Hymns and Hymnwriters of Denmark
His morning hymns are among his best. He loved light and gloried in the birth of each new day. The sun is his favorite symbol. Its rising signifies to him the final triumph of life over death, and the new day is a token thereof. It sounds a joyful call to wake and resume life anew.
“Awake, my soul, the sun is risen,Upon my roof its rays now laugh, – ”Every Christian should rejoice in the newborn day and thank God for it:
Break now forth in Jesus’ name,Blessed morn, in all thy splendor!I will sweetest music renderAnd thy wondrous gifts proclaim.All my spirit with rejoicingThanks the Lord for rest and careAnd, His grace and goodness voicing,Wings its way to Him in prayer.But the commencing day also calls for consecration lest its hours be wasted and its opportunities lost:
Grant me, Lord, that on this dayNow with light and grace beginning,I shall not submit to sinningNor Thy word and way betray.Blessed Jesus, hover everOver me, my Sun and Shield,That I firm may stand and neverUnto sin and Satan yield.And the passing hours must admonish the Christian to work while it is day and to prepare for the evening that is coming:
Let each fleeting hour of graceAnd the chiming bells remind meThat to earth I must not bind meBut Thy life and gifts embrace.And when dawns my final morrow,Let me go to Thee for aye,Let my sin and care and sorrowWith my dust be put away.Finest of all Kingo’s morning hymns is the splendid “The Sun Arises Now in Light and Glory”. This hymn presents all the finest traits of Kingo’s poetry, its vivid imagery, forceful style and robust faith. The following translation is by the Rev. P. C. Paulsen.
The sun arises nowIn light and gloryAnd gilds the rugged browOf mountains hoary.Rejoice, my soul, and liftThy voice in singingTo God from earth below,Thy song with joy aglowAnd praises ringing.As countless as the sandAnd beyond measure,As wide as sea and landSo is the treasureOf grace which God each dayAnew bestowethAnd which, like pouring rain,Into my soul againEach morning floweth.Preserve my soul todayFrom sin and blindness;Surround me on my wayWith loving kindness.Embue my heart, O Lord,With joy from heaven;I then shall ask no moreThan what Thou hast of yoreIn wisdom given.Thou knowest best my needs,My sighs Thou heedest,Thy hand Thy children leads,Thine own Thou feedest.What should I more desire,With Thee decidingThe course that I must take,Than follow in the wakeWhere Thou art guiding.Evening naturally inspires a different sentiment than morning. The rising sun calls for activity, the setting sun for reflection. As the sun sets, as work ceases and the busy day merges into the quiet night the soul begins to take account of its gains and losses, its assets and liabilities. The dying day also conveys a sense of insecurity, of approaching death and the need for pardon and protection. All these sentiments, so different from the hopes and prospects of the morning, are wonderfully portrayed in Kingo’s evening hymns, as for instance:
Vanish now all sinful dreaming,Let the joy from heaven streamingOccupy my soul and mind.Watch, my spirit, and prepare thee,Lest the cunning foe ensnare theeWhen repose hath made thee blind.Sleep now in God’s care appeasing.While the noise of day is ceasing,Lean upon thy Savior’s breast.He will guard thee through the somberNight and make thy final slumberQuiet, peaceful, happy, blest.In the last line with its crescendo of peace and happiness one almost sees the night merge into the final rest.
Among his evening hymns now available in English, the following, perhaps, is the best known.
Softly now the day is ending,Night o’er hill and vale descending,I will kneel before Thee, Lord.Unto Thee my thanks I renderThat Thou didst in mercy tenderLife and peace to me accord.May Thy church Thy peace inherit,Guide our leaders by Thy spirit,Grant our country strength and peace.To the straying, sad and dreary,To each Christian faint or wearyGrant Thou solace and surcease.Keep me, Jesus, while I slumber!From my perils without number,Shield me, Master, in Thy might,That, released from sin and sorrow,I may sing this song tomorrow:Jesus was my Sun this night.The publication of these hymns firmly established Kingo’s reputation as the foremost poet of his country. Expressions of appreciation poured in upon him from high and low. The king, to whom the hymns were dedicated, so greatly appreciated the gift that, only three years later, he called their otherwise obscure author to become bishop of Fyn, one of the largest and most important dioceses of the country.
