Hymns and Hymnwriters of Denmark. Aaberg Jens Christian

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ all that the world puts so temptingly forth!

      It is naught but bubbles and tinctured glass,

      Loud clamoring cymbals and shrill sounding brass.

      What are their seductions which lure and enthrall;

      ’Tis vanity all!

      O honor and gold,

      Vain idols which many with worship behold!

      False are your affluence, your pleasure and fame;

      Your wages are envy, deception and shame,

      Your garlands soon wither, your kingdom shall fall;

      ’Tis vanity all!

      O carnal desire,

      Thou tempting, consuming and treacherous fire,

      That catches like tinder and scorches like flame,

      Consigning the victim to sorrow and shame,

      Thy honeyest potion is wormwood and gall;

      ’Tis vanity all!

      Then, fare thee farewell,

      Vain world, with thy tempting and glamorous spell!

      Thy wiles shall no longer my spirit enslave,

      Thy splendor and joy are designed for the grave

      I yearn for the solace from sorrows and harm

      Of Abraham’s arm!

      There shall all my years

      I bloom like the lily when summer appears;

      There day is not ruled by the course of the sun

      Nor night by the silvery light of the moon;

      Lord Jesus shall shine as my sun every day

      In heaven for aye.

      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:

      Ever trouble walks beside me,[2]

      Ever God with grace provides me,

      Ever have I fear and grief,

      Ever Jesus brings relief.

      Ever sin my heart accuses,

      Ever Jesus help induces,

      Ever am I weighed with care,

      Ever full of praise and prayer.

      So is joy by grief attended,

      Fortune with misfortune blended;

      Blessings mixed with grief and strife

      Is the measure of my life.

      But, O Jesus, I am crying:

      Help that faith, on Thee relying,

      Over sin and grief alway

      Shall prevail and gain the day.

      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 millions because they are both so spiritual and so human. How expressive of human need and Christian trust are not the following brief lines:

      Lord, though I may

      The whole long day

      Find no relief from sorrow,

      Yea, should the night

      Afford no light

      To ease my plight —

      Thou comest on the morrow.

       Chapter Five

      Kingo’s Psalmbook

      After the publication of Spiritual Song-Choir II, 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.

      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.

      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.

      Kingo would undoubtedly have saved himself a great deal of 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.

      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.

      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.

      The work was now held in abeyance СКАЧАТЬ