Words: , Odarum Sacrarum, Liber Posterior (Prague: 1612) (Rorando coeli defluant); translated from Latin to German by in Praxis Pietatis Melica, by , 1653 (Ihr Himmel tröpfelt Tau in Eil’) & from German to English by , Lyra Germanica, second series, 1858, page 3. Music: Von Himmel Hoch, from Geistliche Lieder, by Valentin Schumann (Leipzig, Germany: 1539); harmony by . |
Ye heav’ns, oh haste your dews to shed,
Ye clouds, rain gladness on our head,
Thou earth, behold the time of grace,
And blossom forth in righteousness!
O living Sun, with joy break forth,
And pierce the gloomy clefts of earth;
Behold, the mountains melt away
Like wax beneath Thine ardent ray!
O Life-dew of the Churches, come,
And bid this arid desert bloom!
The sorrows of Thy people see,
And take our human flesh on Thee.
Refresh the parched and drooping mind,
The broken limb in mercy bind,
Us sinners from our guilt release,
And fill us with Thy heavenly peace.
O wonder! night no more is night!
Comes then at last the longed-for light?
Ah yes, Thou shinest, O true Sun,
In whom are God and man made one!