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Christ the Comforter

Representative Text

1 Long hast thou wept and sorrowed,
Poor mourner, dry thy tears;
Behold, with light and comfort,
The Lord Himself appears.

2 "Trust in My mercy ever,
My people!" saith the Lord.
Hold fast, in deepest sorrow,
That soul-sustaining Word.

3 Then rest, sad heart, in patience,
With this petition still,
"Lord, all these vacant places
With Thine own fullness fill!"

Amen.

Source: The Hymnal and Order of Service #183

Author: Meta Heusser-Schweitzer

Heusser-Schweizer, Meta, daughter of Diethelm Schweizer, pastor of the Reformed Church at Hirzel near Zurich, was born at Hirzel, April 6, 1797, and was married in 1821, to Johann Jakob Heusser, a physician at Hirzel. Dr. Heusser died at Hirzel in 1859, and his widow continued to reside there till her death on January 2, 1876 (Koch, vii. 377-381; Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie, xii. 339, 340). She was of a true poetic genius, and may fairly be regarded as the most important of modern German female sacred poets. The Holy Scriptures and the mountain scenery of her lonely home were the chief sources of her poetic inspiration. She was trained in the school of affliction, and her poems breathe the spirit of deep and sincere piety and childlike… Go to person page >

Translator: Jane Borthwick

Miss Jane Borthwick, the translator of this hymn and many others, is of Scottish family. Her sister (Mrs. Eric Findlater) and herself edited "Hymns from the Land of Luther" (1854). She also wrote "Thoughts for Thoughtful Hours (1859), and has contributed numerous poetical pieces to the "Family Treasury," under the signature "H.L.L." --Annotations of the Hymnal, Charles Hutchins, M.A. 1872.… Go to person page >

Text Information

First Line: Long hast thou wept and sorrowed
Title: Christ the Comforter
German Title: Herz, du hast viel geweinet
Author: Meta Heusser-Schweitzer
Translator: Jane Borthwick
Language: English
Copyright: Public Domain

Tune

CHRISTUS, DER IST MEIN LEBEN (Vulpius)

Melchior Vulpius (PHH 397) composed this short chorale tune, published as a setting for the anonymous funeral hymn "Christus, der ist mein Leben" ("For Me to Live Is Jesus") in Vulpius's Ein Schön Geistlich Gesangbuch (1609). Johann S. Bach (PHH 7) based his Cantata 95 on this tune and provided two…

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[Long hast thou wept and sorrowed]


Timeline

Media

The Cyber Hymnal #3903
  • Adobe Acrobat image (PDF)
  • Noteworthy Composer score (NWC)
  • XML score (XML)

Instances

Instances (1 - 2 of 2)
Audio

Small Church Music #6893

TextScoreAudio

The Cyber Hymnal #3903

Include 7 pre-1979 instances
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