I've been singing this hymn since I was a child, but it's only now that I've learned that this favourite of British harvest festivals was originally a German poem called Im Anfang war's auf Erden, which was published in 1782. The poem was written seven years previously, by Matthias Claudius (1740-1815), a journalist who also wrote and published poems. Claudius' father was a pastor, and he was brought up in the Lutheran church. As a young man, he rejected his faith, but in 1777, he suffered a severe illness, and realised that his life was spiritually empty. John Julian writes that "he once more became in faith as a little child." While he was ill, he occupied himself by writing some poems. In 1782, he was invited to a party, and asked to bring one of his poems to read aloud. Im Anfang war's auf Erden, based on Psalm 144, was the poem he chose. His poems were popular, because they were written in simple German, which appealed to ordinary people.
Claudius' original poem was in stanzas of four lines, with a chorus between each. It was published in volume 4 of Claudius' collected works, Asmus omnia sua secum portans; oder sämmtliche Werke des Wandsbecker Bothen (Asmus was Claudius' penname). It appears as part of a 'sketch' called Paul Erdmanns Fest, which describes a rural harvest festival attended by both gentlemen and farm workers. The poem Im Anfang war's auf Erden is a peasants' song, sung by the farm workers in the sketch, with the verses sung by a soloist, and all the farm workers joining in the chorus. These are the original words. After the first 13 verses, there's a bit of dialogue (in square brackets), which basically says, "My Lord, we've added something for today. May we sing that as, well?" with the reply, "Why not?" The last few verses are then praising God for his goodness to their host, Paul Erdmann.
the good seed on the land,
but it is fed and watered
by God's almighty hand:
he sends the snow in winter,
the warmth to swell the grain,
the breezes, and the sunshine,
and soft, refreshing rain.
are sent from heaven above;
then thank the Lord, O thank the Lord,
for all his love.
of all things near and far;
he paints the wayside flower,
he lights the evening star;
the winds and waves obey him,
by him the birds are fed;
much more to us, his children,
he gives our daily bread.
for all things bright and good,
the seed-time and the harvest,
our life, our health, our food.
Accept the gifts we offer
for all thy love imparts,
and, what thou most desirest,
our humble, thankful hearts.
St Martin's Methodist Church, Woolston
Griggs
John Julian
Wikipedia entries: Matthias Claudius, We plough the fields and scatter, and Wir pflügen und wir streuen
The LiederNet Archive for the original German words
The Conservative Woman
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