Kingo was only forty-two years old when he assumed his new position. His quick elevation from an obscure parish to one of the highest offices within the church might well have strained the abilities of an older and more experienced man. But there can be no doubt that he filled his high position with signal ability. He was both able and earnest, both practical and spiritual. His diocese prospered under his care and his work as a bishop, aside from his renown as a poet, was outstanding enough to give him an enviable reputation in his own generation.
But since his permanent fame and importance rest upon his achievement as a hymnwriter, his appointment as bishop probably must be counted as a loss, both to himself and to the church. His new responsibilities and the multifarious duties of his high office naturally left him less time for other pursuits. He traveled, visited and preached almost continuously throughout his large charge, and it appears like a miracle that under these circumstances, he still found time to write hymns. But in 1684, only two years after his consecration as bishop, he published the second part of Spiritual Song-Choir.
This book bears a dedication to the queen, Charlotte Amalia. She was German by birth and a pious, able and distinguished woman in her own right. Kingo praises her especially for her effort to learn and speak the Danish language. In this respect, he declares, “Her Majesty put many to shame who have eaten the king’s bread for thirty years without learning to speak thirty words of Danish, because they hold it to be a homespun language, too coarse for their silky tongues”.
Spiritual Song-Choir, Part II contains twenty hymns and seventeen “sighs”, thus outwardly following the arrangement of Part I. But the content is very different. The hymns are songs of penitence, repentance and faith. They show mastery of form, a wealth of imagery, a facility for concentrated expression and a range of sentiment from stark despair to the most confident trust that is, perhaps, unequalled in Danish poetry. It is an embattled soul that speaks through these hymns, a soul that has faced the abyss and clung heroically, but not always successfully, to the pinnacle of faith. One feels that the man who penned the following lines has not merely imagined the nearness of the pit but felt himself standing on the very brink of it.
Mountains of transgressions pressOn my evil burdened shoulders,Guilt bestrews my path with boulders,Sin pollutes both soul and flesh,Law and justice are proclaimingJudgment on my guilty head,Hell’s eternal fires are flaming,Filling all my soul with dread.Of an even darker mood is the great hymn: “Sorrow and Unhappiness”, with the searching verse:
Is there then no one that cares,Is there no redress for sorrow,Is there no relief to borrow,Is there no response to prayers,Is the fount of mercy closing,Is the soul to bondage sold,Is the Lord my plea opposing,Is His heart to sinners cold?The poet answers his questions in the following stanzas by assuring himself that the Sun of God’s grace can and will pierce even his “cloud of despair”, and that he must wait therefore in quietness and trust:
O my soul, be quiet then!Jesus will redress thy sadness,Jesus will restore thy gladness,Jesus will thy help remain.Jesus is thy solace everAnd thy hope in life and death;Jesus will thee soon deliver;Thou must cling to that blest faith.The uncertainty of life and its fortunes furnished a favored theme for many of his hymns, as for instance in the splendid —
Sorrow and gladness oft journey together,Trouble and happiness swift company keep;Luck and misfortune change like the weather;Sunshine and clouds quickly vary their sweep.which is, poetically at least, one of his finest compositions. The poet’s own career so far had been one of continuous and rather swift advancement. But there was, if not in his own outward fortune, then in the fortunes of other notables of his day, enough to remind him of the inconstancy of worldly honor and glory. Only a few months before the publication of his hymns, Leonora Christine Ulfeldt, the once beautiful, admired and talented daughter of Christian IV, had been released from twenty-two years of imprisonment in a bare and almost lightless prison-cell; Peder Griffenfeldt, a man who from humble antecedents swiftly had risen to become the most powerful man in the kingdom, had been stript even more swiftly of all his honors and thrown into a dismal prison on a rocky isle by the coast of Norway; and there were other and well known instances of swift changes in the fortunes of men in those days when they were subject not only to the ordinary vicissitudes of human existence but to the fickle humor of an absolute monarch. It is, therefore, as though Kingo at the height of his own fortune would remind himself of the quickness with which it might vanish, of the evanescense and vanity of all worldly glory. That idea is strikingly emphasized in the following famous hymn:
