, but to Grundtvig they constituted an increasingly +heavy burden.</p> +<p>He was still lonely. Awakened Christians were few, and his +<span class="pb" id="pg_113">[113]</span> +fellow pastors were nearly all Rationalists who looked upon him +as a dangerous fanatic whom it was best to avoid. Grundtvig’s +opinion about them, though different, was scarcely higher. It provoked +him to observe pastors openly repudiating doctrines and +ordinances which they had sworn to defend. To his mind such a +course was both dishonorable to themselves and unjust toward +their congregations which, whether or not they approved of these +unlawful acts, had to be served by their parish pastors. The majority, +it is true, accepted the new doctrines with indifference. Rationalism +then as now promoted apathy rather than heresy. But +Grundtvig observed its blighting effect everywhere, even upon +himself.</p> +<p>Signs of a new awakening, nevertheless, were appearing here +and there, especially in certain rural communities. Influenced by +the Haugean movement in Norway and Grundtvig’s own earlier +work, scattering groups of Evangelicals and Pietists began to +evince new life and activity. Peasants in a number of parishes in +Jutland refused to accept the Evangelical Christian hymnal and +a new rationalistic colored catechism, choosing to go to jail rather +than to compromise their faith; and groups of Evangelical laymen +on the island of Fyn began to hold private assemblies at which +they nourished themselves by reading Luther’s sermons and singing +Kingo’s and Brorson’s hymns. Most if not all of these groups +admired Grundtvig for his bold defiance of Biblical Christianity +and looked hopefully to him for encouragement. If, as his enemies +charged, he had wished to make himself the head of a party, he +could easily have done so by assuming the leadership of the private +assemblies.</p> +<p>But Grundtvig never compromised his views for the sake of +attracting a following, and he did not approve of private assemblies. +Such groups, he wrote, had frequently disrupted the church, +bred contempt for Scripture, and fostered a perverted form of +piety. Even as a release from the present deplorable situation, they +might easily produce more harm than good.</p> +<p>Although Grundtvig could not approve of the assemblies he, +nevertheless, sympathized deeply with the distressed laity. A layman +was then bound to his parish, and Grundtvig clearly understood +the difficulty of laymen who had to accept the ministry, +have their children baptized, instructed and confirmed by pastors +denying fundamental doctrines of their faith. With his usual frankness +he therefore threw caution to the winds and reminded the +<span class="pb" id="pg_114">[114]</span> +pastors that it was their own failure to preach and defend the Lutheran +faith that was forcing Evangelical laymen to seek in the +assemblies what was arbitrarily withheld from them in the church. +“Whether it be good or bad, recommendable or deplorable,” +Grundtvig wrote, “it is, at any rate, a fact that the spirit of the +church service has changed so greatly during the last half century +that it is almost impossible for an Evangelical Christian to derive +any benefit from it, and it is this situation that has forced earnest +laymen to invent such a substitute for the church as the private +assemblies evidently are.”</p> +<p>For a number of years Grundtvig thought and wrote almost +ceaselessly about this problem. With conditions so perverted that +the lawbreakers were imprisoning the victims of their own lawlessness, +something ought evidently to be done about it. But what +could he do?</p> +<p>He tried to attack Rationalism from new angles. In a carefully +written article in “The Theological Monthly,” a magazine +that he published in collaboration with the learned but crusty Dr. +G. A. Rudelbach, he argued that any inquiry concerning the nature +of Christianity should distinguish between the questions: +What is true Christianity? and Is Christianity True? The first was +a historical question, and could be answered only by an examination +of the original teachings of Christianity; the second was a question +of conscience and depended on the attitude of the individual. He was +he asserted, perfectly willing to recognize the right of the Rationalists +to believe what ever they choose, but as a historian he had to +protest against the propagation of any belief under the name of +Christianity that clearly denied what Christianity originally affirmed.</p> +<p>His writing, however, produced no evident result. The rationalists +either maintained a contemptuous silence or answered him +by their favorite cry of ignorance and fanaticism. The true teachings +of Christianity, they asserted, could be ascertained only by +the trained theologian, able to read the Bible in the original and +trained to interpret it in the light of current knowledge. Such men +knew, it was claimed, that many of the doctrines formerly held by +the church, such as the divinity of Christ, the atonement and the +triunity of God, were not found in the Scriptures at all or were +based on misread or misinterpreted texts.</p> +<p>Although these contentions were almost as old as Christianity +itself, Grundtvig still found that a clear refutation of them was practically +<span class="pb" id="pg_115">[115]</span> +impossible. He could not disprove them by Scripture, for +the Rationalists would claim their interpretation of the Bible to +be as trustworthy as his own; nor could he appeal to the confessions, +for his opponents openly repudiated these as antiquated conceptions +of a less enlightened age. His only hope of giving any real +guidance to the confused and distressed laity of his church thus +appeared to depend on the possibility of discovering an expression +of Christianity so authoritative that the most learned perverter of +the faith could not repudiate it and so plain that the humblest believer +could understand it. In his anxiety it even seemed to him +that the Lord had failed adequately to provide for His little ones +if He had not supplied them with such a shield against the storm of +confusing doctrines.</p> +<p>“Being greatly distressed with the thought that all humble +Christians must either fall into doubt concerning their only Savior +and His Gospel or build their faith on the contradictory teachings +of learned theologians,” he wrote, “I perceived clearly the pressing +need of the church for a simpler, more dependable and authoritative +statement of that word of God which shall never pass away +than all the book-worms of the world could ever produce. But +while my anxiety for the distressed laity of my church grew and +I sought night and day for a clear testimony of Jesus that would +enable them to try the spirits whether they be of God, a good +angel whispered to me: ‘Why seekest thou the living among the +dead?’ Then the scales fell from my eyes, and I saw clearly that +the word of God which I so anxiously sought could be no other +than that which at all times, in all churches and by all Christians +has been accepted as a true expression of their faith and the covenant +of their baptism, the Apostolic Creed.”</p> +<p>In his search for an effective means of arming the laity against +the confusing claims of the Rationalists, Grundtvig thus came to +place the Creed above the Bible, or rather to assert that the two +should stand side by side, and that all explanations of the latter +should agree with the plain articles of the former so that every +Christian personally could weigh the truth or error of what was +taught by comparing it with his baptismal covenant.</p> +<p>Grundtvig supported his “great discovery” with passages from +the Bible and the church fathers, especially Irenaeus. He advanced +the theory that Jesus had taught the Creed to His disciples during +the forty days after His resurrection in which He remained with +them, “speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God”; +<span class="pb" id="pg_116">[116]</span> +that the Creed through the early centuries had been regarded as +too sacred to commit to writing and, therefore had been transmitted +orally; and that it constituted, together with the words of institution +of the sacraments and the Lord’s prayer, in a special sense +“the living word of God” by which He builds and vivifies His +church. It should be stated, however, that Grundtvig’s intention +by distinguishing between what he called “the living” and “the +written word,” was not to belittle the Bible but only to define its +proper place, the place of enlightening and guiding those, who +through God’s living covenant with them in their baptism already +have become Christians. A Christian, he believed, is reborn in his +baptism, nourished in the Communion and enlightened by the +Word.</p> +<p>A critical examination of Grundtvig’s theory, about which +thousands of pages have been written, lies beyond the scope of +this work. Grundtvig himself felt that his “discovery” had given +him a solid foundation for his stand against the Rationalists. And +his theory unquestionably did enable him, in the midst of an almost +hopeless religious confusion, to reassert the essentials of Evangelical +Christianity, to refute the contentions of the Rationalists by +weighing them on an acknowledged historical basis of faith, and to +reemphasize that the Christian church is not a creation of theological +speculations but of God’s own work in His word and sacraments.</p> +<p>Grundtvig for some time previous to his discovery had felt exceedingly +depressed. His long struggle for the reawakening of his +people to a richer Christian and national life appeared fruitless. +Most of the intellectual and spiritual leaders of his time looked +upon the very idea of sharing the richer cultural and spiritual +values of life with the common man as a visionary conception of +an unstable and erratic mind. One ought naturally, they admitted, +to be interested in improving the social and economic conditions +of the lower classes, but the higher treasures of mind and spirit +belonged in the very nature of things to the cultured few and could +not be shared with the common herd.</p> +<p>In spite of these discouragements, Grundtvig somehow experienced +a wonderful rebirth of his hope in the spring of 1824, an +experience to which he gave eloquent expression in his great poem, +“New Year’s Morning.” He writes in the preface that he has “long +enough battled with a witch called indifference, and has discovered +that the battle wherein one is most likely to be defeated is +<span class="pb" id="pg_117">[117]</span> +the battle against nothing.” He therefore urges his friends to ignore +the witch and join him in a determined crusade for a reawakening +of the Northern spirit to the accomplishment of Christian deed.</p> +<p>Grundtvig’s hope for a season of quiet and peaceful cooperation +with his friends was, however, soon shattered. In the summer +of 1825, a young professor of theology, H. N. Clausen, published +a book entitled: <b>The Constitution, Doctrine and Rituals of Catholicism +and Protestantism</b>. As Prof. Clausen enjoyed a great popularity +among his students and, as a teacher of theology, might influence +the course of the Danish church for many years, Grundtvig was +very much interested in what he had to say. He obtained the book +and read it quickly but thoughtfully, underscoring the points with +which he disagreed. And these were numerous. At the very beginning +of the book, he found the author asserting that “the Protestant +theologian, since he need recognize no restriction of his interpretations +by creeds, traditions, or ecclesiastical authorities, is +as once infinitely more free and important than his Catholic colleague. +For as the Protestant church unlike the Catholic possesses +no conclusive and authoritative system of belief either in her creeds +or in Scripture, it devolves upon her trained theologians to set +forth what the true teachings of Christianity really are. “Why, O +why!” the professor exclaims, “should eternal Wisdom have willed +revelation to appear in a form so imperfect? What other purpose, +I ask you, can an all-wise Providence have had with such a plan +than to compel the children of man to recognize that it is only +through the exercise of their own, human intelligence that the +revelation of God can be comprehended!”</p> +<p>As Grundtvig mused upon these assertions so expressive of +all that he had denied and fought against, he felt at once that they +constituted a challenge which he could not leave unanswered. He +had shortly before written to a friend: “Since the perverters of +Christianity have become so self-confident that they will not answer +any charge against them except when it is addressed to themselves +personally and by name, one may eventually have to employ +that form of attack.” And that was the form he chose to use in his +now famous book. <b>The Reply of the Church to Prof. H. N. Clausen</b>.</p> +<p>“By the publication of this book,” he writes, “Prof. Clausen +has put himself forward as a leader among the enemies of the +church and the perverters of God’s word in this country. A church, +such as he advocates, that has no determinable form, exists only in +the brains of the theologians, and must be construed from theological +<span class="pb" id="pg_118">[118]</span> +speculations on the basis of a discredited Bible and according +to the changing thoughts and opinions of man, is plainly nothing +but a fantastic dream, a comic if it were not so tragic conception +of a Christian congregation which claims to confess the same faith, +but knows not what it is, and holds that it is instituted by God, +but cannot tell for what purpose before the theologians have found +it out.</p> +<p>“Against such a church, I place the historical church, that is +the church of the Gospel, instituted by Christ Himself, created by +His word and vivified by His Spirit. For I contend that the Christian +church now as always consists of that body of believers who +truly accept the faith of their baptismal covenant, Holy Baptism +and the Lord’s Supper as the faith and means of salvation.”</p> +<p><b>The Reply of the Church</b> caused a sensation. It was read and +discussed everywhere. But if Grundtvig had hoped to force a general +discussion of the plight of the church, he was disappointed. +Prof. Clausen answered him with a lawsuit “for malicious injury +to his professional honor”; his enemies all condemned him, and his +friends were silent. If they approved of the substance of his charges, +they disapproved of their form. Grundtvig appeared to have +thrown away the last remnant of his already tattered reputation, +and only the years would reveal that in doing so he had struck a +deadlier blow against Rationalism than he had expected, that he +had, in fact, for years to come made Rationalism impossible in Denmark +as a form of Christianity.</p> +<p>Meanwhile the Danish church was preparing to celebrate its +thousandth anniversary in May, 1826. Grundtvig looked forward +to the event with almost child-like anticipation, hoping that the +celebration might serve to awaken a new appreciation of the old +church. To heighten the festivities the authorities had authorized +pastors to select the hymns for the services in their own churches, +and Grundtvig had written and published a pamphlet of hymns to +be used in his church. But shortly before the festival, his bishop +informed him that only hymns from the authorized hymnal could +be chosen. As no one else had composed hymns for the occasion, +Grundtvig could not doubt that this new ruling was aimed solely +at him, and this new evidence at the length to which his enemies +would go for the sake of humiliating him appeared to him like the +last straw. He had long suffered under the difficulty of serving a +church which honored the law-breaker and persecuted the law-abiding +and thought of resigning. But he had a family to support. +<span class="pb" id="pg_119">[119]</span> +And while he himself would gladly bear the poverty his resignation +would inevitably bring him, he doubted his right to impose such a +burden upon his family. The difficulty was finally solved for him +by his wife, who one day came into his study and said: “Father, I +know what is troubling you. You wish to resign and hesitate to do +so for our sake. But I want you to do whatever you think is right. +The Lord will provide for us.”</p> +<p>And so it was settled. His resignation was handed to the authorities +a few days before the festival, and it was accepted so +quickly that he was released from office before the following Sunday. +When the festive Sunday came which he had looked forward +to with so much pleasure, he sat idly in his study across from the +church and watched people come for the service, but another pastor +preached the sermon, he had earnestly wished to deliver, and +other hymns than his own beloved songs served as vehicles for the +people’s praise.</p> +<p>Public sentiment regarding Grundtvig’s resignation varied. His +friends deplored the action, holding that he should have remained +in his pastorate both for the sake of his congregation and the cause +which he had so ably championed. But his opponents rejoiced, +seeing in his resignation just another proof of an erratic mentality. +For who had ever heard of a normal person withdrawing from a +secure and respectable position without even asking for the pension +to which he was entitled?</p> +<p>The six years during which Grundtvig remained without a +pulpit were among the busiest and most fruitful of his life. He +published his <b>Sunday-Book</b>, a collection of sermons which many +still rate among the finest devotional books in Danish; made extended +visits to England in 1829-1831, for the purpose of studying +the old Anglo Saxon manuscripts kept there, an undertaking that +awakened the interest of the English themselves in these great +treasures; wrote his splendid <b>Northern Mythology or Picture Language</b>, +and <b>The World’s History after the Best Sources</b>, works in +which he presents the fundamental aspects of his historical, folk +and educational views that have made his name known not only +in Scandinavia but in almost every country in the world.