The Influence of Paul Gerhardt Upon Evangelical Hymnody

Anne W. Kuhn

Paul Gerhardt is undoubtedly the David which his name is correctly linked. It is of German hymnody. Born at Grafen- rather designed as an appreciation of the hainichen in Saxony in 1607, his career man who by universal consent was called of sixty-nine years coincided with the "the prince of Lutheran poets." Thirty Years' War and the tragic transi In a sense, such an investigation will tional period which followed these three be also the tracing of the pilgrimage of a decades of pillage and pestilence. He is soul. Inasmuch as our times parallel those still the sweet singer of the Fatherland of Gerhardt, the lure of such a pilgrimage to all true sons of Germany. Some scholars may prove to be attractive to men of our have termed him "the George Herbert of times. Germany" for the cultured refinement of his poetic expression; but whereas Her I bert's hymns are spiritual gems set in poems of such beauty as to be understandable Gerhardt's most famous hymn is his only to the select few, the hymns of Paul translation of Bernard of Clairvaux' "Salve Gerhardt are for the everyday congrega Caput Cruentatum" ("O Haupt voll Blut tion. His hymns are not only a reflection und Wunden").^ This Passion chorale of his troubled times but also a biography translates as follows: in poetry setting forth the disappointments O sacred head once wounded in his own career, the aspirations of his With grief and pain weighed down. own inward and his faith in Hfe, unfailing How scornfully surrounded In contrast the goodness and love of God. With thorns. Thine only crown ! to the objective hymns of the great Luther, How pale art Thou with anguish, With sore abuse and scorn! Gerhardt's hymns were subjective, devo How doth Thy visage languish tional and in the best sense pietistic. Which once was bright as morn !

As a watchman waits for day, O Lord of life and glory. And looks for light, and looks again What bliss till now was Thine! When the night grows old and grey. I read the wondrous story, To be relieved he calls again; I joy to call Thee mine. So look, so wait, so long my eyes Thy grief and Thy compulsion To see, my Lord, thy Sun arisel Were all for sinners' gain; Mine, mine was the transgression, But Thine the deadly pain. The writer purposes in this study to examine some of Gerhardt's hymns, with What language shall I borrow special reference to the manner in which To praise Thee, heavenly Friend, influenced, directly and indirectly, they ' the hymnody of the Evangelical Revival in There is a question now concerning Bernard's authorship of this hymn. There is evidence for England. The article is not a critical or and against the traditional belief at this point. historical on the work of Gerhardt. essay Such an authority as H. Augustine Smith ascribes nor a survey of German Pietism, with the original to Arnulf von Loewen, 1200-1250. 22 ANNE W. KUHN

has shown an For this, Thy dying sorrow. This classical hymn imperishable Thy pity without end? vitality in passing from the Latin into the Ger from the German into the and Lord, make me Thine forever, man, and English, in three Nor let me faithless prove; proclaiming with equal effect tongues, and in name of three creeds�the the Oh, let me never, never the Catholic, Abuse such dying love. Lutheran, and the Reformed�the dying love of our Saviour and our boundless indebtedness to Him. Be near me. Lord, when dying; O, show Thyself to me; And for my succour flying, While the English translation of this hymn to set me free. Come, Lord, did not find an immediate place in Wes These eyes, new faith receiving leyan hymnody, the spirit of it was caught From Jesus shall not move; Isaac Watts and Charles Their For he who dies believing, by Wesley. Dies safely through Thy love. themes and their style reflect its mood and its message.^ This hymn is sung throughout Germany John Wesley translated a number of Ger on Good Friday, usually to the music of hardt's hymns into English. Several of Johann Sebastian Bach in his famous St. these have remained in use to the Matthew's Passion. To what extent Chris present time. Some of the hymns which we at tian liberty in song was suppressed by the tribute to Wesley are really Gerhardt's. late regime is difficult to determine. It is Here are two verses of one of the Saxon's safe to venture, however, that no rise and hymns which John Wesley translated.* fall of governments can eradicate from German Protestanism its love for this My Saviourl how shall I proclaim. hymn. How pay the mighty debt I owe? Let all I am St. Bernard (if indeed he wrote the have, and all I Ceaseless to all Thy glory show. original) entitled his hymn "A rhythmical to one of the members of Christ prayer any Too much to Thee I cannot give; suffering and hanging on the Cross". The Too much I cannot do for Thee; original manuscript is not in existence, and Let all Thy love and all Thy grief. Graven on heart for ever be. the oldest copy now extant (possibly copied my from the original) was not found until the The following is one of Gerhardt's best fourteenth century. In its earliest form, known hymns, sung almost as much in Eng the hymn was long, being divided into land as in Germany. Written under title of seven parts, each addressed to a part of the "Befiel' du deine Wege" it was translated Body of Christ. The portion which Ger by Wesley in 1739. hardt so correctly translated is addressed to "the Face of Jesus".' Commit thou all thy griefs And When the well-known German mission ways into His hands, To His sure truth and tender who Mar- care. ary, Schwartz, preceeded Henry Who heaven and earth commands. tyn to India, lay dying after fifty years of incessant labor among the heathen, it was Who points the clouds their course, Gerhardt's hymn which he chanted. Sur Whom winds and seas obey, Who shall direct rounded by his sorrowing Malabar pupils, thy wandering feet; He shall prepare thy way. he passed away with its echoes in his soul. This is but one instance of the power of Thou on the Lord rely. this chorale to sing its way into the hearts So safe shalt thou go on. of the faithful. Fix on His work thy steadfast eye. So shall thy work be done. Of Gerhardt's version Philip Schaff says.