Vain world, fare thee well!I purpose no more in thy bondage to dwell;The burdens which thou hast enticed me to bear,I cast now aside with their troubles and care.I spurn thy allurements, which tempt and appall;’Tis vanity all!What merit and worthHath 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 graveI yearn for the solace from sorrows and harmOf Abraham’s arm!There shall all my yearsI bloom like the lily when summer appears;There day is not ruled by the course of the sunNor night by the silvery light of the moon;Lord Jesus shall shine as my sun every dayIn 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 strifeIs the measure of my life.But, O Jesus, I am crying:Help that faith, on Thee relying,Over sin and grief alwayShall 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 mayThe whole long dayFind no relief from sorrow,Yea, should the nightAfford no lightTo 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 for a few years. But the need for a new hymnal was too pressing to be permanently ignored. The king, therefore, appointed Søren Jonasson, a provost at the cathedral of Roskilde, to undertake the work. Jonasson was known as an excellent translator of German hymns, and the choice appeared reasonable. He worked fast and in less than two years was able to present a draft of his work. This contained a well balanced selection of the old hymns and about twenty new hymns by himself and various German authors, but not a single hymn by Kingo. The omission no doubt reflects the envy that the poet’s quick rise to fame had stirred up against him in certain influential circles. His enemies, however, had overshot their mark. Even the king realized that it would be impossible at this time to publish a hymnal that ignored the work of the country’s greatest hymnwriter. And so Jonasson’s work promptly shared the fate of his predecessor’s.
The troublesome problem now rested again for a few years until it was revived by the zealous efforts of the king’s chaplain, Peter Jespersen, a close friend of the Norwegian hymnwriter, Peter Dass and himself a native of the northern country.
A committee was appointed to prepare and publish a new hymnal “that should give due recognition” to the work of Kingo. Although it was not specifically directed to do so, the committee proved its good will toward the harshly treated poet by entering into correspondence with him and asking him to forward the material he already possessed, and to write the additional hymns that might be needed to complete the hymnal. With this request Kingo gladly complied, hoping that thus after all the greater part of his work would be put to use. In this, however, he was disappointed. When the hymnal finally appeared it contained 297 hymns of which only 85 were by Kingo. This represented, it is true, a great change from Jonasson’s proposal, but when it is remembered that the first half of the work, proposed by himself, contained 136 of his own hymns, and that he had written an additional number by the request of the committee, it will be seen that even now less than half of his hymns found a place in the hymnal.
Aside from this deplorable loss, it must be conceded that the committee had done an excellent work and that its hymnal was much better suited for general use than Kingo’s proposed hymnal would have been. The committee also had shown its fairness toward Kingo by commissioning him to print the hymnal and to enjoy exclusive rights of its distribution for ten years, so that he might recoup some of the losses he had sustained by the rejection of his own book. He repaid the favor by turning out a most excellent piece of work; and the book, both in content and appearance undoubtedly rated as the finest hymnal the Danish church had so far produced. It served the church for more than a hundred years, and was always known as “Kingo’s Hymnal”, for, after all, his great hymns were what gave it permanent value.
Chapter Six
Kingo’s Church Hymns
Kingo’s church hymns naturally differ from his spiritual songs. They are more objective in form and less fiery in spirit. Most of them follow their themes quite closely, reproducing in many instances even the words of their text. Kingo is too vital, however, to confine himself wholly to an objective presentation. Usually the last stanzas of his hymns are devoted to a brief and often striking application of their text. He possessed to a singular degree the ability to express a thought tersely, as for instance in the following stanza, the last of a hymn on the baptism of the Lord:
Our Lord is then our brotherIn whom we may confide,The Church of God our mother,The Holy Ghost our guide;Our blest baptismal dowerThe bands of hell has rivenAnd opened us God’s heaven,This is our faith each hour.The hymns may be classed under four headings: Festival Hymns, Sacramental Hymns, Historical Hymns and Hymns on the Gospels and Epistles.
With the exception of his Easter anthem, his festival hymns cannot compare with those of later authors. Some of his Pentecost hymns, such as the hymns given below, are, however, still favorites.