</p> +<p>Meanwhile he again had entered the pulpit. As a compensation +for the loss of his ministry, a group of his friends shortly after his +resignation began to hold private assemblies. When Grundtvig +still firmly refused to take part in these, they decided to organize +an independent congregation, petition the government for permission +<span class="pb" id="pg_120">[120]</span> +to use an abandoned German Lutheran church and call Grundtvig +as their pastor. The petition was promptly refused, though +Grundtvig himself pleaded with the authorities to permit the organization +of an independent congregation as the best means of relieving +the dissatisfied members of the church and declared that he +would himself join the assemblies unless some such measure of relief +was granted. When the authorities ignored his plea, Grundtvig +made good his threat and appeared at the assemblies, drawing such +a crowd that no private home could possibly hold it, whereupon it +was decided to secure a public hall for future meetings. But when +the authorities heard this, they suddenly experienced a change of +heart and offered the troublesome preacher and his friends the use +of Frederik’s church for a vesper service each Sunday.</p> +<p>The eight years Grundtvig served as an independent preacher +at the Frederik’s church were among the happiest in his life. He +rejoiced to know that the large, diversified audience crowding the +sanctuary each Sunday came wholly of its own free will. It also +pleased the now gray-haired pastor to see an increasing number of +students become constant attendants at his services. Even so, his +position had its drawbacks. He was permitted neither to administer +the sacraments nor to instruct the young people, and the authorities +even denied him the right to confirm his own sons. +Grundtvig felt especially this refusal so keenly that he again was +thinking of resigning his pulpit when the king offered him an appointment +as pastor of Vartov, a large institution for the aged.</p> +<p>Thus from 1839 until Grundtvig’s death the chapel at Vartov +became his home and that of his friends and the center of the fast +growing Grundtvigian movement. People from all walks of life, +from the Queen to the common laborer, became regular attendants +at the unpretentious sanctuary, and the eyes of some old people +still shine when they recall the moving spirit of the services there, +the venerable appearance and warm monotone voice of the pastor, +and, especially, the hearty, soul-stirring singing. Many of Grundtvig’s +own great hymns were introduced at Vartov. From there they +spread throughout the church. And it was to a large extent the +hearty, inspiring congregational singing at Vartov which made the +Danish church a singing church.</p> +</div> +<div id="c14" title="The Hymnwriter"> +<div class="pb" id="pg_121">[121]</div> +<h4>Chapter Fourteen +<span class="chaptertitle">The Hymnwriter</span></h4> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Splendid are the heavens high,</p> +<p class="t0">Beautiful the radiant sky,</p> +<p class="t0">Where the golden stars are shining,</p> +<p class="t0">And their rays, to earth inclining,</p> +<p class="t0">-: Beckon us to heaven above :-</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">It was on a Christmas night,</p> +<p class="t0">Darkness veiled the starry height;</p> +<p class="t0">But at once the heavens hoary</p> +<p class="t0">Beamed with radiant light and glory,</p> +<p class="t0">-: Coming from a wondrous star :-</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">When this star so bright and clear</p> +<p class="t0">Should illume the midnight drear,</p> +<p class="t0">Then, according to tradition,</p> +<p class="t0">Should a king of matchless vision</p> +<p class="t0">-: Unto earth from heaven descend :-</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Sages from the East afar</p> +<p class="t0">When they saw this wondrous star,</p> +<p class="t0">Went to worship and adore Him</p> +<p class="t0">And to lay their gifts before Him</p> +<p class="t0">-: Who was born that midnight hour :-</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Him they found in Bethlehem</p> +<p class="t0">Without crown or diadem,</p> +<p class="t0">They but saw a maiden lowly</p> +<p class="t0">With an infant pure and holy</p> +<p class="t0">-: Resting in her loving arms :-</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Guided by the star they found</p> +<p class="t0">Him whose praise the ages sound.</p> +<p class="t0">We have still a star to guide us</p> +<p class="t0">Whose unsullied rays provide us</p> +<p class="t0">-: With the light to find our Lord :-</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">And this star so fair and bright</p> +<p class="t0">Which will ever lead aright,</p> +<p class="t0">Is God’s word, divine and holy,</p> +<p class="t0">Guiding all His children lowly</p> +<p class="t0">-: Unto Christ, our Lord and King :-</p> +</div> +<p>This lovely, childlike hymn, the first to appear from Grundtvig’s +pen, was written in the fall of 1810 when its author was still +battling with despair and his mind faltering on the brink of insanity. +<span class="pb" id="pg_122">[122]</span> +Against this background the hymn appears like a ray of +sunlight breaking through a clouded sky. And as such it must undoubtedly +have come to its author. As an indication of Grundtvig’s +simple trust in God, it is noteworthy that another of his most childlike +hymns, “God’s Child, Do Now Rest Thee,” was likewise composed +during a similar period of distress that beset him many years later.</p> +<p>For a number of years Grundtvig’s hymn of the Wise Men +represented his sole contribution to hymnody. Other interests engaged +his attention and absorbed his energy. During his years of +intense work with the sagas he only occasionally broke his “engagement” +with the dead to strike the lyre for the living. In 1815 +he translated “In Death’s Strong Bonds Our Savior Lay” from +Luther, and “Christ Is Risen from the Dead” from the Latin. The +three hundredth anniversary of the Reformation brought his adaptation +of Kingo’s “Like the Golden Sun Ascending” and translations +of Luther’s “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” and “The Bells +Ring in the Christmastide.” In 1820 he published his now popular +“A Babe Is Born at Bethlehem” from an old Latin-Danish text, and +1824 saw his splendid rendering of “The Old Day Song,” “With +Gladness We Hail the Blessed Day,” and his original “On Its Rock +the Church of Jesus Stood Mongst Us a Thousand Years.”</p> +<p>These songs constitute his whole contribution to hymnody from +1810 to 1825. But the latter year brought a signal increase. In the +midst of his fierce battle with the Rationalists he published the first +of his really great hymns, a song of comfort to the daughters of +Zion, sitting disconsolately at the sickbed of their mother, the +church. Her present state may appear so hopeless that her children +fear to remember her former glory:</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Dares the anxious heart envision</p> +<p class="t0">Still its morning dream,</p> +<p class="t0">View, despite the world’s derision,</p> +<p class="t0">Zion’s sunlit height and stream?</p> +<p class="t0">Wields still anyone the power</p> +<p class="t0">To repeat her anthems strong,</p> +<p class="t0">And with joyful heart embower,</p> +<p class="t0">Zion with triumphant song.</p> +</div> +<p>Her condition is not hopeless, however, if her children will gather +about her.</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Zion’s sons and daughters rally</p> +<p class="t0">Now upon her ancient wall!</p> +<p class="t0">Have her foemen gained the valley,</p> +<p class="t0">Yet her ramparts did not fall.</p> +<div class="pb" id="pg_123">[123]</div> +<p class="t0">Were her outer walls forsaken</p> +<p class="t0">Still her cornerstone remains,</p> +<p class="t0">Firm, unconquered and unshaken,</p> +<p class="t0">Making futile all their gains.</p> +</div> +<p>Another of his great hymns dates from the same year. Grundtvig +was in the habit of remaining up all night when he had to speak +on the following day. The Christmas of 1825 was particularly trying +to him. He had apparently forfeited his last vestige of honor by +publishing his <b>Reply of the Church</b>; the suit started against him by +Professor Clausen still dragged its laborious way through the court; +and his anxiety over the present state of the church was greatly +increased by the weight of his personal troubles. He felt very much +like the shepherds watching their flocks at night, except that no +angels appeared to help him with the message his people would +expect him to deliver in the morning. Perhaps he was unworthy +of such a favor. He rose, as was his custom, and made a round into +the bedrooms to watch his children. How innocently they slept! +If the angels could not come to him, they ought at least to visit +the children. If they heard the message, their elders might perchance +catch it through them.</p> +<p>Some such thought must have passed through the mind of the +lonely pastor as he sat musing upon his sermon throughout the +night, for he appeared unusually cheerful as he ascended his pulpit +Christmas morning, preached a joyful sermon, and said, at its conclusion, +that he had that night begotten a song which he wished to +read to them. That song has since become one of the most beloved +Christmas songs in the Danish language. To give an adequate reproduction +of its simple, childlike spirit in another language is perhaps +impossible, but it is hoped that the translation given below +will convey at least an impression of its cheerful welcome to the +Christmas angels.</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Be welcome again, God’s angels bright</p> +<p class="t0">From mansions of light and glory</p> +<p class="t0">To publish anew this wintry night</p> +<p class="t0">The wonderful Christmas story.</p> +<p class="t0">Ye herald to all that yearn for light</p> +<p class="t0">New year after winter hoary.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">With gladness we hear your sweet refrain</p> +<p class="t0">In praise of God’s glory solely;</p> +<p class="t0">Ye will not this wintry night disdain</p> +<p class="t0">To enter our dwellings lowly.</p> +<p class="t0">And bring to each yearning heart again</p> +<p class="t0">The joy that is pure and holy.</p> +</div> +<div class="pb" id="pg_124">[124]</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">In humble homes as in mansions rare</p> +<p class="t0">With light in the windows glowing,</p> +<p class="t0">We harbor the babes as sweet and fair</p> +<p class="t0">As flowers in meadows growing.</p> +<p class="t0">Oh, deign with these little ones to share</p> +<p class="t0">The joy from your message flowing.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Reveal the child in the manger still</p> +<p class="t0">With angels around Him singing</p> +<p class="t0">The song of God’s glory, peace, good-will</p> +<p class="t0">That joy to all hearts is bringing,</p> +<p class="t0">While far over mountain, field and hill,</p> +<p class="t0">The bells are with gladness ringing.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">God’s angels with joy to earth descend</p> +<p class="t0">When hymns to His praise are chanted;</p> +<p class="t0">His comfort and peace our Lord will lend</p> +<p class="t0">To all who for peace have panted;</p> +<p class="t0">The portals of heaven open stand;</p> +<p class="t0">The Kingdom to us is granted.</p> +</div> +<p>In 1826 Grundtvig, as already related, published his hymns for +the thousand years’ festival of his church. But a few months later +he again buried himself in his study, putting aside the lyre, which +for a little while he had played so beautifully. Many had already +noticed his hymns, however, and continued to plead with him for +more. The new Evangelical revival, which he had largely inspired, +intensified the general dissatisfaction with the rationalistic Evangelical +Christian Hymnal, and called for hymns embodying the +spirit of the new movement. And who could better furnish these +than Grundtvig? Of those who pleaded with him for new hymns, +none was more persistent than his friend, Pastor Gunni Busck. +When Grundtvig wrote to him in 1832 that his <b>Northern Mythology</b> +was nearing completion, Busck at once answered: “Do not forget +your more important work; do not forget our old hymns! I know +no one else with your ability to brush the dust off our old songs.” +But Grundtvig was still too busy with other things to comply with +the wish of his most faithful and helpful friend.</p> +<p>During the ensuing years, however, a few hymns occasionally +appeared from his pen. A theological student, L. C. Hagen, secured +a few adapted and original hymns from him for a small collection +of <b>Historical Hymns and Rhymes for Children</b>, which was published +in 1832. But the adaptations were not successful. Despite the good +opinion of Gunni Busck, Grundtvig was too independent a spirit to +adjust himself to the style and mode of others. His originals were +much more successful. Among these we find such gems as “Mongst +<span class="pb" id="pg_125">[125]</span> +His Brothers Called the Little,” “Move the Signs of Grief and +Mourning from the Garden of the Dead,” and “O Land of Our +King,” hymns that rank with the finest he has written.</p> +<p>In 1835 Grundtvig at last wrote to Gunni Busck that he was +now ready to commence the long deferred attempt to renew the +hymnody of his church. Busck received the information joyfully +and at once sent him a thousand dollars to support him during his +work. Others contributed their mite, making Grundtvig richer +financially than he had been for many years. He rented a small +home on the shores of the Sound and began to prepare himself for +the work before him by an extensive study of Christian hymnody, +both ancient and modern.</p> +<p>“The old hymns sound beautiful to me out here under the +sunny sky and with the blue water of the Sound before me,” he +wrote to Busck. He did not spend his days day-dreaming, however, +but worked with such intensity that only a year later he was +able to invite subscriptions on the first part of his work. The complete +collection was published in 1837 under the title: <b>Songs of the +Danish Church</b>. It contains in all 401 hymns and songs composed of +originals, translations and adaptations from Greek, Latin, German, +Icelandic, Anglo-Saxon, English and Scandinavian sources. The +material is of very unequal merit, ranging from the superior to +the commonplace. As originally composed, the collection could +not be used as a hymnal. But many of the finest hymns now used in +the Danish church have been selected or adapted from it.</p> +<p>Although <b>Songs for the Danish Church</b> is now counted among +the great books in Danish, its appearance attracted little attention +outside the circle of Grundtvig’s friends. It was not even reviewed +in the press. The literati, both inside and outside the church, still +publicly ignored Grundtvig. But privately a few of them expressed +their opinion about the work. Thus a Pastor P. Hjort wrote to +Bishop Mynster, “Have you read Grundtvig’s <b>Songs of the Danish +Church</b>? It is a typical Grundtvigian book, wordy, ingenious, mystical, +poetical and full of half digested ideas. His language is rich +and wonderfully expressive. But he is not humble enough to write +hymns.”</p> +<p>Meanwhile the demand for a new hymnal or at least for a +supplement to the old had become so insistent that something had +to be done. J. P. Mynster who, shortly before, had been appointed +Bishop of Sjælland, favored a supplement and obtained an authorization +from the king for the appointment of a committee to prepare +<span class="pb" id="pg_126">[126]</span> +it. The only logical man to head such a committee was, of +course, Grundtvig. But Mynster’s dislike of his volcanic relative +was so deep-rooted that he was incapable of giving any recognition +to him. And so in order to avoid a too obvious slight to his country’s +best known hymnwriter, he assigned the work to an already +existing committee on liturgy, of which he himself was president. +Thus Grundtvig was forced to sit idly by while the work naturally +belonging to him was being executed by a man with no special +ability for the task. The supplement appeared in 1843. It contained +thirty-six hymns of which six were written by Kingo, seven by +Brorson, and one by Grundtvig, the latter being, as Grundtvig +humorously remarked, set to the tune of the hymn, “Lord, I Have +Done Wrong.”</p> +<p>Mynster’s influence was great enough to secure the supplement +a wide circulation. The collection, nevertheless, failed to satisfy +the need of the church. Dissatisfaction with it was so general that +the pastors’ conference of Copenhagen appointed a committee consisting +of Grundtvig, Prof. Martensen, Mynster’s own son-in-law, +Rev. Pauli, his successor as Provost of the Church of Our Lady, and +two other pastors to prepare and present a proposal for a new +hymnal. It was an able committee from which a meritorious work +might reasonably be expected.