All German hymn-books still contain it, though in a somewhat modified form.
The tempest of war which for thirty years swept over Germany, and caused a tale of disasters from which it would seem society could have never recovered, even promoted, or at least did not impede in any waj', the literary and intellectual activity of the German mind ; and this period is not only recognised as having been signalized by " a great outbiu-st of religious song," but as having produced the most famous hymnologists of Germany. First among these stands the great IMartin Opitz (1597-1639), of the Silesian school of German po- ets, who greatly improved all German poetry. He wrote many versions of some of the epistles, and of many of the Psalms, and of the Song of Solomon. But his original versions are by far the best; e. g. his morn- ing hymn, "O Light, who out of Light wast born" (Winkworth, p. 173). Ne^vt to him we find Pavd Flem- ing (q. v.) (1609-40), author of "In alien miseren Tha- ten." But most famous at this time were undoubtedly Johann von Rist (q. v.) (1607-67), Johann Heermann (q. V.) (1685-1647), and, a httle later, Paul Gerhard (q. V.) (1606-76), wlio was the greatest of them all, " the prince of German hymnists." Rist wrote as many as 600 to 700 religious poems and hymns, "intended to supply every possible requirement of public worship or private experience." His best arc perhaps "Werde mimter mein Gemiithe," "Auf, auf ihr Reichsgenossen," and " Werde Licht, du Yolk der Heiden" (translation in SchafF, Christ in Song, p. 1 18). Heermann's best hymns are " Herzliebster Jesu, was hast du verbrochen" (Christ in Song, p. 171), "Jesu, deine tiefe Wunden," " Zion Klage mit Angst u. Schmerzen" (Winkworth, p. 198), "Fri'ih Jlorgens da die Sonn' aufgeht" (Ch?-ist in Song, p. 263), and " O Jesu Christe, wahres Licht" (Christ in Song, p. 116). Very beautiful is the follo^ving (trausl. by Mrs. Winkworth) :
IN TEMPTATION. " Jesu, victor over sin, Help me now the fl<;ht to win. Thou didst vauqiiish once, I know, Him who seeks my overthrow ; So to Thee my faiih will cleave, And her hold will never leave, Till the weary battle's done, And the final triumph won ; For I too through Thee may win, Victory over death and sin."
In Gerhard's hands the German hymn reached its high- est perfection, and his name is to the German justly dearer than that of anj' other save Luther. His hymns are " pervaded bj' a spirit of the most cheerful and healthy piety — a piety which shows itself not merely in direct devotion to God and to Christ, hut in a pure and childlike love of nature, and good will towards men. They exemplifj' Coleridge's lines :
'He prayeth best who loveth best
All things both great and small ;
For the dear God who loveth us,
He made and loveth all.'
They have the homely simplicity of Luther's, and a strength like his, if not quite equal to it, with a versa- tility, smoothness, and literary finish not to be fomid in Luther's, and unsurpassed in any period of German hymnology" (Christian Examiner, 1860, p. 247). Ger- hardt has been aptly considered " the typical poet of the Lutheran Church, as Herbert is of the English ;" but it must not be thought that he was by any means a volu- minous writer. On the contrarj^, he only wrote alto- gether about 120 hymns. His life and writings have been dwelt upon so much in detail that we can do no better here than leave him with a few words of tribute so ably paid by jNIrs. Winkworth : " His hymns seem to be the spontaneous outpoimng of a heart that overflows with love, trust, and praise ; his language is simple and piu-e; if it has sometimes a touch of homeliness, it has no vulgarism, and at times it rises to a beauty and grace which always gives the impression of being un- studied, yet could hardly have been improved by art.
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Ilis tenderness and fervor never degenerate into the sentimentality and petty conceits which were already becoming fashionable in his days, nor his penitence and sorrow into that morbid despondency . . . for which the disappointments of his own life might have furnish- ed some excuse." Other hymn-writers of this period are Andreas Gryphius (161G-G4), of the same country as Ointz, and, like liim, also a great writer of secular literature ; Martin Rinkart (q. v.), the writer of Nun dunh-t (die Gott (" Let all men praise the Lord") ; Simon Dauh ((J. v.), author of Ich bin ja- Jlerr in Deiner Jlfac/d-; Heinrich Albertus (1G04-68), whose best hymn is considered to be Goff. d. Ilimmels ii. d. Erden ; ( Jeorg Weissel (first half of the 17th century), who wrote Macht hoch die Thilr.die T/ior maclit weit "(in C/iristin Sonff,p. 17) ; the electoress Louisa Henrietta of Brandenburg, who composed in 1640, after the death of her first hus- band, the hymn Jesus, meine Zuversicht, well known in the English dress, " Jesus, my Redeemer, lives" (see Christ in Song, p. 265) ; Ernst Chr. Homburg (1605-81), whose hymns were published together under the title Geistliche Lieder (Xaumb. 1758). Perhaps his best hymn is Jesu, mcinrs Li-beiis Leben, or "Christ, the life of all the living" {Christ in Song, p. 183) ; another, hardly less beautiful, is his well-known " Man of Sorrows." Johann Frank (1618 -77), " who ranks only second to Gerhardt as a hj-mn- writer, and, with him, marks the transition from the ear- lier to the later school of German religious poetry," pub- lished his sacred songs under the title of Geistliches Zion (Guben. 1761). One of his best is Schmiiclce dich o Hebe Seek, " Dock thyself, my soul" (Winkworth, Lyra Ger- manim, ii, 133 ; Schaif, Christ in Song, p. 590). We add here only Georg Neumark (q. v.) (1621-81), for a time professor of poetry and poet laureate at the University of Kiinigsberg, whose most famous hymn is Wer nur den liebeii (Uttt lil.-<M indlvn, '• Leave God to order all thy ways" {Ijjni (uruv.iidci.Y. 1,")2); J. M. Jleyfarth (1590- 1642), .I,rii^itl,:i,t (III hnhiji-haute Stadt, translated in the Chris/inn Examiner, Ixix, 254 ("Jerusalem, thou high-built, fair abode"), and in Lgra Germanica, ii, 285) ; Friedrich v. Spee (1591 or 1595-1635), a Roman Catholic, who labored earnestly to introduce vernacular hymns into the divine service of his Church, wrote A vf, aiif, Gott roill gelohet sein; Johann Jacob Balde (1603- 68), also a Roman Catholic, but he wrote mostly in Latin (his sacred poems being published under the title of Carmina Li/rica) ; Georg Phil. Harsdijrfer (1607-58), of Soutliern Germany; A. II. Buchholz (1607-71); Jo- hann Olearius (1611-84), belonging to a family who in this century were hymn-writers of some note.