The day of Pentecost draws nigh;Come, Holy Spirit from on high,Who with the Father and the SonIs God eternal, three in one.O God triune, Thy grace impartInto my carnal, sinful heart,That it a temple blest may bePrepared and set aside for Thee.Come, Holy Ghost, and witness bearThat I the life of Christ do share,And that I know no other nameTo save my soul from guilt and shame.O Counselor of truth and light,Teach me to know my Lord aright,That from the way of faith I mayNot even for a moment stray.Blest Spirit of my God and Lord,Preserve me in Thy way and word,Imbue me with Thy life and breath,Console me in the hour of death.Kingo frequently is referred to as “the Easter Singer of Denmark”. His claim to this title rests mainly on one song. Easter with its story of triumphant victory appealed especially to him; and he wrote several excellent hymns on the theme, but they are all overshadowed by the splendid anthem presented below.
Like the golden sun ascendingIn the darkly clouded skyAnd on earth its glory spendingUntil clouds and darkness fly,So my Jesus from the grave,From death’s dark, abysmal cave,Rose triumphant Easter morning,Brighter than the sun returning.Thanks, O thanks, to Thee arisenLord and God Immanuel,That the foe could not imprisonThee within his hell-dark cell.Thanks that Thou didst meet our foeAnd his kingdom overthrow.Jubilant my spirit raisesNew Thy never ending praises.Sin and death and every arrowSatan hence may point at meFall now broken at the narrowTomb that saw Thy victory;There Thou didst them all destroyGiving me the cup of joyThat Thou glorious resurrectionWrought my pardon and protection.Thou wilt hence to life awake meBy Thy resurrection power;Death may wound and overtake me,Worms my flesh and bones devour,But I face the threat of deathWith the sure and joyful faithThat its fearful reign was endedWhen Thy might its portal rended.Blessed Jesus, let the SpiritSo imbue my heart with graceThat I walk by Thy blest meritAnd no more the way retraceTo the vile and miry pitWhere I lay condemned, unfit,Till redeemed to life victoriousBy Thy resurrection glorious.In this rugged hymn Kingo is at his best – fiery, vital, a master of imagery and graphic expression.
His hymns on the sacraments faithfully reflect the doctrines of the Lutheran Church. Here he most clearly shows his ability to present objective truths in a devotional spirit. We meet in these a Christian who humbly and prayerfully accepts the whole mystery of God. For centuries these rugged songs have served to express the sentiments of millions as they met at the baptismal font or knelt before the altar. The following is one of the most favored baptismal hymns both in the Danish and Norwegian churches:
Whoso believes and is baptized[3]God’s kingdom shall inherit,For he is cleansed by Jesus ChristWho, by His grace and merit,Adopts him as His child and heir,Grants him in heaven’s bliss to shareAnd seals him with His Spirit.We ask with earnest faith of Thee,Our Lord and blest Defender,That Thou wilt guide us constantlyAnd, in Thy mercy tender,Keep us in our baptismal graceUntil at last we take our placeWith Thee ’midst heaven’s splendor.Kingo’s communion hymns have to a large extent been superseded by later hymns of Grundtvig and others. But some of them are still in common use. The following characteristic hymn is frequently used before the communion.
Lord Jesus Christ receive me nowAs with a heart contrite I bowBefore Thine altar, blessed Lamb,Who bore my sorrow, sin and shame.I am today my Saviour’s guest.Bethink, my soul, the honor blest,That He, Thy Lord, will sup with theeAnd will Himself Thy nurture be.He offers to thee with the breadHis body riven for thy aid,And with the wine His precious blood,The price of thy eternal good.How this can be, I cannot tell;He did not on the mystery dwell;No mind the secret can perceive,It is enough that I believe.Rejoice, then, O my soul todayThat God’s appointed servant mayNow offer thee the gift so freeThrough which thy Lord unites with thee.O Lord, I offer Thee my soulTo nourish, strengthen and make whole.Uphold me by Thy means of graceUntil I see Thee face to face.The short hymn given below is a favorite after the communion in numerous Danish and Norwegian churches.