</p> +<p>Grundtvig was assigned to the important work of selecting and +revising the old hymns to be included in the collection. He was an +inspiring but at times difficult co-worker. Martensen recalls how +Grundtvig at times aroused the committee to enthusiasm by an impromptu +talk on hymnody or a recitation of one of the old hymns, +which he loved so well. But he also recalls how he sometimes flared +up and stormed out of the committee room in anger over some proposed +change or correction of his work. When his anger subsided, +however, he always conscientiously attempted to effect whatever +changes the committee agreed on proposing. Yet excellent as much +of his own work was, he possessed no particular gift for mending +the work of others, and his corrections of one defect often resulted +in another.</p> +<p>The committee submitted its work to the judgment of the conference +in January 1845. The proposal included 109 hymns of which +nineteen were by Kingo, seven by Brorson, ten by Ingemann, twenty-five +by Grundtvig and the remainder by various other writers, +old and new. It appeared to be a well balanced collection, giving +due recognition to such newer writers as Boye, Ingemann, Grundtvig +<span class="pb" id="pg_127">[127]</span> +and others. But the conference voted to reject it. Admitting its +poetical excellence and its sound Evangelical tenor, some of the +pastors complained that it contained too many new and too few +old hymns; others held that it bore too clearly the imprint of one +man, a complaint which no doubt expressed the sentiment of Mynster +and his friends. A petition to allow such churches as should by +a majority vote indicate their wish to use the collection was likewise +rejected by the Bishop.</p> +<p>Grundtvig was naturally disappointed by the rejection of a +work upon which he had spent so much time and energy. The rejection +furthermore showed him that he still could expect no consideration +from the authorities with Mynster in control. He was +soon able, however, to comfort himself with the fact that his hymns +were becoming popular in private assemblies throughout the country, +and that even a number of churches were beginning to use +them at their regular services in defiance of official edicts. The +demand for granting more liberty to the laymen in their church +life, a demand Grundtvig long had advocated, was in fact becoming +so strong that the authorities at times found it advisable to overlook +minor infractions of official rulings. Noting this new policy, Grundtvig +himself ventured to introduce some of the new hymns into his +church. In the fall of 1845, he published a small collection of +Christmas hymns to be used at the impending Christmas festival. +When the innovation passed without objections, a similar collection +of Easter hymns was introduced at the Easter services, after which +other collections for the various seasons of the church year appeared +quite regularly until all special prints were collected into +one volume and used as “the hymnal of Vartov.”</p> +<p>The work of preparing a new authorized hymnal was finally +given to Grundtvig’s closest friend, Ingemann. This hymnal appeared +in 1855, under the title, <b>Roskilde Convent’s Psalmbook</b>. +This book served as the authorized hymnal of the Danish church +until 1899, when it was replaced by <b>Hymnal for Church and Home</b>, +the hymnal now used in nearly all Danish churches both at home +and abroad. It contains in all 675 hymns of which 96 are by Kingo, +107 by Brorson, 29 by Ingemann and 173 by Grundtvig, showing +that the latter at last had been recognized as the foremost hymnwriter +of the Danish church.</p> +</div> +<div id="c15" title="Grundtvig’s Hymns"> +<div class="pb" id="pg_128">[128]</div> +<h4>Chapter Fifteen +<span class="chaptertitle">Grundtvig’s Hymns</span></h4> +<p>Grundtvig wrote most of his hymns when he was past middle +age, a man of extensive learning, proved poetical ability and +mature judgment, especially in spiritual things. Years of hard +struggles and unjust neglect had sobered and mellowed but not +aged or embittered him.</p> +<p>His long study of hymnology together with his exceptional +poetical gift enabled him to adopt material from all ages and +branches of Christian song, and to wield it into a homogenous +hymnody for his own church. His treatment of the material is +usually very free, so free that it is often difficult to discover any +relationship between his translations and their supposed originals. +Instead of endeavoring to transfer the metre, phrasing and sentiment +of the original text, he frequently adopts only a single thought +or a general idea from its content, and expresses this in his own +language and form.</p> +<p>His original hymns likewise bear the imprint of his ripe knowledge +and spiritual understanding. They are for the most part objective +in content and sentiment, depicting the great themes of +Biblical history, doctrine and life rather than the personal feeling +and experiences of the individual. A large number of his hymns +are, in fact, faithful but often striking adaptations of Bible stories +and texts. For though he was frequently accused of belittling the +Book of Books, his hymns to a larger extent than those of any other +Danish hymnwriter are directly inspired by the language of the +Bible. He possessed an exceptional ability to absorb the essential +implications of a text and to present it with the terseness and force +of an adage.</p> +<p>Although Grundtvig’s hymns at times attain the height of pure +poetry, their poetic merit is incidental rather than sought. In the +pride of his youth he had striven, as he once complained, to win +the laurel wreath, but had found it to be an empty honor. His +style is more often forceful than lyrical. When the mood was upon +him he could play the lyre with entrancing beauty and gentleness, +but he preferred the organ with all stops out.</p> +<div class="pb" id="pg_129">[129]</div> +<p>His style is often rough but expressive and rich in imagery. In +this he strove to supplant time-honored similes and illustrations +from Biblical lands with native allusions and scenes. Pictures drawn +from the Danish landscape, lakes and streams, summer and winter, +customs and life abound in his songs, giving them a home-like touch +that has endeared them to millions.</p> +<p>His poetry is of very unequal merit. He was a prolific writer, +producing, besides many volumes of poetry on various subjects, +about three thousand hymns and songs. Among much that is excellent +in this vast production there are also dreary stretches of +rambling loquacity, hollow rhetoric and unintelligible jumbles of +words and phrases. He could be insupportably dull and again express +more in a single stanza, couplet or phrase than many have +said in a whole book. A study of his poetry is, therefore, not unlike +a journey through a vast country, alternating in fertile valleys, +barren plains and lofty heights with entrancing views into far, dim +vistas.</p> +<p>This inconsistency in the work of a man so eminently gifted as +Grundtvig is explainable only by his method of writing. He was +an intuitive writer and preferred to be called a “skjald” instead of +a poet. The distinction is significant but somewhat difficult to define. +As Grundtvig himself understood the term, the “skjald”, besides +being a poet, must also be a seer, a man able to envision and +express what was still hidden to the common mortal. “The skjald +is,” he says, “the chosen lookout of life who must reveal from his +mountain what he sees at life’s deep fountain. When gripped by his +vision,” he says further, the skjald is “neither quiescent nor lifeless +but, on the contrary, lifted up into an exceptional state of sensitiveness +in which he sees and feels things with peculiar vividness and +power. I know of nothing in this material world to which the +skjald may more fittingly be likened than a tuned harp with the +wind playing upon it.”</p> +<p>A skjald in Grundtvig’s conception was thus a man endowed +with the gift of receiving direct impressions of life and things, of +perceiving especially the deeper and more fundamental truths of +existence intuitively instead of intellectually. Such perceptions, he +admitted, might lack the apparent clarity of reasoned conclusions, +but would approach nearer to the truth. For life must be understood +from within, must be spiritually discerned. It could never be +comprehended by mere intellect or catalogued by supposed science.</p> +<p>He knew, however, that his work was frequently criticized for +<span class="pb" id="pg_130">[130]</span> +its ambiguity and lack of consistency. But he claimed that these +defects were unavoidable consequences of his way of writing. He +had to write what he saw and could not be expected to express that +clearly which he himself saw only dimly. “I naturally desire to +please my readers,” he wrote to Ingemann, “but when I write as +my intuition dictates, it works well; ideas and images come to me +without effort, and I fly lightly as the gazelle from crag to crag, +whereas if I warn myself that there must be a limit to everything +and that I must restrain myself and write sensibly, I am stopped +right there. And I have thus to choose between writing as the spirit +moves me, or not writing at all.”</p> +<p>This statement, although it casts a revealing light both upon his +genius and its evident limitations, is no doubt extreme. However +much Grundtvig may have depended on his momentary inspiration +for the poetical development of his ideas, his fundamental views on +life were exceptionally clear and comprehensive. He knew what he +believed regarding the essential verities of existence, of God and +man, of good and evil, of life and death. And all other conceptions +of his intuitive and far-reaching spirit were consistently correlated +to these basic beliefs.</p> +<p>Bishop H. Martensen, the celebrated theologian, relates an illuminating +conversation between Grundtvig and the German theologian, +P. K. Marheincke, during a visit which the Bishop had arranged +between the two men. Dr. Marheincke commenced a +lengthy discourse on the great opposites in life, as for instance between +thinking and being, and Grundtvig replied, “My opposites are +life and death” (Mein Gegensatz ist Leben und Tod).</p> +<p>“The professor accepted my statement somewhat dubiously,” +Grundtvig said later, “and admitted that that was indeed a great +contrast, but—” The difference between the two men no doubt lay +in the fact that Prof. Marheincke, the speculative theologian, was +principally interested in the first part of the assumed contrast—thinking, +whereas Grundtvig’s main concern was with the last—being, +existence, life. In real life there could be no more fundamental, +no farther reaching contrast than the continuous and irreconcilable +difference between life and death. The thought of this +contrast lies at the root of all his thinking and colors all his views. +From the day of his conversion until the hour of his death, his one +consuming interest was to illuminate the contrast between the two +irreconcilable enemies and to encourage anything that would +strengthen the one and defeat the other.</p> +<div class="pb" id="pg_131">[131]</div> +<p>Grundtvig loved life in all its highest aspects and implications, +and he hated death under whatever form he saw it. “Life is from +heaven, death is from hell,” he says in a characteristic poem. The +one is representative of all the good the Creator intended for his +creatures, the other of all the evil, frustration and destruction the +great destroyer brought into the world. There can be no reconciliation +or peace between the two, the one must inevitably destroy +or be destroyed by the other. He could see nothing but deception +in the attempts of certain philosophical or theological phrasemakers +to minimize or explain away the eternal malignity of death, man’s +most relentless foe. A human being could fall no lower than to accept +death as a friend. Thus in a poem:</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Yea, hear it, ye heavens, with loathing and grief;</p> +<p class="t0">The sons of the Highest now look for relief</p> +<p class="t2">In the ways of damnation</p> +<p class="t2">And find consolation</p> +<p class="t0">In hopes of eternal death.</p> +</div> +<p>But death is not present only at the hour of our demise. It is +present everywhere; it is active in all things. It destroys nations, +corrupts society, robs the child of its innocence, wipes the bloom +from the cheeks of youth, frustrates the possibilities of manhood and +makes pitiful the white hair of the aged. For death, as all must see, +is only the wage of sin, the ripe fruit of evil.</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">I recognize now clearly;</p> +<p class="t0">Death is the wage of sin,</p> +<p class="t0">It is the fruitage merely</p> +<p class="t0">Of evil’s growth within.</p> +</div> +<p>And its danger is so actual because it is active in every individual +in himself as well as in others:</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">When I view the true condition</p> +<p class="t0">Of my troubled, restless heart,</p> +<p class="t0">Naught but sin can I envision</p> +<p class="t0">Even to its inmost part.</p> +</div> +<p>Such then is his fundamental view of the condition of man, a being +in the destructive grip of a relentless foe, a creature whose greatest +need is “a hero who can break the bonds of death”. And there is but +one who can do that, the Son of God.</p> +<p>Grundtvig’s hymns abound in terms of adoration for the Savior +of Man. He names Him the “Joy of Heaven”, “The Fortune of +Earth”, “The Fount of Light”, “The Sovereign of Life”, “The Fear +of Darkness”, “The Terror of Death”, and speaks of the day when +<span class="pb" id="pg_132">[132]</span> +all the “nations of the earth shall offer praise in the offer bowl of +His name.” But he sees the Christ less as the suffering Lamb of +God than as the invincible conqueror of death and the heroic deliverer +of man.</p> +<p>Like his other hymns most of his hymns to the Savior are objective +rather than subjective. They present the Christ of the Gospels, +covering his life so fully that it would be possible to compile +from them an almost complete sequence on His life, work and resurrection. +The following stately hymn may serve as an appropriate +introduction to a necessarily brief survey of the group:</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Jesus, the name without compare;</p> +<p class="t0">Honored on earth and in heaven,</p> +<p class="t0">Wherein the Father’s love and care</p> +<p class="t0">Are to His children now given.</p> +<p class="t0">Saviour of all that saved would be,</p> +<p class="t0">Fount of salvation full and free</p> +<p class="t0">Is the Lord Jesus forever.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Jesus, the name alone on earth</p> +<p class="t0">For our salvation afforded.</p> +<p class="t0">So on His cross of precious worth</p> +<p class="t0">Is in His blood it recorded.</p> +<p class="t0">Only in that our prayers are heard,</p> +<p class="t0">Only in that when hearts are stirred</p> +<p class="t0">Doth now the Spirit us comfort.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Jesus, the name above the sky</p> +<p class="t0">Wherein, when seasons are ended,</p> +<p class="t0">Peoples shall come to God on high,</p> +<p class="t0">And every knee shall be bended,</p> +<p class="t0">While all the saved in sweet accord</p> +<p class="t0">Chorus the praise of Christ, the Lord,</p> +<p class="t0">Savior beloved by the Father.</p> +</div> +<p>Grundtvig sang of Christmas morning “as his heaven on earth”, +and he wrote some of the finest Christmas hymns in the Danish +language. A number of these have already been given. The following +simple hymn from an old Latin-Danish text is still very popular.</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">A babe is born in Bethlehem,</p> +<p class="t0">Bethlehem,</p> +<p class="t0">Rejoice, rejoice Jerusalem;</p> +<p class="t0">Hallelujah, hallelujah.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">A lowly virgin gave Him birth,</p> +<p class="t0">Gave Him birth,</p> +<p class="t0">Who rules the heavens and the earth;</p> +<p class="t0">Hallelujah, hallelujah.</p> +</div> +<div class="pb" id="pg_133">[133]</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">He in a simple manger lay,</p> +<p class="t0">Manger lay,</p> +<p class="t0">Whom angels praise with joy for aye;</p> +<p class="t0">Hallelujah, hallelujah.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">And wise men from the East did bring,</p> +<p class="t0">East did bring,</p> +<p class="t0">Gold, myrrh and incense to the King;</p> +<p class="t0">Hallelujah, hallelujah.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Now all our fears have passed away,</p> +<p class="t0">Passed away,</p> +<p class="t0">The Savior blest was born today;</p> +<p class="t0">Hallelujah, hallelujah.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">God’s blessed children we became,</p> +<p class="t0">We became,</p> +<p class="t0">And shall in heaven praise His name;</p> +<p class="t0">Hallelujah, hallelujah.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">There like the angels we shall be,</p> +<p class="t0">We shall be,</p> +<p class="t0">And shall the Lord in glory see;</p> +<p class="t0">Hallelujah, hallelujah.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">With gladsome praises we adore,</p> +<p class="t0">We adore,</p> +<p class="t0">Our Lord and Savior evermore;</p> +<p class="t0">Hallelujah, hallelujah.</p> +</div> +<p>His hymns on the life and work of our Lord are too numerous +to be more than indicated here. The following hymn on the text, +“Blessed are the eyes that see what ye see, and the ears that hear +what ye hear”, is typical of his expository hymns.</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Blessed were the eyes that truly</p> +<p class="t0">Here on earth beheld the Lord;</p> +<p class="t0">Happy were the ears that duly</p> +<p class="t0">Listened to His living word.