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!