Herrens røst, som aldrig brister

Abstract

“Herrens røst, som aldrig brister” ( “The voice of the Lord, that never breaketh”).

By Anders Mailing.

The many-sided variety of Grundtvig’s output of hymns is largely due to the fact that he translated or rewrote hymns from many countries and many schools of thought, including some whose keynote was uncongenial to him, if only they contained some poetic or Christian elements which set his harpstrings sounding. This is the case with the hymn “Herrens røst, som aldrig brister” (“The voice of the Lord, that never breaketh”). The German original, “O, der alles hätt’ verlohren”, dating from about 1680, was first translated into Danish by an unknown translator and included in Pontoppidans hymnbook, thanks to the personal interest of the King , Christian VI, in it. But it is the somewhat later translation by H. A. Brorson in 1739, “Hvem der havde dog forloret” (“He who had lost . . . “ ), which forms the basis of Grundtvig’s version. Brorson kept the metre of the original, its subjunctive mode of presentation, and the longing of German mysticism for union with the Godhead. Grundtvig’s revised version, dating from 1851, retains some of Brorsons beautiful imagery and a good deal of his train of thought; but, in opposition to the mystical keynote of the hymns, he introduces a more personal conception of God, and assumes that the fundamental relationship between God and man can only be set right by the word og Christ through God’s grace. The note of longing in the hymn, which is retained by Grundtvig, thus comes to be directed towards a greater perfection in the following of Christ instead of towards the mystic union with the Godhead. Nevertheless he feels that he has not completely cleansed the hymn from the mystic conception of self-redemption, and therefore he subsequently replaces the concluding verse with another, in which he says that all is given to us in the name of Jesus. Although the hymn after this may rightly be regarded as Grundtvig’s own great and original work of art, still the attentive reader feels that there is an inner disharmony in it. Just as the yellow water from the Rhine and the blue water from the Moselle will not blend at once at Coblenz, but flow on, each on its own side of the river, so there are two streams in this hymn which will not unite properly. Grundtvig assumes that we are God’s children through God’s grace which is given to us in Christ, and with this background he preaches Christian self-renunciation in the hymn, and gives comport to those who are grieved that they are such poor followers of Christ. But the old mystical tone of the hymn, and the idea that by renunciation we can attain to union with the Godhead, can still be heard behind Grundtvig’s new words.