</p> +<p class="t0">Which proclaimed the wondrous story</p> +<p class="t0">Of God’s mercy, love and glory.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Kings and prophets long with yearning</p> +<p class="t0">Prayed to see His day appear;</p> +<p class="t0">Angels with desire were burning</p> +<p class="t0">To behold the golden year</p> +<p class="t0">When God’s light and grace should quicken</p> +<p class="t0">All that sin and death had stricken.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">He who, light and life revealing,</p> +<p class="t0">By His Spirit stills our want;</p> +<p class="t0">He, who broken hearts is healing</p> +<div class="pb" id="pg_134">[134]</div> +<p class="t0">By His cup and at the font,</p> +<p class="t0">Jesus, Fount of joy incessant,</p> +<p class="t0">Is with light and grace now present.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Eyes by sin and darkness blinded</p> +<p class="t0">May now see His glory bright;</p> +<p class="t0">Hearts perverse and carnal minded</p> +<p class="t0">May obtain His Spirit’s light.</p> +<p class="t0">When, contrite and sorely yearning,</p> +<p class="t0">They in faith to Him are turning.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Blessed are the eyes that truly</p> +<p class="t0">Now on earth behold the Lord;</p> +<p class="t0">Happy are the ears that duly</p> +<p class="t0">Listen to His living word!</p> +<p class="t0">When His words our spirits nourish</p> +<p class="t0">Shall the kingdom in us flourish.</p> +</div> +<p>Grundtvig reaches his greatest height in his hymns of praise +to Christ, the Redeemer. Many of his passion hymns have not been +translated into English. In the original, the following hymn undoubtedly +ranks with the greatest songs of praise to the suffering +Lord.</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Hail Thee, Savior and Atoner!</p> +<p class="t0">Though the world Thy name dishonor,</p> +<p class="t0">Moved by love my heart proposes</p> +<p class="t0">To adorn Thy cross with roses</p> +<p class="t0">And to offer praise to Thee.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">O what moved Thee so to love us,</p> +<p class="t0">When enthroned with God above us,</p> +<p class="t0">That for us Thou all wouldst offer</p> +<p class="t0">And in deep compassion suffer</p> +<p class="t0">Even death that we might live.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Love alone Thy heart was filling</p> +<p class="t0">When to suffer Thou wert willing.</p> +<p class="t0">Rather givest Thou than takest,</p> +<p class="t0">Hence, O Savior, Thou forsakest</p> +<p class="t0">All to die in sinner’s place.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Ah, my heart in deep contrition</p> +<p class="t0">Now perceives its true condition,</p> +<p class="t0">Cold and barren like a mountain,</p> +<p class="t0">How could I deserve the fountain</p> +<p class="t0">Of Thy love, my Savior dear.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Yet I know that from thy passion</p> +<p class="t0">Flows a river of salvation</p> +<p class="t0">Which can bid the mountain vanish,</p> +<p class="t0">Which can sin and coldness banish,</p> +<p class="t0">And restore my heart in Thee.</p> +</div> +<div class="pb" id="pg_135">[135]</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Lord, with tears I pray Thee ever:</p> +<p class="t0">Lead into my heart that river,</p> +<p class="t0">Which with grace redeeming cleanses</p> +<p class="t0">Heart and soul of all offences,</p> +<p class="t0">Blotting out my guilt and shame.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Lord, Thy life for sinners giving,</p> +<p class="t0">Let in Thee me find my living</p> +<p class="t0">So for Thee my heart is beating,</p> +<p class="t0">All my thoughts in Thee are meeting,</p> +<p class="t0">Finding there their light and joy.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Though all earthly things I cherish</p> +<p class="t0">Like the flowers may fade and perish,</p> +<p class="t0">Thou, I know, wilt stand beside me;</p> +<p class="t0">And from death and judgment hide me;</p> +<p class="t0">Thou hast paid the wage of sin.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Yes, my heart believes the wonder</p> +<p class="t0">Of Thy cross, which ages ponder!</p> +<p class="t0">Shield me, Lord, when foes assail me,</p> +<p class="t0">Be my staff when life shall fail me;</p> +<p class="t0">Take me to Thy Paradise.</p> +</div> +<p>Grundtvig’s Easter hymns strike the triumphant note, especially +such hymns as “Christ Arose in Glory”, “Easter Morrow Stills +Our Sorrow”, and the very popular,</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Move the signs of gloom and mourning<sup><a id="fr_10" href="#fn_10">[10]</a></sup></p> +<p class="t0">From the garden of the dead.</p> +<p class="t0">For the wreaths of grief and yearning,</p> +<p class="t0">Plant bright lilies in their stead.</p> +<p class="t0">Carve instead of sighs of grief</p> +<p class="t0">Angels’ wings in bold relief,</p> +<p class="t0">And for columns, cold and broken,</p> +<p class="t0">Words of hope by Jesus spoken.</p> +</div> +<p>His Easter hymns fail as a whole to reach the height of his songs +for other church festivals. In this respect, they resemble the hymnody +of the whole church, which contains remarkably few really +great hymns on the greatest events in its history. It is as though +the theme were too great to be expressed in the language of man.</p> +<p>Grundtvig wrote a number of magnificent hymns on the themes +of our Lord’s ascension and His return to judge the quick and the +dead. Of the latter, the hymn given below is perhaps the most favored +of those now available in English.</p> +<div class="pb" id="pg_136">[136]</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Lift up thy head, O Christendom!</p> +<p class="t0">Behold above the blessed home</p> +<p class="t0">For which thy heart is yearning.</p> +<p class="t0">There dwells the Lord, thy soul’s delight,</p> +<p class="t0">Who soon with power and glory bright</p> +<p class="t0">Is for His bride returning.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">And when in every land and clime,</p> +<p class="t0">All shall behold His signs sublime,</p> +<p class="t0">The guilty world appalling,</p> +<p class="t0">Then shalt with joy thou lift thine eyes</p> +<p class="t0">And see Him coming in the skies,</p> +<p class="t0">While suns and stars are falling.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">While for His coming thou dost yearn,</p> +<p class="t0">Forget not why His last return</p> +<p class="t0">The Savior is delaying,</p> +<p class="t0">And ask Him not before His hour</p> +<p class="t0">To shake the heavens with His power,</p> +<p class="t0">Nor judge the lost and straying.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">O saints of God, for Sodom pray</p> +<p class="t0">Until your prayers no more can stay</p> +<p class="t0">The judgment day impending.</p> +<p class="t0">Then cries the Lord: “Behold, I come!”</p> +<p class="t0">And ye shall answer: “To Thy home</p> +<p class="t0">We are with joy ascending!”</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Then loud and clear the trumpet calls,</p> +<p class="t0">The dead awake, death’s kingdom falls,</p> +<p class="t0">And God’s elect assemble.</p> +<p class="t0">The Lord ascends the judgment throne,</p> +<p class="t0">And calls His ransomed for His own,</p> +<p class="t0">While hearts in gladness tremble.</p> +</div> +<p>Grundtvig is often called the Singer of Pentecost. And his +hymns on the nature and work of the Spirit do rank with his very +best. He believed in the reality of the Spirit as the living, active +agent of Christ in His church. As the church came into being by +the outpouring of the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost, so our +Lord still builds and sanctifies it by the Spirit, working through +His words and sacraments. His numerous hymns on the Spirit are +drawn from many sources, both ancient and modern. His treatment +of the originals is so free, however, that it is difficult in most cases +to know whether his versions should be accepted as adaptations or +originals. Of mere translations there are none. The following version +of the widely known hymn, “Veni Sancte Spiritus,” may serve +to illustrate his work as a transplanter of hymns.</p> +<div class="pb" id="pg_137">[137]</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Holy Spirit, come with light,</p> +<p class="t0">Break the dark and gloomy night</p> +<p class="t0">With Thy day unending.</p> +<p class="t0">Help us with a joyful lay</p> +<p class="t0">Greet the Lord’s triumphant day</p> +<p class="t0">Now with might ascending.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Comforter so wondrous kind,</p> +<p class="t0">Noble guest of heart and mind</p> +<p class="t0">Fix in us Thy dwelling.</p> +<p class="t0">Give us peace in storm and strife,</p> +<p class="t0">Fill each troubled heart and life</p> +<p class="t0">With Thy joy excelling.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Make salvation clear to us,</p> +<p class="t0">Who despite our sin and dross</p> +<p class="t0">Would exalt the Spirit.</p> +<p class="t0">For without Thine aid and love</p> +<p class="t0">All our life and work must prove</p> +<p class="t0">Vain and without merit.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Raise or bow us with Thine arm,</p> +<p class="t0">Break temptation’s evil charm,</p> +<p class="t0">Clear our clouded vision.</p> +<p class="t0">Fill our hearts with longing new,</p> +<p class="t0">Cleanse us with Thy morning dew,</p> +<p class="t0">Tears of deep contrition.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Blessed Fount of life and breath,</p> +<p class="t0">Let our hope in view of death</p> +<p class="t0">Blossom bright and vernal;</p> +<p class="t0">And above the silent tomb</p> +<p class="t0">Let the Easter lilies bloom,</p> +<p class="t0">Signs of life eternal.</p> +</div> +<p>Many of Grundtvig’s original hymns evince a strong Danish +coloring, a fact which is especially evident in a number of his Pentecost +hymns. Pentecost comes in Denmark at the first breath of +summer when nature, prompted by balmy breezes, begins to unfold +her latent life and beauty. This similarity between the life of nature +and the work of the Spirit is strikingly expressed in a number of his +Pentecost hymns.</p> +<p>The following hymn, together with its beautiful tune, is rated +as one of the most beautiful and, lyrically, most perfect hymns in +Danish. Because of its strong Danish flavor, however, it may not +make an equal appeal to American readers. The main thought of +the hymn is that, as in nature, so also in the realm of the Spirit, +summer is now at hand. The coming of the Spirit completes God’s +<span class="pb" id="pg_138">[138]</span> +plan of salvation and opens the door for the unfolding of a new +life. The translation is by Prof. S. D. Rodholm.</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">The sun now shines in all its splendor,</p> +<p class="t0">The fount of life and mercy tender;</p> +<p class="t0">Now bright Whitsunday lilies grow</p> +<p class="t0">And summer sparkles high and low;</p> +<p class="t0">Sweet songsters sing of harvest gold</p> +<p class="t0">In Jesus’ name a thousand fold.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">The peaceful nightingales are filling</p> +<p class="t0">The quiet night with music thrilling.</p> +<p class="t0">Thus all that to the Lord belong</p> +<p class="t0">May rest in peace and wake with song,</p> +<p class="t0">May dream of life beyond the skies,</p> +<p class="t0">And with God’s praise at daylight rise.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">It breathes from heaven on the flowers,</p> +<p class="t0">It whispers home-like in the bowers,</p> +<p class="t0">A balmy breeze comes to our coast</p> +<p class="t0">From Paradise, no longer closed,</p> +<p class="t0">And gently purls a brooklet sweet</p> +<p class="t0">Of life’s clear water at our feet.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">This works the Spirit, still descending,</p> +<p class="t0">And tongues of fire to mortals lending,</p> +<p class="t0">That broken hearts may now be healed,</p> +<p class="t0">And life with grace and love revealed</p> +<p class="t0">In Him, who came from yonder land</p> +<p class="t0">And has returned to God’s right hand.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Awaken then all tongues to honor</p> +<p class="t0">Lord Jesus Christ, our blest Atoner;</p> +<p class="t0">Let every voice in anthems rise</p> +<p class="t0">To praise the Savior’s sacrifice.</p> +<p class="t0">And thou, His Church, with one accord</p> +<p class="t0">Arise and glorify the Lord.</p> +</div> +<p>Of his other numerous hymns on the Spirit, the one given below +is, perhaps, one of the most characteristic.</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Holy Ghost, our Interceder,</p> +<p class="t0">Blessed Comforter and Pleader</p> +<p class="t0">With the Lord for all we need,</p> +<p class="t0">Deign to hold with us communion</p> +<p class="t0">That with Thee in blessed union</p> +<p class="t0">We may in our life succeed.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Heavenly Counsellor and Teacher,</p> +<p class="t0">Make us through Thy guidance richer</p> +<p class="t0">In the grace our Lord hath won.</p> +<div class="pb" id="pg_139">[139]</div> +<p class="t0">Blest Partaker of God’s fullness,</p> +<p class="t0">Make us all, despite our dullness,</p> +<p class="t0">Wiser e’en than Solomon.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Helper of the helpless, harken</p> +<p class="t0">To our pleas when shadows darken;</p> +<p class="t0">Shield us from the beasts of prey.</p> +<p class="t0">Rouse the careless, help the weary,</p> +<p class="t0">Bow the prideful, cheer the dreary,</p> +<p class="t0">Be our guest each passing day.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Comforter, whose comfort lightens</p> +<p class="t0">Every cross that scars and frightens,</p> +<p class="t0">Succor us from guilt and shame.</p> +<p class="t0">Warm our heart, inspire our vision,</p> +<p class="t0">Add Thy voice to our petition</p> +<p class="t0">As we pray in Jesus’ name.</p> +</div> +<p>Believing in the Spirit, Grundtvig also believed in the kingdom +of God, not only as a promise of the future but as a reality of the +present.</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Right among us is God’s kingdom</p> +<p class="t0">With His Spirit and His word,</p> +<p class="t0">With His grace and love abundant</p> +<p class="t0">At His font and altar-board.</p> +</div> +<p>Among his numerous hymns on the nature and work of God’s +kingdom, the following is one of the most favored.</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Founded our Lord has upon earth a realm of the Spirit</p> +<p class="t0">Wherein He fosters a people restored by His merit.</p> +<p class="t3">It shall remain</p> +<p class="t3">People its glory attain,</p> +<p class="t0">They shall the kingdom inherit.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Forward like light of the morning its message is speeding,</p> +<p class="t0">Millions receive and proclaim it with gladness exceeding</p> +<p class="t3">For with His word</p> +<p class="t3">God doth His Spirit accord,</p> +<p class="t0">Raising all barriers impeding.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Jesus, our Savior, with God in the highest residing,</p> +<p class="t0">And by the Spirit the wants of Thy people providing,</p> +<p class="t3">Be Thou our life,</p> +<p class="t3">Shield and defender in strife,</p> +<p class="t0">Always among us abiding.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Then shall Thy people as Lord of the nations restore Thee,</p> +<p class="t0">Even by us shall a pathway be straightened before Thee</p> +<p class="t3">Till everywhere,</p> +<p class="t3">Bending in worship and prayer,</p> +<p class="t0">All shall as Savior adore Thee.</p> +</div> +<div class="pb" id="pg_140">[140]</div> +<p>The kingdom of God is the most wonderful thing on earth.</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Most wonderful of all things is</p> +<p class="t0">The kingdom Jesus founded.</p> +<p class="t0">Its glory, treasure, peace and bliss</p> +<p class="t0">No tongue has fully sounded.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Invisible as mind and soul,</p> +<p class="t0">And yet of light the fountain,</p> +<p class="t0">It sheds its light from pole to pole</p> +<p class="t0">Like beacons from a mountain.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Its secret is the word of God,</p> +<p class="t0">Which works what it proposes,</p> +<p class="t0">Which lowers mountains high and broad</p> +<p class="t0">And clothes the wastes with roses.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Though foes against the kingdom rage</p> +<p class="t0">With hatred and derision,</p> +<p class="t0">God spreads its reign from age to age,</p> +<p class="t0">And brings it to fruition.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Its glory rises like a morn</p> +<p class="t0">When waves at sunrise glitter,</p> +<p class="t0">Or as in June the golden corn</p> +<p class="t0">While birds above it twitter.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">It is the glory of the King</p> +<p class="t0">Who bore affliction solely</p> +<p class="t0">That he the crown of life might bring</p> +<p class="t0">To sinners poor and lowly.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">And when His advent comes to pass,</p> +<p class="t0">The Christian’s strife is ended,</p> +<p class="t0">What now we see as in a glass</p> +<p class="t0">Shall then be comprehended.