' Edward Dickinson, Music in the History of the Western Church (New York: Scribners, The translation was English by James W. 1902), pp. 379f. Alexander, a Presbyterian minister and * professor. There are nine stanzas in the original. THE INFLUENCE OF PAUL GERHARDT 23

No canst thou profit gain was that of the devastation, moral as well By self-consuming care; as physical of the years, 1618-1648. The To Him commend thy cause; His ear darkness of this era of near-barbarism Attends the softest prayer. called forth a new return to faith in God, Thy everlasting truth, a new expression of hope in spite of dark Father, Thy ceaseless love est national calamity. Sees all Thy children's wants, and knows What best for each will prove. This pious confidence, this unabated poetic glow, found in Paul Gerhardt the most fervent and re When Thou arisest. Lord, fined expression that has been reached in German What shall work withstand? Thy hymnody." Whate'er Thy children want Thou givest. And who shall stay Thy hand? In common with the devout of his time, Gerhardt relief from The spirit of this English translation is frequently sought earth's cares in of Heaven's remarkably like that of the original. May contemplation joys, as the testifies: it not be that John Wesley was able to following hymn transcribe the mood and of this rhythm O Christ! how good and fair so because his circum hymn accurately Will be my portion, where stances at this point in his career were so Thine eyes on me shall rest like those of Gerhardt? And make me fully blest. When from this narrow earth Around this hymn have grown up a To Thee I shall spring forthi number of interesting traditions, describing the remarkable role which it has played in Oh thou, poor passing earth. What are thy treasures worth ministering to those in distress. Of these Beside those heavenly crowns, the is a following representative sample.* And more than golden thrones. Which Christ hath treasured there A German peasant called Dober, who lived in a For those who please Him here ! village near Warsaw, was to be evicted on the morrow with his family amid the snows of winter, This is the angel's land because he could not pay his rent. In the evening, Where all the blessed stand ! gathering wife and children around him, he Hear, I hear nought but singing prayed with them, and then joined with them in See all with glory springing; this as reached the last a raven hymn; they verse, Here is no cross, no sorrow. which his had tamed and set at liber grandfather No parting on the morrow! ty, tapped at the window. In its bill was a ring set with stones. The took it to precious peasant It is easy to discern in the mood of this the minister. It was found to belong to the King, the heart-beat of the Stanislaus. When the minister told the King the hymn Evangelical Revival in story he sent for Dober, gave him a handsome England. reward, and the next year built him a new house, Gerhardt's temperament and his religion and filled its cattle sheds from his own estates. alike served to make him cheerful, and the Over the door was an iron tablet, bearing the many of his life seem representation of a raven with a ring in its bill, disappointments never to have and the verse which I previously omitted in the embittered him. He always above hymn : maintained a tender heart and a scrupulous conscience. His Thou everywhere hast sway. portrait in the church in And all things serve Thy might. Luebben bears the inscription, "Theologus act pure is. Thy every blessing in cribo Satanae versatus," i.e., a divine Thy unsullied light. path sifted in Satan's sieve. Attention will be later in this to some of the The richest period of German hymnology given study trying details of his life and ministry, and to the manner in which Gerhardt met his � This account was Dr. H. given by Augustine problems. Smith to a class in sacred music in 1941. Similar in his Plain accounts in connection with the same hymn may John Wesley, Account of be found in Julian's Dictionary of Hymnology, (revised edition, reprint of 1925), pp. 125. 'Dickinson, op. cit., pp. 265f, 24 ANNE W. KUHN

