By Dick Wursten
A mystic noel, a
contemplation on
seeing Christ while looking at the baby in the Manger. Kind of
Christmas' counterpart of O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden...
There standing at the cross, here at the manger. More on this on the
Dutch parallel page. Here only a summary.
NB: The original
hymn has 15 stanzas. It's a description of what the believer sees
when he 'beholds the Child', knowing this child is his Saviour.
Enormous gratitude, deeply felt love. It's his return gift
for the Love he has received (stanzas 1-4). Then he takes a closer
look at the mouth, the hands and the eyes (st. 5-9). Wording and
imagery from the Song of Songs now strongly influences Gerhardts
imagination. In the mouth he sees
the lips of the Bridegroom of his soul he wants to kiss
(Song of Songs, ch. 1,2, cf. Ps 19,11 and 1Peter 2,2). He sees the hands stretchted out to him
(Like the arms of the Saviour from the cross in the famous
recitative/aria from Bach's Matthaeuspassion), and his eyes, shining
so beautifully (also Song of Songs), never loose sight of him. He is so overwhelmed
(Rapture) by what he sees,
that he wants to give the little child a royal cradle, finest fabric
and cover him with flowers (st. 10-12a) but awakes, comes to his senses: No the King
of kings, the Creator wants to be a mortal human being, carrying his
fate, atoning for his sins. (12b-14) Althoug unworthy, he prays: make my
body, my haert your manger, live in me forever (st. 15).
Listen to Christoph
Prégardien, Jaap ter Linden, Ton Koopman:
Full analysis: Elke Axmacher,
Text first published in 1653 in "Praxis Pietatis Melica"(Johann Crüger), tune: "Nun freut euch, lieben Christen gmein" (version II, 1529, better known from 'Es ist gewisslich an die Zeit'). Only in Schemelli's hymnbook (1734) the familiar tune is published (Bach?)
Original (moderne Transkription) 1653 Liederlexikon |
Traduction assemblée de 3 sourcers par Yves Kéler |
John Kelly: Paul Gerhardt’s Spiritual Songs (London, 1867) |
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1.
Ich steh an deiner Krippen hier,
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Devant ta crèche tu me vois, |
1. I stand before Thy manger fair, |
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2. Du hast mit deiner Lieb erfüllt
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2. Tu as rempli de ton amour |
2. With Thy great love beyond compare,
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3. Da ich noch nicht geboren war,
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3. Je n'étais pas encore né,
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3. When I as yet had not been born,
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4. Ich lag in tiefster Todesnacht,
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4. Perdu dans l'ombre de la mort,
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4. I lay still in death’s deepest night,
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5. Ich sehe dich mit Freuden an
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5. Je te contemple dans la joie : |
5. With rapture do I gaze on Thee,
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6. Vergönne mir, o Jesulein,
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6. Accorde-moi, Jésus enfant, |
6. Oh let me kiss that mouth of Thine,
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7. Wann oft mein Herz im Leibe weint
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7. Si mon coeur pleure de chagrin, |
7. When oft my heart within doth cry,
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8. Wer ist der Meister, der allhier
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8. Quel autre Maître que l’enfant |
8. Who is the master, where is he,
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9. Wo nehm ich Weisheit und Verstand,
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9. Je veux aussi, avec raison |
9. Oh, wisdom fails me utterly
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10. O daß doch so ein lieber Stern
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10. Oh ! qu’un astre aussi merveilleux |
10. Oh, that a star so passing fair
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11. Nehmt weg das Stroh, nehmt weg das Heu,
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11. Ôtez la paille, ôtez ce foin, |
11. Away with straw, away with hay,
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12. Zur Seiten will ich hie und dar
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12. Auprès de lui je veux placer |
12. And snow-white lilies here and there
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13. Du fragest nicht nach Lust der Welt,
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13. Les biens, les gloires d'ici-bas
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13. For this world’s pride Thou dost not care,
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14. Eins aber, hoff ich, wirst du mir,
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14. Jésus, jette un regard sur moi,
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14. One thing I bid Thee grant to me,
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15. Zwar sollt ich denken,
wie gering |
15. Vraiment, je songe combien mal |
15. ’Tis true, that I should think how poor
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