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Then shall the kingdom bright appear</p> +<p class="t0">In glory true and vernal,</p> +<p class="t0">And usher in the golden year</p> +<p class="t0">Of peace and joy eternal.</p> +</div> +<p>But the kingdom of God here on earth is represented by the +Christian church, wherein Christ works by the Spirit through His +word and sacraments. Of Grundtvig’s many splendid hymns of the +church, the following, in the translation of Pastor Carl Doving, has +become widely known in all branches of the Lutheran church in +America. Pastor Doving’s translation is not wholly satisfactory, +however, to those who know the forceful and yet so appealing +language of the original, a fate which, we are fully aware, may also +befall the following new version.</p> +<div class="pb" id="pg_141">[141]</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Built on a rock the church of God</p> +<p class="t0">Stands though its towers be falling;</p> +<p class="t0">Many have crumbled beneath the sod,</p> +<p class="t0">Bells still are chiming and calling,</p> +<p class="t0">Calling the young and old to come,</p> +<p class="t0">But above all the souls that roam,</p> +<p class="t0">Weary for rest everlasting.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">God, the most high, abides not in</p> +<p class="t0">Temples that hands have erected.</p> +<p class="t0">High above earthly strife and sin,</p> +<p class="t0">He hath his mansions perfected.</p> +<p class="t0">Yet He, whom heavens cannot contain,</p> +<p class="t0">Chose to abide on earth with man</p> +<p class="t0">Making their body His temple.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">We are God’s house of living stones,</p> +<p class="t0">Built for the Spirit’s indwelling.</p> +<p class="t0">He at His font and table owns</p> +<p class="t0">Us for His glory excelling.</p> +<p class="t0">Should only two confess His name,</p> +<p class="t0">He would yet come and dwell with them,</p> +<p class="t0">Granting His mercy abounding.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Even the temples built on earth</p> +<p class="t0">Unto the praise of the Father,</p> +<p class="t0">Are like the homes of hallowed worth</p> +<p class="t0">Whence we as children did gather.</p> +<p class="t0">Glorious things in them are said,</p> +<p class="t0">God there with us His covenant made,</p> +<p class="t0">Making us heirs of His kingdom.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">There we behold the font at which</p> +<p class="t0">God as His children received us;</p> +<p class="t0">There stands the altar where His rich</p> +<p class="t0">Mercy from hunger relieved us.</p> +<p class="t0">There His blest word to us proclaim:</p> +<p class="t0">Jesus is now and e’er the same,</p> +<p class="t0">So is His way of salvation.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Grant then, O Lord, where’er we roam,</p> +<p class="t0">That, when the church bells are ringing,</p> +<p class="t0">People in Jesus’ name may come,</p> +<p class="t0">Praising His glory with singing.</p> +<p class="t0">“Ye, not the world, my face shall see;</p> +<p class="t0">I will abide with you,” said He.</p> +<p class="t0">“My peace I leave with you ever.”</p> +</div> +<p>As a believer in objective Christianity, Grundtvig naturally +exalts the God-given means of grace, the word and sacraments, +through which the Spirit works. In one of the epigrammatic expressions +often found in his writings, he says:</p> +<div class="pb" id="pg_142">[142]</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">We are and remain,</p> +<p class="t0">We live and attain</p> +<p class="t0">In Jesus, God’s living word</p> +<p class="t0">When His word we embrace</p> +<p class="t0">And live by its grace,</p> +<p class="t0">Then dwells He within us, our Lord.</p> +</div> +<p>This firm belief in the actual presence of Christ in His word +and sacraments lends an exceptional realism to many of his hymns +on the means of grace. Through the translation by Pastor Doving +the following brief hymn has gained wide renown in America.</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">God’s word is our great heritage,</p> +<p class="t0">And shall be ours forever.</p> +<p class="t0">To spread its light from age to age,</p> +<p class="t0">Shall be our chief endeavor.</p> +<p class="t0">Through life it guards our way,</p> +<p class="t0">In death it is our stay.</p> +<p class="t0">Lord, grant, while worlds endure,</p> +<p class="t0">We keep its teachings pure</p> +<p class="t0">Throughout all generations.</p> +</div> +<p>Of his numerous hymns on baptism, the following, which an +American authority on hymnody calls the finest baptismal hymn +ever written, is perhaps the most representative.</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">O let Thy spirit with us tarry,</p> +<p class="t0">Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,</p> +<p class="t0">So that the babes we to Thee carry</p> +<p class="t0">May be unto Thy death baptized.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Lord, after Thee we humbly name them,</p> +<p class="t0">O let them in Thy name arise!</p> +<p class="t0">If they should stumble, Lord, reclaim them,</p> +<p class="t0">That they may reach Thy paradise.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">If long their course, let them not falter.</p> +<p class="t0">Give to Thine aged servants rest.</p> +<p class="t0">If short their race, let by Thine altar</p> +<p class="t0">Them like the swallows find a rest.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Upon their heart, Thy name be written,</p> +<p class="t0">And theirs within Thine own right hand,</p> +<p class="t0">That even when by trials smitten,</p> +<p class="t0">They in Thy covenant firm may stand.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Thine angels sing for children sleeping,</p> +<p class="t0">May they still sing when death draws nigh.</p> +<p class="t0">Both cross and crown are in Thy keeping.</p> +<p class="t0">Lord, lead us all to Thee on high.</p> +</div> +<div class="pb" id="pg_143">[143]</div> +<p>His communion hymns are gathered from many sources. Of his +originals the following tender hymn is perhaps the most typical.</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Savior, whither should we go</p> +<p class="t0">From the truest friend we know,</p> +<p class="t0">From the Son of God above,</p> +<p class="t0">From the Fount of saving love,</p> +<p class="t0">Who in all this world of strife</p> +<p class="t0">Hath alone the word of life.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">No, I dare not turn from Thee,</p> +<p class="t0">Though Thy word oft chasten me,</p> +<p class="t0">For throughout this world, O Lord,</p> +<p class="t0">Death is still the cruel word.</p> +<p class="t0">Whoso saves the soul from death</p> +<p class="t0">Brings redemption, life and breath.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">“Eat my flesh and drink my blood.”</p> +<p class="t0">Saith our Lord, so kind and good.</p> +<p class="t0">“Whoso takes the bread and wine,</p> +<p class="t0">Shall receive my life divine,</p> +<p class="t0">Be redeemed from all his foes</p> +<p class="t0">And arise as I arose.”</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Hear Him then, my heart distressed,</p> +<p class="t0">Beating anxious in my breast.</p> +<p class="t0">Take Thy Savior at His word,</p> +<p class="t0">Meet Him at His altar-board,</p> +<p class="t0">Eat His body, drink His blood,</p> +<p class="t0">And obtain eternal good.</p> +</div> +<p>Grundtvig also produced a great number of hymns for the enrichment +of other parts of the church service. Few hymns thus +strike a more appropriate and festive note for the opening service +than the short hymn given below.</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Come, Zion, and sing to the Father above;</p> +<p class="t0">Angels join with you</p> +<p class="t0">And thank Him for Jesus, the gifts of His love.</p> +<p class="t3">We sing before God in the highest.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Strike firmly, O Psalmist, the jubilant chord;</p> +<p class="t0">Golden be your harp</p> +<p class="t0">In praise of Christ Jesus, our Savior and Lord.</p> +<p class="t3">We sing before God in the highest.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Then hear we with rapture the tongues as of fire,</p> +<p class="t0">The Spirit draws nigh,</p> +<p class="t0">Whose counsels with comforts our spirits inspire,</p> +<p class="t3">We sing before God in the highest.</p> +</div> +<div class="pb" id="pg_144">[144]</div> +<p>Equally fine is his free rendering of the 84th psalm.</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Fair beyond telling,</p> +<p class="t0">Lord, is Thy dwelling,</p> +<p class="t0">Filled with Thy peace.</p> +<p class="t0">Oh how I languish</p> +<p class="t0">And, in my anguish,</p> +<p class="t0">Wait for release</p> +<p class="t0">That I may enter Thy temple, O Lord,</p> +<p class="t0">With Thee communing in deepest accord.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">With Thy compassion,</p> +<p class="t0">Lord of Salvation,</p> +<p class="t0">Naught can compare.</p> +<p class="t0">Even the sparrow</p> +<p class="t0">Safe from the arrow</p> +<p class="t0">Rests in Thy care.</p> +<p class="t0">And as Thou shieldest the bird in its nest,</p> +<p class="t0">So let my heart in Thy temple find rest.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Years full of splendors,</p> +<p class="t0">Which to offenders</p> +<p class="t0">Earth may afford,</p> +<p class="t0">Never can measure</p> +<p class="t0">One day of pleasure</p> +<p class="t0">Found with Thee, Lord,</p> +<p class="t0">When on the wings of Thy quickening word</p> +<p class="t0">Souls are uplifted and Thou art adored.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Quicken in spirit,</p> +<p class="t0">Grow in Thy merit</p> +<p class="t0">Shall now Thy friends.</p> +<p class="t0">Blessings in showers</p> +<p class="t0">Filled with Thy powers</p> +<p class="t0">On them descends</p> +<p class="t0">Until at home in the city of gold</p> +<p class="t0">All shall in wonder Thy presence behold.</p> +</div> +<p>Grundtvig’s hymns are for the most part church hymns, presenting +the objective rather than the subjective phase of Christian +faith. He wrote for the congregation and held that a hymn for congregational +singing should express the common faith and hope of +the worshippers, rather than the personal feelings and experiences +of the individual. Because of this his hymns are frequently criticized +for their lack of personal sentiment. The personal note is not +wholly lacking in his work, however, as witnessed by the following +hymn.</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t3">Suffer and languish,</p> +<p class="t3">Tremble in anguish</p> +<p class="t0">Must every soul that awakes to its guilt.</p> +<div class="pb" id="pg_145">[145]</div> +<p class="t3">Sternly from yonder,</p> +<p class="t3">Sinai doth thunder:</p> +<p class="t0">Die or achieve what no sinner fulfilled.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t3">Tremble with gladness,</p> +<p class="t3">Smile through their sadness</p> +<p class="t0">Shall all that rest in the arms of the Lord.</p> +<p class="t3">Grace beyond measure,</p> +<p class="t3">Comfort and treasure</p> +<p class="t0">Gathers the heart from His merciful word.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t3">Bravely to suffer,</p> +<p class="t3">Gladly to offer</p> +<p class="t0">Praises to God ’neath the weight of our cross,</p> +<p class="t3">This will the Spirit</p> +<p class="t3">Help us to merit</p> +<p class="t0">Granting a breath from God’s heaven to us.</p> +</div> +<p>Even stronger is the personal sentiment of this appealing hymn.</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">With her cruse of alabaster,</p> +<p class="t0">Filled with ointment rare and sweet,</p> +<p class="t0">Came the woman to the Master,</p> +<p class="t0">Knelt contritely at His feet,</p> +<p class="t0">Feeling with unfeigned contrition</p> +<p class="t0">How unfit was her condition</p> +<p class="t0">To approach the Holy One.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Like this woman, I contritely</p> +<p class="t0">Often must approach the Lord,</p> +<p class="t0">Knowing that I cannot rightly</p> +<p class="t0">Ask a place beside His board.</p> +<p class="t0">Sinful and devoid of merit,</p> +<p class="t0">I can only cry in spirit:</p> +<p class="t0">Lord, be merciful to me.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Lord of Grace and Mercy, harken</p> +<p class="t0">To my plea for grace and light.</p> +<p class="t0">Threatening clouds and tempests darken</p> +<p class="t0">Now my soul with gloomy night.</p> +<p class="t0">Let, despite my guilt and error,</p> +<p class="t0">My repenting tears still mirror</p> +<p class="t0">Thy forgiving smile, O Lord.</p> +</div> +<p>The following hymn likewise voices the need for personal perseverance.</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Hast to the plow thou put thy hand</p> +<p class="t0">Let not thy spirit waver,</p> +<p class="t0">Heed not the world’s allurements grand,</p> +<p class="t0">Nor pause for Sodom’s favor.</p> +<div class="pb" id="pg_146">[146]</div> +<p class="t0">But plow thy furrow, sow the seed,</p> +<p class="t0">Though tares and thorns thy work impede;</p> +<p class="t0">For they, who sow with weeping,</p> +<p class="t0">With joy shall soon be reaping.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">But should at times thy courage fail—</p> +<p class="t0">For all may fail and falter—</p> +<p class="t0">Let not the tempting world prevail</p> +<p class="t0">On thee thy course to alter.</p> +<p class="t0">Each moment lost in faint retreat</p> +<p class="t0">May bring disaster and defeat.</p> +<p class="t0">If foes bid thee defiance,</p> +<p class="t0">On God be thy reliance.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">If steadfast in the race we keep,</p> +<p class="t0">Our course is soon completed.</p> +<p class="t0">And death itself is but a sleep,</p> +<p class="t0">Its dreaded might defeated.</p> +<p class="t0">But those who conquer in the strife</p> +<p class="t0">Obtain the victor’s crown of life</p> +<p class="t0">And shall in constant gladness</p> +<p class="t0">Forget these days of sadness.</p> +</div> +<p>It is, perhaps, in his numerous hymns on Christian trust, comfort +and hope that Grundtvig reaches his highest. His contributions +to this type of hymns are too numerous to be more than indicated +here. But the hymn given below presents a fair example of +the simplicity and poetic beauty that characterize many of them.</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">God’s little child, what troubles you!</p> +<p class="t0">Think of your Heavenly Father true.</p> +<p class="t0">He will uphold you by His hand,</p> +<p class="t0">None can His might and grace withstand.</p> +<p class="t3">The Lord be praised!</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Shelter and food and counsel tried</p> +<p class="t0">God for His children will provide.</p> +<p class="t0">They shall not starve, nor homeless roam,</p> +<p class="t0">Children may claim their Father’s home.</p> +<p class="t3">The Lord be praised!</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Birds with a song toward heaven soar,</p> +<p class="t0">Neither they reap nor lay in store,</p> +<p class="t0">But where the hoarder dies from need,</p> +<p class="t0">Gathers the little bird a seed.</p> +<p class="t3">The Lord be praised!</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Clad are the flowers in raiment fair,</p> +<p class="t0">Wondrous to see on deserts bare.</p> +<p class="t0">Neither they spin nor weave nor sew</p> +<p class="t0">Yet no king could such beauty show.</p> +<p class="t3">The Lord be praised!</p> +</div> +<div class="pb" id="pg_147">[147]</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Flowers that bloom at break of dawn</p> +<p class="t0">Only to die when day is gone,</p> +<p class="t0">How can they with the child compare</p> +<p class="t0">That shall the Father’s glory share?</p> +<p class="t3">The Lord be praised!</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">God’s little child, do then fore’er</p> +<p class="t0">Cast on the Lord your every care.</p> +<p class="t0">Trust in His love, His grace and might</p> +<p class="t0">Then shall His peace your soul delight.</p> +<p class="t3">The Lord be praised!</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">God will your every need allay</p> +<p class="t0">Even tomorrow as yesterday,</p> +<p class="t0">And when the sun for you goes down</p> +<p class="t0">He will your soul with glory crown.</p> +<p class="t3">The Lord be praised!</p> +</div> +<p>Grundtvig’s friends were sometimes called the “Merry Christians.” +There was nothing superficial or lighthearted, however, +about the Christianity of their leader. It had been gained through +intense struggles and maintained at the cost of worldly position and +honor. But he did believe that God is love, and that love is the +root and fount of life, as he says in the following splendid hymn. +The translation is by the Reverend Doving.</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Love, the fount of light from heaven,</p> +<p class="t0">Is the root and source of life;</p> +<p class="t0">Therefore God’s decrees are given</p> +<p class="t0">With His lovingkindness rife.</p> +<p class="t0">As our Savior blest declareth</p> +<p class="t0">And the Spirit witness beareth,</p> +<p class="t0">As we in God’s service prove;</p> +<p class="t0">God is light and God is love.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Love, the crown of life eternal,</p> +<p class="t0">Love the brightness is of light;</p> +<p class="t0">Therefore on His throne supernal</p> +<p class="t0">Jesus sits in glory bright.