Schmücke Dich, o liebe Seele (or, The enduring legacy of Lutheran Book of Worship)
Rev. Charles McClean recently pointed out to me that the version of Soul, Adorn Yourself with Gladness which appears in Lutheran Service Book (#636) has some disconcerting anomalies. LSB’s stanzas 5 and 6 are simply two different translations of Johann Franck’s original stanza 7 – the first is from the paraphrase in Lutheran Book of Worship (#224, stanza 4), and the second is Catherine Winkworth’s translation. LSB has simply followed Lutheran Worship (#239, stanzas 4 and 5) in this regard. What this means is that something has been omitted, and in this case, some great treasures are being lost.*
Try this exercise: open up LW #239. See all that nice room at the bottom of the page, beneath stanzas 5-6? Why is that left blank? I have a hard time concluding it is for aesthetic purposes alone. What is missing was determined to be unnecessary, or worse. Now open LSB #636. There’s some room at the bottom of the page after stanzas 6 and 8, but probably not enough for the two missing stanzas. However, had they dropped stanza 5, they could have restored some of what’s missing. Now, open up The Lutheran Hymnal #305, and let’s connect the dots:
TLH stanzas 1-3 track with LSB stanzas 1-3. TLH stz. 6 is LSB stz. 4, although altered in some significant ways (see below). TLH stanza 7, as mentioned above, is both stanzas 5 and 6 in LSB. TLH stanzas 8-9 correspond to LSB stanzas 7-8.
Result: stanzas 4 and 5 are missing. Here they are in Winkworth’s translation, appearing in altered form in TLH:
Ah, how hungers all my spirit For the love I do not merit! Oft have I, with sighs fast thronging, Thought upon this food with longing, In the battle well-nigh worsted, For this cup of life have thirsted, For the Friend who here invites us And to God Himself unites us. In my heart I find ascending Holy awe, with rapture blending, As this mystery I ponder, Filling all my soul with wonder, Bearing witness at this hour Of the greatness of God’s power; Far beyond all human telling Is the power within Him dwelling.The net result is a gradual weakening of our sacramental piety as reflected in our hymn books. LSB is an improvement, but remains impoverished by comparison with TLH, at least in this hymn. But now, compare TLH stanza 6 with LSB stanza 4 (which still retains the version found in LBW):
TLH // LBW-LW-LSB Human reason, though it ponder // Now in faith I humbly ponder Cannot fathom this great wonder // Over this surpassing wonder That Christ’s body e’er remaineth // That the bread of life is boundless Though it countless souls sustaineth // Though the souls it feeds are countless And that He His blood is giving // With the choicest wine of heaven With the wine we are receiving. // Christ’s own blood to us is given. These great mysteries unsounded // Oh, most glorious consolation, Are by God alone expounded. // Pledge and seal of my salvation!My exceedingly brief review of the German indicates that, on the main, the Winkworth translation is more accurate than LBW. There’s certainly nothing I cannot sing in the LBW/LW/LSB version. However, the TLH version more strongly emphasizes that the Sacrament is beyond human reason. The conclusion of the stanza drives this home, that only God can make it known. The German has the Holy Spirit signifying this heavenly mystery: O der grossen Heimlichkeiten, Die nur Gottes Geist kann deuten!
I remain happy with Lutheran Service Book. It is a great gift to the church. But in certain areas, such as this great Lord’s Supper hymn, there is still room for improvement.
*Lutheran Worship: Hymnal Companion explains:
The first four stanzas [in LW 239] were prepared by the Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship for inclusion in Lutheran Book of Worship (1978). Although stanza 4 in that hymnal, intended as the final stanza, included some thoughts from Franck’s subsequent German stanzas, the Commission on Worship decided to add stanzas 7 and 9 from The Lutheran Hymnal (1941). Hence it requested Jaroslav Vadja to revise and update them. This accounts for the repetition of the German stanza 4 as parallel to the English stanzas 4 and 5.
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Perhaps a group collaboration project could be started to transcribe the original German verses and stanzas into a group wiki? It might even be possible to begin transcribing old verses and hymns in a format that traces the development throughout the various hymnals, beginning with the original.
It sounds like a great idea. Technically speaking, though, you lost me at "group wiki."
Basically it'd be a website in the same format and look as Wikipedia. That's what a wiki is–simply any kind of group-edited database that can be changed, added on to, or rolled back. Or, if necessary, it could be modified to be added onto only by a certain number of contributors. Wiki software is made to be aimed at people with a low learning curve, and hopefully no scripting or programming knowledge needed. All that would be needed is a group of good Lutherans with knowledge of German and access to Lutheran archival documents.
I'd say as well that the poetry of the TLH version is superior to the later versions.
Interesting investigation and great work!