of in than the singer, Christian Perfection,'' says : religion Germany Paulus Gerhardt." In the beginning of the year 1738, as I was re Gerhardt's musical contribution to the thence his first appoint turning from (Savannah, world of Evangelical religion can be best ment after his ordination, and where he seemed in the light of the problems to have failed so miserably) the cry of my heart appreciated he faced in the world of his was : which day. details will therefore be Oh, grant that nothing in my soul Some biographical May dwell, but Thy pure love alone; of value at this point. Son of the burgo Oh, may Thy love possess me whole. master of Grafinhainichen (in Saxony), My joy, my treasure, and my crown. he was well-educated. At the same time he Strange fancies from my heart remove. ! lived no sheltered life; from his My every act, word, thought, be love emerging school days, he found himself amid the Evangelicals think when they join in this confusion of the Thirty Years' War. He well-known hymn, which has become part shared to the full, along with his contem of English religious life, that they are sing poraries, the sorrows, disappointments, and ing one of Wesley's hymns ; in a sense they humiHations of that direful conflict. are, but the original words are those of As a young man he had frequently to Paul Gerhardt. His first verse reads : take his place beside his fellow-citizens and defend the hearth and home of his parents. Jesus, Thy boundless love to me He was compelled to wait until he was No thought can reach, no tongue declare; of before he was or Oh, knit my thankful heart to Thee, forty-five years age And reign without a rival there ! dained and before he could secure a pas Thine, wholly Thine alone I am torate. Only then was he able to marry Be Thou alone constant flame! my the beautiful woman whom for long years he had loved, but to whom he could not Thomas Walsh, converted Irish Roman earlier offer a home. It was in these disap ist of Limerick, was in the habit of sing pointing years of waiting that he composed ing the third verse of the above hymn some of his most popular hymns, among with something like holy rapture: which the following ought to be quoted: O love, how cheering is thy ray! How shall I meet Thee? How my heart All pain before thy presence flies. Receive her Lord Care, anguish, sorrow melt away aright? Desire of all the Thou art ! Where'er thy healing beams arise. earth. My hope, my sole O Jesu, nothing may I see. delightl Kindle the lamp. Thou Lord, alone Nothing desire or seek but Theel Half-dying in my breast. And make Thy gracious pleasure known. II How I may greet Thee best!

In 1907 Germany celebrated the three Her budding boughs and fairest palms hundredth anniversary of Gerhardt's birth. Thy Zion strews around; And songs of praise and sweetest psalms A greater tribute to his genius as a poet, From my glad heart shall sound. or to his as a of greatness preacher right My desert soul breaks forth in flowers. eousness could hardly be paid to any man Rejoicing in Thy fame; than this, that an entire empire should And puts forth all her sleeping powers. To honor Jesu's name. pause in its national pursuits, in public as well as in over his private sing again songs, In heavy bonds I languished long, and recall his for truth and toler fights Thou com'st to set me free; ance, while the emperor extolled him as a The scorn of every mocking tongue� shining example of self-sacrifice and Chris Thou com'st to honour me. A heavenly crown wilt Thou tian purpose. In the words of Wilhelm II, bestow, And gifts of priceless worth, "None had done more for the advancement That vanish not as here below, The fading wealth of earth! ' Section 7, THE INFLUENCE OF PAUL GERHARDT 25