</p> +<p class="t0">He the Light and Life of heaven,</p> +<p class="t0">Who Himself for us hath given,</p> +<p class="t0">Still abides and reigns above</p> +<p class="t0">In His Father’s boundless love.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Love, alone the law fulfilling,</p> +<p class="t0">Is the bond of perfectness;</p> +<p class="t0">Love, who came, a victim willing,</p> +<p class="t0">Wrought our peace and righteousness.</p> +<p class="t0">Therefore love and peace in union</p> +<div class="pb" id="pg_148">[148]</div> +<p class="t0">Ever work in sweet communion</p> +<p class="t0">That through love we may abide</p> +<p class="t0">One with Him who for us died.</p> +</div> +<p>But the fruit of God’s love is peace. As Grundtvig, in the +hymn above, sings of God’s love, so in the sweet hymn given below +he sings of God’s peace. The translation is by Pastor Doving.</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Peace to soothe our bitter woes</p> +<p class="t0">God in Christ on us bestows;</p> +<p class="t0">Jesus wrought our peace with God</p> +<p class="t0">Through His holy, precious blood;</p> +<p class="t0">Peace in Him for sinners found</p> +<p class="t0">Is the Gospel’s joyful sound.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Peace to us the church doth tell.</p> +<p class="t0">’Tis her welcome and farewell.</p> +<p class="t0">Peace was our baptismal dower;</p> +<p class="t0">Peace shall bless our dying hour.</p> +<p class="t0">Peace be with you full and free</p> +<p class="t0">Now and in eternity.</p> +</div> +<p>In this peace Christians find refuge and rest.</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">The peace of God protects our hearts</p> +<p class="t0">Against the tempter’s fiery darts.</p> +<p class="t0">It is as sure when evening falls</p> +<p class="t0">As when the golden morning calls.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">This peace our Savior wrought for us</p> +<p class="t0">In agony upon the cross,</p> +<p class="t0">And when He up to heaven soared,</p> +<p class="t0">His peace He left us in His word.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">His word of peace new strength imparts</p> +<p class="t0">Each day to faint and troubled hearts,</p> +<p class="t0">And in His cup and at the font</p> +<p class="t0">It stills our deepest need and want.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">This blessed peace our Lord will give</p> +<p class="t0">To all who in His Spirit live.</p> +<p class="t0">And even at their dying breath</p> +<p class="t0">Its comfort breaks the sting of death.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">When Christ for us His peace hath won</p> +<p class="t0">He asked for faith and faith alone.</p> +<p class="t0">By faith and not by merits vain,</p> +<p class="t0">Our hearts God’s blessed peace obtain.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Peace be with you, our Savior saith</p> +<p class="t0">In answer to the word of faith.</p> +<p class="t0">Whoso hath faith, shall find release</p> +<p class="t0">And dwell in God’s eternal peace.</p> +</div> +<div class="pb" id="pg_149">[149]</div> +<p>Grundtvig’s hymns of comfort for the sick and dying rank with +the finest ever written. He hates and fears death, hoping even that +Christ may return before his own hour comes; but if He does not, +he prays that the Savior will be right with him.</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Lord, when my final hours impend,</p> +<p class="t0">Come in the person of a friend</p> +<p class="t0">And take Thy place beside me,</p> +<p class="t0">And talk to me as man to man</p> +<p class="t0">Of where we soon shall meet again</p> +<p class="t0">And all Thy joy betide me.</p> +</div> +<p>For though he knows he cannot master the enemy alone, if the +Savior is there—</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Death is but the last pretender</p> +<p class="t0">We with Christ as our defender</p> +<p class="t0">Shall engage and put to flight.</p> +</div> +<p>And His word will dispel all fear of the struggle:</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Like dew upon the meadow</p> +<p class="t0">So falls the word of life</p> +<p class="t0">On Christians in the shadow</p> +<p class="t0">Of mortal’s final strife.</p> +<p class="t0">The first fruit of its blessing</p> +<p class="t0">Is balm for fears distressing,</p> +<p class="t0">So gone is like a breath</p> +<p class="t0">The bitterness of death.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Like sun, when night is falling,</p> +<p class="t0">Sets stilly in the west</p> +<p class="t0">While birds are softly calling</p> +<p class="t0">Each other from their nest,</p> +<p class="t0">So when its brief day closes</p> +<p class="t0">That soul in peace reposes</p> +<p class="t0">Which knows that Christ the Lord</p> +<p class="t0">Is with it in His word.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">And as we shiver slightly</p> +<p class="t0">An early summer morn</p> +<p class="t0">When blushing heavens brightly</p> +<p class="t0">Announce a day new-born,</p> +<p class="t0">So moves the soul immortal</p> +<p class="t0">With calmness through death’s portal</p> +<p class="t0">That through its final strife</p> +<p class="t0">Beholds the Light of Life.</p> +</div> +<div class="pb" id="pg_150">[150]</div> +<p>He could therefore exclaim:</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Christian! what a morn of splendor</p> +<p class="t0">Full reward for every fear,</p> +<p class="t0">When the ransomed host shall render</p> +<p class="t0">Praises to its Savior dear,</p> +<p class="t0">Shall in heaven’s hall of glory</p> +<p class="t0">Tell salvation’s wondrous story,</p> +<p class="t0">And with the angelic throng</p> +<p class="t0">Sing the Lamb’s eternal song.</p> +</div> +<div class="fnblock"> +<div class="fndef"><sup><a id="fn_10" href="#fr_10">[10]</a></sup>Another translation: “Take away the signs of mourning” by P. C. Paulsen in “Hymnal for Church and Home”. +</div> +</div> +</div> +<div id="c16" title="Grundtvig’s Later Years"> +<h4>Chapter Sixteen +<span class="chaptertitle">Grundtvig’s Later Years</span></h4> +<p>Grundtvig’s later years present a striking contrast to +the years of his earlier manhood. The lonely Defender of the +Bible became a respected sage and the acknowledged leader of +a fast growing religious and folk movement, both in Denmark and +the other Scandinavian countries. His long years of continuous +struggles were followed by years of fruitful work and an extensive +growth of his religious and educational ideals until he was generally +recognized as one of the most vital spiritual leaders of Scandinavia.</p> +<p>The first break in the wall of isolation that surrounded him +came with an invitation from a group of students to “the excellent +historian, N. F. S. Grundtvig, who has never asked for a reward +but only for a chance to do good,” to deliver a series of historical +lectures at Borch’s Collegium in Copenhagen. These lectures—seventy-one +in all—were delivered before packed audiences during +the summer and fall of 1838, and were so enthusiastically received +that the students, on the evening of the concluding lecture, arranged +a splendid banquet for the speaker, at which one of them sang:</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Yes, through years of lonely struggle</p> +<p class="t0">Did you bravely fight,</p> +<p class="t0">Bearing scorn without complaining</p> +<p class="t0">Till your hair turned white.</p> +</div> +<p>During his most lonely years Grundtvig once comforted himself +with the words of a Greek sage: “Speak to the people of yesterday, +and you will be heard by the people of tomorrow.” Thus it +<span class="pb" id="pg_151">[151]</span> +was, no doubt, a great satisfaction to him that the first public honor +bestowed upon him should be accorded him by his nation’s youth.</p> +<p>From that day his reputation and influence grew steadily. He +became an honored member of several influential societies, such as +the Society for Northern Studies, and the Scandinavian Society, an +association of academicians from all the Scandinavian countries for +the purpose of effecting a closer spiritual and cultural union between +them. He also received frequent invitations to lecture both +on outstanding occasions and before special groups. His work as +a lecturer probably reached its culmination at a public meeting on +the Skamlingsbanke, a wooded hill on the borders of Slesvig, +where he spoke to thousands of profoundly stirred listeners, and at +a great meeting of Scandinavian students at Oslo, Norway, in 1851, +to which he was invited as the guest of honor and acclaimed both +by the students and the Norwegian people. When Denmark became +a constitutional kingdom in 1848, he was a member of the +constitutional assembly and was elected several times to the Riksdag.</p> +<p>Meanwhile he worked ceaselessly for the development of his +folk and educational ideals. After his conversion, he felt for a +time that his new outlook was incompatible with his previous enthusiasm +for the heroic life and ideals of the old North, and that he +must now devote himself solely to the preaching of the Gospel. But +the formerly mentioned decline of all phases of Danish life during +the early part of the nineteenth century and the failure of his +preaching to evoke any response from an indifferent people caused +him to suspect a closer relationship between a people’s religious +and national or folk-life than he had hitherto recognized. Was not +the folk life of a people, after all, the soil in which the Word of God +must be sown, and could the Word bear fruit in a soil completely +hardened and unprepared to receive it? If it could not, was not a +folk awakening a necessary preparation for a Christian?</p> +<p>Under the spur of this question he undertook the translation +of the sagas and developed his now widely recognized ideas of folk +life and folk education, which later were embodied in the Grundtvigian +folk schools. The first of these schools was opened at Rødding, +Slesvig in 1844. The war between Denmark and Germany +from 1848 to 1850 delayed the establishment of other similar +schools. But in 1851, Christian Kold, the man who more than any +other realized Grundtvig’s idea of a school for life—as the folk +schools were frequently called—opened his first school at Ryslinge, +<span class="pb" id="pg_152">[152]</span> +Fyn. From there the movement spread rapidly not only to all +parts of Denmark but also to Norway, Finland and Sweden. The +latter country now has more schools of the Grundtvigian type than +Denmark, and Norway and Finland have about have as +many.<sup><a id="fr_11" href="#fn_11">[11]</a></sup></p> +<p>To extend the influence of the movement lecture societies, +reading circles, gymnastic societies, choral groups and the like +were organized in almost every parish of Denmark. Thus before +Grundtvig died, he had the satisfaction of seeing his work bear +fruit in one of the most vital folk and educational movements of +Scandinavia, a movement which has made a tremendous imprint +upon all phases of life in the Northern countries and which today +is spreading to many other parts of the world.</p> +<p>Grundtvig held that the life of a nation, Christian as well as +national, never rose above the real culture of its common people. +To be real, a culture had to be national, had to be based on a +people’s natural characteristics and developed in accordance with +native history and traditions. The aim of all true folk-education +was the awakening and enrichment of life and not a mere mental +or practical training. The natural means for the attainment of +this aim was a living presentation of a people’s own cultural heritage, +their native tradition, history, literature and folk life. But +in all cases the medium of this presentation was the living, that is +the spoken word by men and women who were themselves spiritually +alive. Christianity, in his opinion, had not come to destroy +but to cleanse and vivify the folk life of a people, and, since the +latter was the soil in which the former had to grow, the fruitfulness +of both demanded a living inter-action so that national life +might become Christian and Christianity national.</p> +<p>In the practical application of these educational theories, +Grundtvig took no active part. Aside from his conception of the +idea and the development of much of the material used in the folk-school, +his greatest contributions to their work are probably, his innumerable +Biblical, historical and folk songs that were and are +used in the schools.</p> +<p>Meanwhile he by no means neglected his religious work. Rationalism +had been defeated, a sound Evangelical movement was +fast revitalizing the church, and he could therefore concentrate +his energy on a further development of the view that had come to +him during his years of struggle. Among innumerable other works, +he produced during his later years the splendid <b>Enlightenment of +the Church</b>, published 1840-1844; <b>Teachings of Our Christian Childhood</b>, +<span class="pb" id="pg_153">[153]</span> +published 1855-1862; <b>The Seven Stars of the Churches</b>, published +1854-1855; and <b>The Church Mirror</b>, a series of lectures on +the main currents of church history, published 1861-1863.</p> +<p>Although Grundtvig’s views, and especially his distinction between +the “living” and the “written” word, were strongly opposed +by many, his profoundly spiritual conception of the church, as the +body of Christ, and of the sacraments, as its true means of life, has +greatly influenced all branches of the Danish church. In emphasizing +the true indwelling of Christ in the creed and sacraments, he +visualized the real presence of Him in the church and underscored +the vital center of congregational worship with a realism that no +theological dissertation can ever convey. Nor did he feel that in +so doing he was in any sense diverging from true Lutheranism. The +fact that Luther himself chose the creed and the words of institution +of the sacrament as a basis for his catechism, showed, he contended, +that the great Reformer also had recognized their distinction.</p> +<p>Despite frequent charges to the contrary, Grundtvig had no desire +to engender a separatist movement in the church. He constantly +warned his followers against any such tendency. In a closing +speech to the Meeting of Friends in 1863, he said, “You can no +more forbid the world to call you Grundtvigians than those whom +Luther called to the Lord could forbid anyone to call them Lutherans, +but do not yourself adopt that name. For history shows that +some have let themselves be called Lutherans until they have almost +lost the name of Christians. If anyone wishes to name us +after any other than Christ, we ought to tell them that we accept +nothing unto salvation except what the Christian church has taught +and confessed from generation to generation. To or from that we +neither add nor detract. We acknowledge without reservation +that word of faith which Paul says is believed to righteousness and +confessed unto salvation. The manner of teaching and believing +that faith so that the Old Adam may be put off and the new put on, +we hold to be a matter of enlightenment in which we shall be guided +by Grundtvig, as we are guided by Luther, only in so far as we +are convinced that he has been guided by Scripture and the Spirit. +We also disclaim any intention of making our conception of Scripture +an article of faith which must be accepted by the church.” +Grundtvig’s followers would, no doubt, have profited greatly by +remembering this truly liberal view of their leader.</p> +<p>Thus his years passed quietly onward, filled with fruitful labor +<span class="pb" id="pg_154">[154]</span> +even unto the end. In contrast to his often stormy public career, +Grundtvig’s private life was quite peaceful and commonplace, +subject only to the usual trials and sorrows of human existence. +During the greater part of his life he was extremely poor, subsisting +on a small government pension, the meager returns from his +writings and occasional gifts from friends. For his own part this +did not trouble him; his wants were few and easily satisfied. But +he “liked to see shining faces around him,” as he once wrote, and +he had discovered that the face of a child could often be brightened +by a small gift, which he was frequently too poor to give. “But if +we would follow the Lord in these days,” he wrote to a friend, “we +must evidently be prepared to renounce all things for His sake +and cast out all these heathen worries for dross and chaff with +which we as Christians often distress ourselves.”</p> +<p>Grundtvig was thrice married. His first wife, Lise Grundtvig, +died January 4, 1851, after a long illness. Her husband said at her +grave, “I stand here as an old man who is taking a decided step +toward my own grave by burying the bride of my youth and the +mother of my children who for more than forty years with unfailing +loyalty shared all my joys and sorrows—and mostly latter.”</p> +<p>But Grundtvig did not appear to be growing old. During the +following summer he attended the great meeting of Scandinavian +students at Oslo, where he was hailed as the youngest of them all. +And on October 4 of the same year, he rejoiced his enemies and +grieved many of his friends by marrying Marie Toft, of Rennebeck’s +Manor, a wealthy widow and his junior by thirty years. +And despite dire predictions to the contrary, the marriage was +very happy. Marie Toft was a highly intelligent and spiritual-minded +woman who wholeheartedly shared her husband’s spiritual +views and ideals; and her death in 1854 came, therefore, as an +almost overwhelming blow. In a letter to a friend a few weeks +after her death, Grundtvig writes, “It was wonderful to be loved +as unselfishly as Marie loved me. But she belonged wholly to God. +He gave and He took; and despite all objections by the world and +our own selfish flesh, the believing heart must exclaim, His name +be praised. When I consider the greatness of the treasure that the +Lord gave to me by opening this loving heart to me in my old age, +I confess that it probably would have proved beyond my strength +continuously to bear such good days; for had I not already become +critical of all that were not like her, and indifferent to all things +that were not concerned with her?”