The extreme lyrical quality and highly involved and irregular metre of many of

Ingemann’s hymns make them extremely difficult to translate, and their English

translations fail on the whole to do justice. The translation given below is perhaps one of the best. It is the work of the Rev. P. C. Paulsen.

As wide as the skies is Thy mercy, O God;

Thy faithfulness shieldeth creation.

Thy bounteous hand from the mountains abroad

Is stretched over country and nation.

Like heaven’s embrace is Thy mercy, O Lord;

In judgment profound Thou appearest.

Thou savest our souls through Thy life-giving word,

The cries of Thy children Thou hearest.

How precious Thy goodness, O Father above,

Where children of men are abiding.

Thou spreadest through darkness the wings of Thy love;

We under their pinions are hiding.

For languishing souls Thou preparest a rest;

The quivering dove Thou protectest;

Thou givest us being, eternal and blest,

In mercy our life Thou perfectest.

The following hymn is also quite popular.

The sun is rising in the east,

It gilds the heavens wide,

And scatters light on mountain crest,

On shore and countryside.

It rises from the valley bright,

Where Paradise once lay,

And bringeth life, and joy and light

To all upon its way.

It greets us from the land afar

Where man with grace was crowned,

And from that wondrous Morning Star,

Which Eastern sages found.

The starry host bow down before

The sun that passes them;

It seems so like that star of yore

Which shone on Bethlehem.

Thou Sun of Suns, from heaven come,

In Thee our praises rise

For every message from Thy home

And from Thy Paradise.

The most beloved of all Ingemann’s hymns is his splendid “Pilgrim Song.”

Dejlig er Jorden,

Prægtig er Guds Himmel,

Skøn er Sjælenes Pilgrimsgang.

Gennem de fagre

Riger paa Jorden

Gaa vi til Paradis med Sang.

This hymn is written to the tune of “Beautiful Savior” which Ingemann, in common with many others, accepted as a marching tune from the period of the

crusades. Although this historic origin has now been disproved, the tune united

with Ingemann’s text undoubtedly will remain the most beloved pilgrim song among the Danish and Norwegian peoples. Though fully aware of the