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
impossibility of translating this tenderly beautiful song so that it is acceptable to those who know the original, the author presents the following translation in the hope that it may interest those who cannot read the original.
Fair is creation, [12]
Fairer God’s heaven,
Blest is the marching pilgrim throng.
Onward through lovely
Regions of beauty
Go we to Paradise with song.
Ages are coming,
Ages are passing
Nations arise and disappear.
Never the joyful
Message from heaven
Wanes through the soul’s brief sojourn here.
Angels proclaimed it
Once to the shepherds,
Henceforth from soul to soul it passed:
Unto all people
Peace and rejoicing,
Us is a Savior born at last.
Of other hymns by Ingemann, which are now available in English, we may mention “Jesus, My Savior, My Shepherd Blest,” “The Country Lies in Deep Repose” and “I Live and I Know the Span of My Years.”