</p> +<div class="pb" id="pg_155">[155]</div> +<p>The last remark, perhaps, refers to a complaint by his friends +that he had become so absorbed in his wife that he neglected other +things. If this had been the case, he now made amends by throwing +himself into a whirl of activity that would have taxed the +strength of a much younger man. During the following years, he +wrote part of his formerly mentioned books on the church and +Christian education, delivered a large number of lectures, resumed +his seat in the Riksdag and, of course, attended to his growing work +as a pastor. As he was also very neglectful of his own comfort in +other ways, it was evident to all that such a strenuous life must +soon exhaust his strength unless someone could be constantly about +him and minister to his need. For this reason a high-minded young +widow, the Baroness Asta Tugendreich Reetz, entered into marriage +with him that she might help to conserve the strength of the +man whom she considered one of the greatest assets her country +possessed.</p> +<p>Grundtvig once said of his marriages that the first was an idyl, +the second a romance and the third a fairy-tale. Others said harsher +things. But Asta Grundtvig paid no attention to the scandal +mongers. A very earnest Christian woman herself, she devoted +all her energy to create a real Christian home for her husband and +family. As Grundtvig had always lived much by himself, she +wished especially to make their home a ready gathering place for +all his friends and co-workers. In this she succeeded so well that +their modest dwelling was frequently crowded with visitors from +far and near, many of whom later counted their visit with Grundtvig +among the richest experiences of their life.</p> +<p>Grundtvig’s fiftieth anniversary as a pastor was celebrated +with impressive festivities on May 29, 1861. The celebration was +attended by representatives from all departments of government +and the church as well as by a host of people from all parts of +Scandinavia; and the celebrant was showered with gifts and honors. +The king conferred upon him the title of bishop; the former queen, +Carolina Amalia, presented him with a seven armed candlestick of +gold from women in Norway, Sweden and Denmark; his friend, +Pastor P. A. Fenger, handed him a gift of three thousand dollars +from friends in Denmark and Norway to finance a popular edition +of his <b>Hymns and Songs for the Danish Church</b>; and another +friend, Gunni Busck, presented him with a plaque of gold engraved +with his likeness and a line from his hymns, a gift from the congregation +of Vartov.</p> +<div class="pb" id="pg_156">[156]</div> +<p>Many of those who participated in this splendid jubilee felt +that it would be of great benefit to them to meet again for mutual +fellowship and discussion of pressing religious and national questions. +And with the willing cooperation of Asta Grundtvig, it was +decided to invite all who might be interested to a meeting in Copenhagen +on Grundtvig’s eightieth birthday, September 8, the following +year. This Meeting of Friends—as it was named—proved so +successful that it henceforth became an annual event, attended by +people from all parts of Scandinavia. Although Grundtvig earnestly +desired that these meetings should actually be what they were +designed to be, meetings of friends for mutual help and enlightenment, +his own part in them was naturally important. His powers +were still unimpaired, and his contributions were rich in wisdom +and spiritual insight. Knowing himself surrounded by friends, he +often spoke with an appealing heartiness and power that made the +Meetings of Friends unforgettable experiences to many.</p> +<p>Thus the once loneliest man in Denmark found himself in his +old age honored by his nation, surrounded by friends, and besieged +by visitors and co-workers, seeking his help and advice. He was +always very approachable. In his younger days he had frequently +been harsh and self-assertive in his judgment of others; but in his +latter years he learned that kindness is always more fruitful than +wrath. Sitting in his easy chair and smoking his long pipe, he +talked frankly and often wittily with the many who came to visit +him. Thus Bishop H. Martensen, the theologian, tells us that his +conversation was admirably eloquent and interspersed with wit +and humor. And a prominent Swedish author, P. Wisselgren, +writes: “Some years ago I spent one of the most delightful evenings +of my life with Bishop Grundtvig. I doubt that I have ever +met a greater poet of conversation. Each thought was an inspiration +and his heart was in every word he said.”</p> +<p>Grundtvig’s outward appearance, especially during his later +years, was extremely charming. His strong countenance framed +by long white locks and a full beard bore the imprint of a profound +spiritual intellect and a benevolent calmness. The queen, Caroline +Amalia, after her first meeting with him wrote, “Grundtvig +has a most beautiful countenance, and he attracted me at once by +his indescribably kind and benevolent appearance. What an interesting +man he is, and what a pleasure it is to listen to his open +and forthright conversation.”</p> +<p>And so, still active and surrounded by friends, he saw his long, +<span class="pb" id="pg_157">[157]</span> +fruitful life drawing quietly toward its close. In 1871, he opened +the annual Meeting of Friends by speaking from the text: “See, I +die, but the Lord shall be with you,” and said in all likelihood this +meeting would be the last at which he would be present. He lived, +however, to prepare for the next meeting, which was to be held on +September 11, 1872. On September 1, he conducted his service at +Vartov as usual, preaching an exceptionally warm and inspiring +sermon. But the following morning he passed away quietly while +sitting in his easy chair and listening to his son read for him.</p> +<p>He was buried September 11, three days after his 89th birthday, +in the presence of representatives from all departments of the +government, one fourth of the Danish clergy and a vast assembly +of people from all parts of Scandinavia.</p> +<p>An American writer recently named Grundtvig “The Builder +of Modern Denmark.” And there are few phases of modern Danish +life which he has not influenced. His genius was so unique and +his work so many-sided that with equal justice one might call him +a historian, a poet, an educator, a religious philosopher, a hymnologist +and a folk-leader. Yet there is an underlying unity of thought +and purpose in all his work which makes each part of it merely a +branch of the whole. This underlying unity is his clear conception +of the spiritual and of man as a spiritual being who can attain his +fullest development only through the widest possible realization +of the spiritual in all his divine and human relationships. In every +part of his work Grundtvig, therefore, invariably seeks to discover +the spiritual realities. The mere form of a thing, the form of religion, +of knowledge, of education, of government, of all human institutions +and endeavors have no intrinsic value, are only skeletons +and dead bones until they become imbued and vivified by the spirit. +Thus Professor Martensen, who by no means belonged to the +Grundtvigian party, writes, “But among the many things I owe to +Grundtvig, I cherish above all his conception of the spiritual as +the reality besides which all other things are nothing but shadows, +and of the spirit inspired word as the mightiest power in human +life. And he gave that to me not as a theory but as a living truth, +a spiritual reality about which there could be not even a shadow +of doubt.”</p> +<p>Grundtvig found the spiritual in many things, in the myth of +the North, in history, literature and, in fact, in all things through +which man has to express his god-given nature. He had no patience +with the Pietists who looked upon all things not directly religious +<span class="pb" id="pg_158">[158]</span> +as evils with which a Christian could have nothing to do. Yet he +believed above all in the Holy Spirit as the “Spirit of spirits,” the +true agent of God in the world. The work of the Spirit was indispensable +to man’s salvation, and the fruit of that work, the regenerated +Christian life, the highest expression of the spiritual. Since +he believed furthermore, that the Holy Spirit works especially in +the church through the word and sacraments, the church was to +him the workshop of the Spirit.</p> +<p>In his famous hymn to the church bell, his symbol for the +church, he writes “that among all noble voices none could compare +with that of the ringing bell.” Despite the many fields in which +he traced the imprint of the spiritual, the church remained throughout +his long life his real spiritual home, a fact which he beautifully +expresses in the hymn below.</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Hallowed Church Bell, not for worldly centers</p> +<p class="t0">Wast thou made, but for the village small</p> +<p class="t0">Where thy voice, as home and hearth it enters,</p> +<p class="t0">Blends with lullabies at evenfall.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">When a child and in the country dwelling,</p> +<p class="t0">Christmas morning was my heaven on earth,</p> +<p class="t0">And thy chimes, like angel voices swelling,</p> +<p class="t0">Told with joy of my Redeemer’s birth.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Louder still thy joyful chimes resounded,</p> +<p class="t0">When on wings of early morning borne,</p> +<p class="t0">They proclaimed: Awake with joy unbounded,</p> +<p class="t0">Christ arose this blessed Easter morn.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Sweeter even were thy tolls when blending</p> +<p class="t0">With the calm of summer eventide</p> +<p class="t0">And, as though from heaven above descending,</p> +<p class="t0">Bid me cast all grief and care aside.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Hence when now the day is softly ending,</p> +<p class="t0">Shadows fall and birds ascend their nest,</p> +<p class="t0">Like the flowers my head in silence bending,</p> +<p class="t0">I am chanting with my soul at rest:</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">When at last, O Church Bell, thou art tolling</p> +<p class="t0">O’er my grave while loved grieve and sigh,</p> +<p class="t0">Say to them, their troubled heart consoling,</p> +<p class="t0">He is resting with his Lord on high.</p> +</div> +<div class="fnblock"> +<div class="fndef"><sup><a id="fn_11" href="#fr_11">[11]</a></sup>The printed text is corrupt, but the correction is not +obvious. Norway and Finland might have "about as many" or "about +half as many". +</div> +</div> +</div> +</div> +<div id="s4" title="Other Danish Hymnwriters"> +<div class="pb" id="pg_159">[159]</div> +<h2>Other Danish Hymnwriters</h2> +<div class="pb" id="pg_161">[161]</div> +<div id="c17" title="Other Danish Hymnwriters"> +<h4><span class="sectitle">Chapter Seventeen</span></h4> +<p>The Danish church has produced a large number of hymnwriters, +who, except for the greatness of Kingo, Brorson and +Grundtvig, would have commanded general recognition. The +present hymnal of the church contains contributions by about +sixty Danish writers. Though the majority of these are represented +by only one or two hymns, others have made large contributions.</p> +<p>Kingo, Brorson and Grundtvig, peculiarly enough, had few +imitators. A small number of writers did attempt to imitate the +great leaders, but they formed no school and their work for the +most part was so insignificant that it soon disappeared. Thus even +Kingo’s great work inspired no hymnwriter of any consequence, +and the fifty years between Kingo and Brorson added almost nothing +to the hymnody of the church. Contemporary with Brorson, +however, a few writers appeared whose songs have survived to +the present day. Foremost among these is Ambrosius Stub, a +unique and sympathetic writer whose work constitutes a distinct +contribution to Danish poetry.</p> +<div id="stub_a" title="Ambrosius Stub"> +<p>Ambrosius Stub was born on the island of Fyn in 1705, the +son of a village tailor. Although extremely poor, he managed +somehow to enter the University of Copenhagen, but his poverty +compelled him to leave the school without completing his course. +For a number of years, he drifted aimlessly, earning a precarious +living by teaching or bookkeeping at the estates of various nobles, +always dogged by poverty and a sense of frustration. Although +he was gifted and ambitious, his lack of a degree and his continuous +poverty prevented him from attaining the position in life to which +his ability apparently entitled him. During his later years, he conducted +a small school for boys at Ribe, a small city on the west +coast of Jutland, where he died in abject poverty in 1758, only 53 +years old.</p> +<p>Stub’s work remained almost unknown during his lifetime, +but a small collection of his poems, published after his death, +gained him a posthumous recognition as the greatest Danish poet +of the 18th century. Stub’s style is extremely noble and expressive, +devoid of the excessive bombast and sentimentality that many writers +then mistook for poetry. He was of a cheerful disposition with +a hopeful outlook upon life that only occasionally is darkened by +<span class="pb" id="pg_162">[162]</span> +the hardships and disappointments of his own existence. Even the +poems of his darker moods are colored by his inborn love of beauty +and his belief in the fundamental goodness of life. Many of his best +poems are of a religious nature, and expressive of his warm and +trustful Christian faith. In view of the discouraging hardships and +disappointments of his own life, the following much favored hymn +throws a revealing light upon the spirit of its author.</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Undismayed by any fortune</p> +<p class="t0">Life may have in store for me,</p> +<p class="t0">This, whatever be my portion,</p> +<p class="t0">I will always try to be.</p> +<p class="t2">If I but in grace abide,</p> +<p class="t2">Undismayed whate’er betide.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Undismayed when others harry</p> +<p class="t0">Mind and soul with anxious care;</p> +<p class="t0">If the Lord with me will tarry,</p> +<p class="t0">All my troubles disappear.</p> +<p class="t2">If I but in grace abide,</p> +<p class="t2">Undismayed whate’er betide.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Undismayed when others sighing,</p> +<p class="t0">Quail before the evil day,</p> +<p class="t0">On God’s grace I am relying;</p> +<p class="t0">Nothing can me then dismay.</p> +<p class="t2">If I but in grace abide,</p> +<p class="t2">Undismayed whate’er betide.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Undismayed when others fearing,</p> +<p class="t0">See the hour of death draw nigh.</p> +<p class="t0">With the victor’s crown appearing,</p> +<p class="t0">Why should I repine and sigh.</p> +<p class="t2">If I but in grace abide,</p> +<p class="t2">Undismayed whate’er betide.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Dearest Lord, if I may treasure</p> +<p class="t0">Thy abundant grace each day,</p> +<p class="t0">I shall cherish Thy good pleasure,</p> +<p class="t0">Be my portion what it may.</p> +<p class="t2">If I but in grace abide,</p> +<p class="t2">Undismayed whate’er betide.</p> +</div> +</div> +<div id="rational" title="Rationalist Hymnwriters"> +<p>The age of Rationalism discarded most of the old hymns but +produced no worthwhile hymns of its own. The most highly +praised hymnwriter of the period, Birgitte Boye, the wife of a forester, +wrote a great number of hymns of which no less than 150 +were included in a new hymnal published in 1870, by the renowned +<span class="pb" id="pg_163">[163]</span> +statesman, Ove Hoegh Guldberg. Although excessively praised +by the highest authorities of the period, Birgitte Boye’s hymns contain +nothing of permanent value, and have now happily been forgotten.</p> +</div> +<div id="boye_cj" title="Casper J. Boye"> +<p>The Evangelical revival about the middle of the 19th century +restored the old hymns to their former favor, and produced besides, +a number of new hymnwriters of real merit. Among these, Casper +J. Boye is, perhaps, the most prominent. Born of Danish parents +at Kongsberg, Norway, in 1791, Boye entered the University of +Copenhagen in 1820 where he first took up the study of law and +then, of theology. After graduating from this department, he became +a teacher at a Latin school and some years later, a pastor of +the large Garrison Church in Copenhagen, where he remained until +his death in 1851. Boye was a gifted writer, both on secular and +religious themes. His numerous hymns appeared in six small volumes +entitled: <b>Spiritual Songs</b>. They are marked by a flowing but +at times excessively literary style and a quiet spiritual fervor. The +following still is a favorite opening hymn.</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Day is breaking, night is ended,</p> +<p class="t0">And the day of rest ascended</p> +<p class="t0">Upon church and countryside.