It requires little imagination to discern in thousands. Full of confidence in God, he this hymn the basic spirit underlying the returned to his humble inn, and read the famous hymns of Charles Wesley, with following verses to his wife: their "hungering and thirsting after right eousness." Give to the winds thy fears, Hope and be undismayed; The famous at five for his poet, forty- God hears thy sighs and counts thy tears, was invited to the of the hymns, pastorate God shall lift up thy head. Church of St. Nicolai, in Berhn. Here his Through waves, through clouds and storms. influence spread rapidly throughout Ger He gently clears the way; Wait thou His time: so shall the night A few later his the many. years patron, Soon end in joyous day. great Elector of Brandenburg, sought to interfere with Gerhardt's liberty of preach Still heavy is thy heart? ing. Refusing to subscribe to the edicts Still sink thy spirits down? Cast off the let fear of June 2, 1662 and September 16, 1664, weight, depart. But every care be gonel which he felt to be subversive to the What though thou rulest not? interests of the Lutheran Church, and Yet heaven and earth and hell which he felt to represent an attempt to Proclaim, God sitteth on the throne. force the Reformed doctrine of predestina And ruleth all things well ! tion upon his Church, he was dismissed Leave to His sovereign sway from his in 1666. pastorate To choose and to command ; Gerhardt did not seek a quarrel, but was So shalt thou, wondering, own His way, drawn forcibly into this controversy. The How wise, how strong His hand. far above Elector doubtless meant well, wishing to Far, thy thought His counsel shall appear; terminate the between the long controversy When fully He the work hath wrought two sections of the Reformed Church. But That caused thy needless fear. he was too masterful in action, while Ger Thou seest our weakness. Lord, hardt was overly conscientious, and dis Our hearts are known to Thee; a want of tact in dealing with the played Oh, lift Thou up the sinking head. really pious prince. He was primarily con Confirm the feeble knee! and cerned with keeping a clear conscience ; Let us in life, in death with the exception of some written state Thy steadfast truth declare, And with our latest breath ments to the Elector, his dealings with the publish Thy love and guardian care. Magistrate, the Stande, and the Elector were kindly and conciliatory. When the good pastor had finished read When it became apparent that he could ing the hymn, even his wife was cheered not with a good conscience accept the con by the thought that God would indeed take dition which the Elector placed upon his care of them. The family had hardly re preaching, he went forth with his family, tired to the their humble room before a a homeless wanderer. At a little country loud and knock was heard, inn which reached in the evening, Ger imperative they the whole house. A hardt, distressed by his helplessness and rousing messenger stood at the door holding a sealed packet his inability to comfort his weeping wife for Pastor Gerhardt. The doctor, and children, went out into the woods to surprised with his trembling wife, opened the packet pray. Suddenly the words of the Psalm and to their great joy found an invitation came to him: "Commit thy ways unto the from the Duke of Meresberg, offering him Lord; trust also in Him, and He shall "Church, people, home and livelihood, with bring it to pass." liberty to preach the Gospel as your heart The words brought not only rest and may prompt you." comfort, but inspiration; for he rose from his knees and as he walked to and fro Full of gratitude, the little party now under the trees that calm evening, he com journeyed to Luebben, where Gerhardt be posed a hymn that has given strength to came archdeacon. Here he lost, first his 26 ANNE W. KUHN

the and form wife and then his little son, occasions which tian life is soundest purest and had it avoided drew other imperishable songs from his of human life, depreci the the and the soul. Seven years later he himself passed ating Bible, sacraments, his own ministerial it ha\ e avoided away, with the words of one of office, might the attacks of Deutschmann and Valentin songs on his lips: J. Ernst Loescher, and�worse still-�the sen- Us, no death has power to kill. timentaUzation of its teachings. Gerhardt in the more Like Luther, Gerhardt was more poet preserved Germany of the Pietistic movement. than musician. Both were fortunate to have enduring legacy While Pietism, in its seventeenth- and men of like mind and heart to set their early eighteeneth-century form, was largely hymns to suitable music. If Luther had submerged in the ongoing of German religi his Johann Walther, Gerhardt has his Jo ous thought, Gerhardt's hymns retain their hann Crueger. To understand the perma power to the heart and nent mark which Gerhardt left upon Evan inspire challenge the soul. Considered historians to be gelicalism in Germany, it is essential to by the greatest hymn writer Germany has pro know something of Pietism, a movement he continues to his wher which is popularly associated with his duced, sing way ever German hymns are sung. name. It is too simple to regard Pietism needs to be said at this as a mere protest against a rigid and bar Something point in of the of Luther ren orthodoxy. Rather, it is a continuation comparison hymnody with that of Gerhardt. From the of many of the principles of primitive standpoint of the number of Lutheranism, and stemmed from the very hymns written, the latter heart of the Lutheran Reformation.' Ger was, of course more prolific. The best hardt is notable in this connection for his authorities attribute less than ten hymns pioneering in the field of the inner life ; for directly to Luther; Gerhardt's number about 120.* a it was in the year of his dismissal from But such comparison is super the St. Nicolai that Spener was appointed pas ficial; real question is that of the style tor in Frankfort, while the Pia Desideria and content of their respective hymns. Lu ther's of the latter was published but a year hymns were usually objective, and before Gerhardt's death. Not until six frequently militant. Those of Gerhardt years later were the collegia pietatis made were subjective, expressive of quiet trust, into public gatherings. Thus Gerhardt ex and replete with references to the intimate pressed the spirit of Pietism before Francke relationship between the soul and God. and Spener had laid the real foundations Each had its ministry to perform; the one for their work, and before Francke, Anton type served to balance the other. Taken and Breithaupt were appointed to their together, the two blended into a balanced chairs at Halle. whole.

