Resumen
Resumen de Himnos sagrados del alemán
Para quién es
Readers who love hymns, church seasons and quiet devotional poetry, and listeners who like a calm voice with prayers for morning, evening, joy and grief, drawn from the old German tradition.
De qué trata este libro
Sacred Hymns from the German is a small book of devotional songs gathered and put into English by Frances Elizabeth Cox. Its poems come from the German church. The dedication says they are taken from the collection of Charles Christian Bunsen, a Prussian envoy to Switzerland, and it is shared with a bishop of Salisbury. The poets are German pastors, teachers and writers of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, among them Johann Rist, Paul Gerhard, Christian Fürchtegott Gellert, Benjamin Schmolck and Gerhard Tersteegen, with Martin Luther near the close.
Each hymn opens with a line of scripture that sets its theme, so the reader meets the Bible first and the song second. The hymns follow the Christian year, then move through morning and evening, baptism, marriage and burial, and on to trust, sorrow, nature and eternity. In this summary you will hear what each stretch of the book holds, which poets speak in it, and which images come back again and again. Let us begin with Advent and Christmas, where the book starts.
En este resumen
- 1Advent and Christmas begin the yearFree
- 2Good Friday and Easter carry the heart
- 3Daily life and its rites find a song
- 4The inner life seeks one thing
- 5Sorrow, repentance and unity find words
- 6Nature, eternity and the word reach outward
Idea clave 1 de 6
Advent and Christmas begin the year
The book opens with two hymns for Advent. The first, by Johann Rist, is a cry to wake up, because the day that prophets and kings waited for has come. It names Abraham, Zion and the Gentiles, and it pictures the Savior riding meekly into Jerusalem. Every stanza ends with a shout of Hallelujah, which gives the poem the feel of a procession.
The second Advent hymn turns the other way. It warns a careless world that the last day will surely come, and it pictures the Lord arriving with lightning, fire and thunder. Yet the poet says the delay comes from love, since God waits so that people may mend their ways. A warning and a mercy sit side by side here, as they do in many hymns of the book.
Two Christmas hymns follow. Gellert retells the night of the shepherds, with the angel calling away their fear, the heavenly choir and the hurry to Bethlehem. He then asks the singer to stay faithful to Christ until death. Paul Gerhard writes a livelier song that tells the heart to tune itself, praises the God who loved the world, and promises to care for Christ in the poor.
Short hymns then mark the Circumcision, by Ernst Lange, and the Epiphany, by Johann Heermann. The first rejoices that the law is fulfilled for sinners, who are now called sons and heirs. The second follows the wise men toward a star seen in the west and prays that its light will reach both near and far. Together these early pieces set the tone of the whole book: bright, direct and made for voices.
That’s 1 of 6 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Questions about Himnos sagrados del alemán
What is Sacred Hymns from the German about?
It is a collection of devotional hymns by German poets, put into English by Frances Elizabeth Cox. The hymns follow the church year, then turn to daily prayer, life events such as marriage and burial, sorrow, nature and eternity.
Who wrote the hymns in Sacred Hymns from the German?
Many German poets wrote them, including Johann Rist, Paul Gerhard, Christian Fürchtegott Gellert, Benjamin Schmolck, Gerhard Tersteegen and Martin Luther. Frances Elizabeth Cox gave them an English form.
Why does each hymn begin with a Bible verse?
Each hymn opens with a short line of scripture that sets its theme. The verse tells the reader what the poem will meditate on, so the song reads as a reply to a passage from the Bible.
Is Sacred Hymns from the German easy to read?
Yes, in its approachable form: the stanzas are short, the language is plain, and refrains such as Hallelujah guide the ear. Each hymn stands alone, so you can read one at a time and stop whenever you like.
What are the main themes of these hymns?
The main themes are trust in God through hardship, forgiveness through Christ, hope beyond death, and thanks for creation. Images of the pilgrim road, the good shepherd and heavenly light return throughout the book.