</p> +<p class="t0">Like the day in brightness growing,</p> +<p class="t0">Grace from God is richer flowing;</p> +<p class="t0">Heaven’s portals open wide.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">O what joy this day is bringing,</p> +<p class="t0">When the chiming bells are ringing,</p> +<p class="t0">Calling man to prayer and praise!</p> +<p class="t0">All the angel host rejoices</p> +<p class="t0">And with gladsome, mellow voices</p> +<p class="t0">Thanks the Lord for light and grace.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Sin and death with fear and sorrow</p> +<p class="t0">And the burden of tomorrow</p> +<p class="t0">Shall not weigh my heart with care.</p> +<p class="t0">Unto all in tribulation</p> +<p class="t0">Doth the Lord of our salvation</p> +<p class="t0">On this day His peace declare.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Be it hushed in solemn stillness,</p> +<p class="t0">Must I weep in grief or illness,</p> +<p class="t0">Or confess my guilt and shame,</p> +<p class="t0">It is blessed to be weeping</p> +<p class="t0">When the hungry heart is reaping</p> +<p class="t0">Grace and peace in Jesus’ name.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">O Thou Fount of grace unbounded,</p> +<p class="t0">Who our wisdom hath confounded,</p> +<div class="pb" id="pg_164">[164]</div> +<p class="t0">Whom but faith can comprehend!</p> +<p class="t0">In Thy love my soul reposes;</p> +<p class="t0">Heaven’s portal never closes</p> +<p class="t0">Till before Thy throne we stand.</p> +</div> +</div> +<div id="timm_ha" title="Herman Andreas Timm"> +<p>Herman Andreas Timm, a younger contemporary of Boye, also +wrote a large number of excellent hymns. He was born at Copenhagen +in 1800, and was for many years pastor of the church on +Amager, a suburb of the capital city. He died in 1866. His hymns +appeared in a small volume of poems, published in 1834, under the +title: <b>Spiritual Songs</b>. They are characterized by an easy literary +style and an urgent spiritual appeal. The following very popular +hymn is perhaps the best-known of those now available in English.</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Dost thou know the living fountain</p> +<p class="t0">Whence the stream of grace doth flow?</p> +<p class="t0">Dry the streams from snowcapped mountain,</p> +<p class="t0">Yet this stream shall fuller grow.</p> +<p class="t0">From the very heart of God</p> +<p class="t0">Flows its currents deep and broad,</p> +<p class="t0">Unto every land and nation,</p> +<p class="t0">Bringing mercy and salvation.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Come unto the living waters!</p> +<p class="t0">Cried the prophets, do not shrink!</p> +<p class="t0">God invites His sons and daughters:</p> +<p class="t0">He that thirsteth come and drink.</p> +<p class="t0">With this water God imparts</p> +<p class="t0">Health and strength to sin-sick hearts.</p> +<p class="t0">Why are ye then hesitating</p> +<p class="t0">While the Lord with grace is waiting.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">With us is the day appointed,</p> +<p class="t0">God has kept His gracious word.</p> +<p class="t0">He has come, the Lord’s annointed;</p> +<p class="t0">Men have seen the promised Lord.</p> +<p class="t0">Saints of God from every race</p> +<p class="t0">Found in Him the fount of grace,</p> +<p class="t0">And, with joy that never ceases,</p> +<p class="t0">Said: The Fount of Life is Jesus.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Hasten then! Let all assemble</p> +<p class="t0">At this fountain pure and strong.</p> +<p class="t0">Come, ye souls that fear and tremble,</p> +<p class="t0">Come, ye old, and come ye young.</p> +<p class="t0">Now the hour of grace is here,</p> +<p class="t0">Draw then to its fountain near.</p> +<p class="t0">Soon, ah soon! the day is over.</p> +<p class="t0">Quickly night the world may cover.</p> +</div> +</div> +<div id="oldenburg" title="Theodore Vilhelm Oldenburg"> +<div class="pb" id="pg_165">[165]</div> +<p>Another contemporary of these writers, and perhaps the most +prominent of the group, was Theodore Vilhelm Oldenburg. Oldenburg +was born at Copenhagen in 1805, son of the Royal Chamberlain, +Frederik Oldenburg. His mother died while he was still a +boy, but his excellent father managed to give him a most careful +training and a splendid education. He graduated “cum laude” from +the University of Copenhagen in 1822, obtained the degree of Master +of Arts during the following year, entered the department of +theology and graduated from there three years later, also “cum +laude.” In 1830 he accepted a call to become pastor of the parish +of Otterup and Sorterup on the island of Fyn. Here he won high +praise for his conspicuously able and faithful work. Together with +the gifted Bishop P. C. Kirkegaard, he was editor for a number of +years of the influential periodical “Nordisk Tidsskrift for Kristelig +Teologi,” and also of the outstanding foreign mission paper, “Dansk +Missionsblad.” Through these papers he exerted a powerful and +always beneficent influence upon the churches of both Denmark +and Norway. His outstanding and richly blest service was cut +short by death in 1842 when he was only 37 years old. He was carried +to the grave to the strains of his own appealing hymn: “Thine, +O Jesus, Thine Forever.”</p> +<p>Oldenburg’s quite numerous hymns were printed from time +to time in various periodicals. They express in a noble and highly +lyrical style the firm faith and warm religious fervor of his own +consecrated life.</p> +<p>The hymn given below was written for a foreign mission convention +shortly before his death.</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Deep and precious,</p> +<p class="t0">Strong and gracious</p> +<p class="t0">Is the word of God above,</p> +<p class="t0">Gently calling</p> +<p class="t0">Sinners falling,</p> +<p class="t0">To the Savior’s arm of love.</p> +<p class="t0">Unto all the word is given:</p> +<p class="t0">Jesus is the way to heaven.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Blessed Savior,</p> +<p class="t0">Wondrous favor</p> +<p class="t0">Hast Thou shown our fallen race!</p> +<p class="t0">Times may alter,</p> +<p class="t0">Worlds may falter,</p> +<p class="t0">Nothing moves Thy word of grace.</p> +<p class="t0">With Thy word Thy grace abideth,</p> +<p class="t0">And for all our needs provideth.</p> +</div> +<div class="pb" id="pg_166">[166]</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">By Thy merit,</p> +<p class="t0">Through the Spirit</p> +<p class="t0">Draw all sinners, Lord, to Thee.</p> +<p class="t0">Sin and error,</p> +<p class="t0">Death and terror</p> +<p class="t0">By Thy word shall vanquished be.</p> +<p class="t0">Guide us all through life’s straight portal,</p> +<p class="t0">Bear us into life immortal.</p> +</div> +</div> +<div id="ingemann" title="Bernhard Severin Ingemann"> +<p>Besides Grundtvig the foremost hymnwriter of this period was +his close friend, Bernhard Severin Ingemann, one of Denmark’s +most popular and beloved writers. He was born in 1789 in a parsonage +on the island of Falster. His father died in 1800 when the +son was only 11 years old, and his mother left the parsonage to +settle in Slagelse, an old city on the island of Sjælland. Having +graduated from the Latin school there in 1806, Ingemann entered +the University of Copenhagen in the fall of the same year. During +the English attack on Copenhagen in 1807, he enrolled in the student’s +volunteer corps and fought honorably in defense of the city. +After graduating from the University, he was granted free board +and room at Walkendorf’s Collegium, an institution for the aid of +indigent but promising young students. Here he devoted most of +his time to literary pursuits and, during the following three years, +he published a large number of works which won him a favorable +name as a gifted lyrical poet of a highly idealistic type. As an encouragement +to further efforts, the government granted him a two +year stipend for travel and study in foreign parts. He visited Germany, +France, Switzerland and Italy, and became acquainted with +many famous literary leaders of that day, especially in Germany. +On his return from abroad in 1822 he was appointed a lector at +the famous school at Sorø on the island of Sjælland. In this charming +old city with its splendid cathedral and idyllic surroundings he +spent the remainder of his life in the peace and quiet that agreed +so well with his own mild and seraphic nature. He died in 1862.</p> +<p>Inspired by Oehlenschlaeger and strongly encouraged by +Grundtvig, Ingemann in 1824 began the issuance of his famous historical +novels, based upon episodes from the romantic period of +Danish history during the 13th and 14th centuries. To some extent +the novels are modeled upon the similar works of Walter Scott but +are written in a livelier style and more idealistic spirit than their +English prototype. In later years their historical veracity has been +gravely questioned. Enjoying an immense popularity both in Denmark +and in Norway, these highly idealized pictures of the past +<span class="pb" id="pg_167">[167]</span> +did much to arouse that national spirit which especially Grundtvig +had labored long to awaken. After completing his historical novels, +Ingemann again resumed his lyrical and fictional writings, producing +a large number of poems, fairy-tales and novels that further +increased his already immense popularity.</p> +<div class="img" title="Bernhard Severin Ingemann"> +<img height="592" width="500" alt="Bernhard Severin Ingemann" src="images/ingemann.png" /> +<p class="center">Bernhard Severin Ingemann</p> +</div> +<p>Despite the great popularity of Ingemann’s secular writings, +it is, nevertheless, his hymns and spiritual songs which will preserve +his name the longest. His first collection of hymns, a small volume +of morning and evening songs, appeared in 1822. This collection +was followed in 1825 by a volume of church hymns, which was enlarged +and reprinted in 1843. The favorable reception of these +hymns caused Ingemann to be selected to prepare the new church +hymnal, published in 1855, a task which he accomplished to the +general satisfaction of all.</p> +<p>Ingemann’s hymns faithfully reflect his own serene and idealistic +nature. Their outstanding merits are a limpid, lyrical style +and an implicit trust in the essential goodness of life and its Author. +<span class="pb" id="pg_168">[168]</span> +Of Kingo’s realistic conception of evil or Grundtvig’s mighty vision +of existence as a heroic battle between life and death, he has little +understanding. The world of his songs is as peaceful and idyllic +as the quiet countryside around his beloved Sorø. If at times he +tries to take the deeper note, his voice falters and becomes artificial. +But though his hymns on such themes as sin and redemption +are largely a failure, he has written imperishable hymns of idealistic +faith and childlike trust in the goodness and love of God.</p> +<p>The extreme lyrical quality and highly involved and irregular +metre of many of Ingemann’s hymns make them extremely +difficult to translate, and their English translations fail on the +whole to do justice. The translation given below is perhaps one of +the best. It is the work of the Rev. P. C. Paulsen.</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">As wide as the skies is Thy mercy, O God;</p> +<p class="t0">Thy faithfulness shieldeth creation.</p> +<p class="t0">Thy bounteous hand from the mountains abroad</p> +<p class="t0">Is stretched over country and nation.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Like heaven’s embrace is Thy mercy, O Lord;</p> +<p class="t0">In judgment profound Thou appearest.</p> +<p class="t0">Thou savest our souls through Thy life-giving word,</p> +<p class="t0">The cries of Thy children Thou hearest.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">How precious Thy goodness, O Father above,</p> +<p class="t0">Where children of men are abiding.</p> +<p class="t0">Thou spreadest through darkness the wings of Thy love;</p> +<p class="t0">We under their pinions are hiding.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">For languishing souls Thou preparest a rest;</p> +<p class="t0">The quivering dove Thou protectest;</p> +<p class="t0">Thou givest us being, eternal and blest,</p> +<p class="t0">In mercy our life Thou perfectest.</p> +</div> +<p>The following hymn is also quite popular.</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">The sun is rising in the east,</p> +<p class="t0">It gilds the heavens wide,</p> +<p class="t0">And scatters light on mountain crest,</p> +<p class="t0">On shore and countryside.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">It rises from the valley bright,</p> +<p class="t0">Where Paradise once lay,</p> +<p class="t0">And bringeth life, and joy and light</p> +<p class="t0">To all upon its way.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">It greets us from the land afar</p> +<p class="t0">Where man with grace was crowned,</p> +<p class="t0">And from that wondrous Morning Star,</p> +<p class="t0">Which Eastern sages found.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">The starry host bow down before</p> +<div class="pb" id="pg_169">[169]</div> +<p class="t0">The sun that passes them;</p> +<p class="t0">It seems so like that star of yore</p> +<p class="t0">Which shone on Bethlehem.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Thou Sun of Suns, from heaven come,</p> +<p class="t0">In Thee our praises rise</p> +<p class="t0">For every message from Thy home</p> +<p class="t0">And from Thy Paradise.</p> +</div> +<p>The most beloved of all Ingemann’s hymns is his splendid +“Pilgrim Song.”</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Dejlig er Jorden,</p> +<p class="t0">Prægtig er Guds Himmel,</p> +<p class="t0">Skøn er Sjælenes Pilgrimsgang.</p> +<p class="t0">Gennem de fagre</p> +<p class="t0">Riger paa Jorden</p> +<p class="t0">Gaa vi til Paradis med Sang.</p> +</div> +<p>This hymn is written to the tune of “Beautiful Savior” which +Ingemann, in common with many others, accepted as a marching +tune from the period of the crusades. Although this historic origin +has now been disproved, the tune united with Ingemann’s text +undoubtedly will remain the most beloved pilgrim song among +the Danish and Norwegian peoples. Though fully aware of the +impossibility of translating this tenderly beautiful song so that it +is acceptable to those who know the original, the author presents +the following translation in the hope that it may interest those who +cannot read the original.</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Fair is creation,<sup><a id="fr_12" href="#fn_12">[12]</a></sup></p> +<p class="t0">Fairer God’s heaven,</p> +<p class="t0">Blest is the marching pilgrim throng.</p> +<p class="t0">Onward through lovely</p> +<p class="t0">Regions of beauty</p> +<p class="t0">Go we to Paradise with song.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Ages are coming,</p> +<p class="t0">Ages are passing</p> +<p class="t0">Nations arise and disappear.</p> +<p class="t0">Never the joyful</p> +<p class="t0">Message from heaven</p> +<p class="t0">Wanes through the soul’s brief sojourn here.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Angels proclaimed it</p> +<p class="t0">Once to the shepherds,</p> +<p class="t0">Henceforth from soul to soul it passed:</p> +<p class="t0">Unto all people</p> +<p class="t0">Peace and rejoicing,</p> +<p class="t0">Us is a Savior born at last.</p> +</div> +<div class="pb" id="pg_170">[170]</div> +<p>Of other hymns by Ingemann, which are now available in English, +we may mention “Jesus, My Savior, My Shepherd Blest,” “The +Country Lies in Deep Repose” and “I Live and I Know the Span +of My Years.”</p> +<div class="fnblock"> +<div class="fndef"><sup><a id="fn_12" href="#fr_12">[12]</a></sup>Another translation: “Beauty around us” by S. D. Rodholm in “A World of Song.” +</div> +</div> +</div> +<div id="late19cent" title="Late 19th-Century Hymnwriters"> +<p>The last half of the 19th century also brought forth a number +of Danish hymnwriters of considerable merit, such as Chr. Richardt, +Pastor J. P. M. Paulli, Pastor Olfert Ricard and Pastor J. Schjorring. +The latter is especially known by one song which has been +translated into many languages and with which it seems appropriate +to close this survey of Danish hymnody.</p> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Love from God our Lord,</p> +<p class="t0">Has forever poured</p> +<p class="t0">Like a fountain pure and clear.</p> +<p class="t0">In its quiet source,</p> +<p class="t0">In its silent course</p> +<p class="t0">Doth the precious pearl appear.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Love from God our Lord,</p> +<p class="t0">Comes with sweet accord,</p> +<p class="t0">Like a pure and lovely bride.</p> +<p class="t0">Dwell within my heart,</p> +<p class="t0">Peace from God impart,</p> +<p class="t0">Heaven doth with Thee abide.</p> +</div> +<div class="verse"> +<p class="t0">Love from God our Lord,</p> +<p class="t0">Has to man restored</p> +<p class="t0">Life and peace from heaven above.</p> +<p class="t0">Who in love remains,</p> +<p class="t0">Peace from God obtains;</p> +<p class="t0">God Himself is ever love.</p> +</div> +</div> +</div> +</div> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Hymns and Hymnwriters of Denmark, by +Jens Christian Aaberg + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HYMNS AND HYMNWRITERS OF DENMARK *** + +***** This file should be named 29666-h.htm or 29666-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/9/6/6/29666/ + +Produced by Stephen Hutcheson and Ken Jentsch + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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