The songs of both Luther and Gerhardt Ill have stood the ruthless test of time, but when the works of the two are compared, It is impossible to determine just how the palm must be given to Gerhardt for greatly the leaders of the Pietistic move affording real spiritual insight, and for ment were influenced Gerhardt's by proffering help in every phase and circum hymnody. To say the least, he put into stance of human life. Living in times verse much that was formulated into ser comparable to those through which Ger mons several decades later. Had Pietism many is passing today, he mirrored with followed Gerhardt's thesis, that the Chris- exquisite delicacy and admirable fidelity the deepest aspirations of man confronted 'But for a contrary opinion see Albrecht Rit- by God and met by His Krisis. His hymns schl, The Christian Doctrine of Justification and Reconciliation (2nd English Edition, Edinburgh- *A. W. Wilson, The Chorales (London, The T. & T. Clark), p. 84. Faith Press, 1920), pp. 26, 12. THE INFLUENCE OF PAUL GERHARDT 27 are the mirror held up to the soul, wherein movement was a singing movement, and it may read itself. In consequence, one sel that as Luther had his Walther, John Wes dom turns to Gerhardt's songs in vain. He ley had his brother Charles. To trace the has a word of warning, of comfort, of influence of Gerhardt's hymns upon John hope, of joy, or of assurance for every one. Wesley and his gifted brother, one must In sorrow, in rejoicing, in health and in take into account a number of factors, most sickness, in the homeland or on the jour of them indirect. Attention was called ear ney, in time of war and in the day of peace, lier in this study to the fact that John at the altar or by the cradle, at the bedside Wesley translated several of Gerhardt's and at the grave, he strikes with unerring hymns into English. Of perhaps greater fingers the chords of the human heart. significance was the fact that he learned It is small wonder that for spontaneity, German, this indicating that he expected simplicity and purity of expression he is knowledge of this language to yield him the greatest favorite (among foreign hymn- important contacts with newer movements odists) in England. To understand his on the Continent. Doubtless his interest in, influence in Britain, it is necessary to bear and contacts with, the Moravians served in mind that prior to 1600 there were few as an incentive to this. English hymns suitable to congregational The degree to which Wesley's thinking use. Noble sacred poetry there was, but was shaped by the Saxon poet must be these poems were, as it has been well said, understood, not only in terms of the effort "too subtle and fanciful" ever to come which he put forth in the translation of his home to the hearts of the people. This hymns, but in the light of the type of to at two influences : the is due least first, hymnody which came from the pens of large adherence of the English Church of both the Wesleys. The temptation is strong, the period to Roman usage; and second, in a study of this kind, to exaggerate the the Puritan prohibition of all hymns except degree to which Wesley's beliefs were de Thus rhymed paraphrases of the Psalms. rived from the poems of Gerhardt. Accur there was no upsurge of congregational acy demands the recognition that John of the hymn singing in the English Church Wesley was an Anglican, and differed sixteenth century comparable to that in Lu rather greatly from the Pietism of seven ther's day. This must wait for nearly a teenth century Germany. His background century and a half�until the circulation of lacked the physical factors, such as the Gerhardt's hymns. devastation of the Thirty Years' War, and Such hymns as did exist in England prior the consequent famine and poverty, which few to to 1625 were written for the choice were so powerful in shaping the thought enjoy. They were full of subtle allusions, of Gerhardt. from half the pleasure of which was derived Umphrey Lee observes that the doctrine to under the exercise of ingenuity required for which Wesley is justly most famous, stand them. Such could never be sung, namely Christian Perfection, was not de like Luther's, by little children at Christ rived from German Pietism, but from the less mas, nor as a nation's battle song. Still Bible, Jeremy Taylor, and William Law.'" could they distill peace at moments when Around this doctrine, and related princi and flesh failed and mortal effort heart ples, he developed an essentially British was impossible, when the soul had lost its Pietism. Some hold that his Evangelicalism to to must power cling anything. England was radically different from Pietism in for Isaac Watts�or better, wait perhaps Germany. This seems to the writer to be before she until the Wesleyan Revival, an extreme view. could enter the era. hymn-singing A comparison of Gerhardt's hymns with the general tenor of Wesley's teaching IV Umphrey Lee, John Wesley and Mddern Re It is a commonplace that the Wesleyan ligion (Nashville, Cokesbury, 1936), p. 110. 28 ANNE W. KUHN

un of the denomi seems to yield the conclusion that the in modern hymnals major derlying atmosphere of that teaching is nations, is a remarkable testimony to their identical with that of the hymns which he vitality. Interestingly enough, in the latest translated from the German. Outstanding edition of the Methodist Hymnal, some of are not under Ger among the parallel ideas is that of the close these hymns indexed, relation between God and His world. It hardt, but under John Wesley, though is important to remember that the thought credit is given to the German author on the of England at that time was still dominated pages where the music occurs. by the Newtonian physics, with its mechan These facts indicate that Wesley trans istic and lifeless view of the world. Wes lated these hymns of Gerhardt because of ley certainly derived his ideas at this point his interest in them, and�we believe�his from some source. Now, the hymns of kinship of spirit with them. This is the Gerhardt which he translated speak of the more remarkable in view of the fact that close correlation of God with the world. he learned a relatively little-known (in The following are illustrative of this : England) language and that he went back over a century for his materials. He has Through waves, and clouds, and storms. derived from them, not so much his doc He gently clears the way; trinal tenets as his attitudes toward nature, Wait thou his time, so shall this night Soon end in joyous day. providence, and the availability of God to ** * human petition. In short, we may attribute Who points the clouds their course much of the inwardness of John Wesley's Whom winds and seas obey. and of the He shall direct thy wandering feet. religious emphasis, spiritual warmth of his to the of He shall prepare thy way. outlook, impact *** Gerhardt's hymns upon his life and Thou everywhere hast sway. thought. And all serve things thy might; A final link in the chain of evidence is Thy every act pure blessing is. found in the fact that without the usual Thy path unsullied light. antecedents, a new tradition in hymnody Indirect evidence for this influence of appeared in England in the time of the Gerhardt upon Wesley is to be found in Wesleyan awakening. Theological factors the manner in which some of his hymns, alone would hardly account for the appear appearing in Wesley's translations, have ance of the hymns of Isaac Watts and of become known in the popular mind as Wes the Wesleys, following so closely upon the leyan hymns. The writer has examined a steps of the relatively barren period in representative group of hymnals," and hymnody following the English Reforma finds that each of these contains from five tion. Taken together with the fact that the to eight of Gerhardt's hymns, most of them hymnody of the Evangelical Revival is so having come through John Wesley's trans obviously in the spirit of Gerhardt, this lation, a few through the work of Cather affords further evidence of the influence ine Winkworth. That these hymns, writ of Paul Gerhardt upon the hymnody of the ten three centuries ago and by a man of period. This influence appears to have been whom relatively so little is known outside quite out of proportion to the numbers of of Germany should have such a firm place his hymns which appeared in English trans lation. His spirit seems to have been con "The Methodist Hymnal, The Baptist Hymnal, tagious; imbued by it, the Re The Presbyterian Hymnal, The Episcopal Hymn Wesleyan vival its into al, The Advent Christian Hymnal, New Church sang way the hearts of Hymnal, The Hymnal for American Youth and millions in England, and shortly to count The Congregational Hymnal. less others in the New World.