Dearest of Jesus, what have you done wrong?

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Dearest of Jesus, what have you done wrong in practice Pietatis Melica (1660)

Dearest of Jesus, what have you done wrong is the headline of one of the most famous spiritual poems of the Baroque era . It comes from Johann Heermann and was published in 1630.

shape

The poem comprises fifteen stanzas with three eleven-syllable and one five-syllable lines based on the example of the Sapphic stanza, which is often imitated in German humanism and baroque .

content

In the first edition of the text, the heading was added: "Cause of the bitter suffering of Jesus Christ and consolation from his love and grace: from Augustine". The reference to Augustine refers to the Latin model on which Heermann's poem is based, the 7th chapter of Meditationes Divi Augustini . This soteriology in prayer form was highly valued by Catholic and Protestant theologians in the late Middle Ages and early modern times. Its attribution to Augustine is, however, secondary; modern textual criticism suspected Anselm von Canterbury or Bernhard von Clairvaux , recently Johannes von Fécamp as the author.

Like the template, Heermann's text is a reflection and interpretation of the Passion of Christ. The ego , which represents the human being ( homo ) in the original , becomes the lyrical I , which turns directly to Jesus with great emotion and humility.

The first stanza uses rhetorical questions to point out the innocence of Jesus, despite whom he was condemned. In the third stanza the lyric self asks about the cause of such plagues and finds it in its own sins . This self-accusation is followed by an examination of the miracle of divine forgiveness of sins through the vicarious death of Christ - the wonderful exchange , verse 5 - as well as the search for an appropriate answer to it ("How can I reimburse you for your acts of love in the work?", Verse 9 ). In the thirteenth stanza the lyrical ego promises to risk everything for Jesus. The final stanza contains a vision of the hereafter and implicitly indicates the resurrection of Christ and the believers to eternal life.

Melody and reception

Beginning of Bach's chorale movement

The poem was set to music by Johann Crüger in 1640 . He developed his melody from a singing style that Guillaume Franc had composed in 1543 for the 23rd Psalm of the Geneva Psalter . Herzliebster Jesu became one of the most famous German hymns with Crüger's melody. In the Evangelical Hymnal (No. 81) there is an eleven-verse version (without the original verses 6, 10, 12 and 14; verse 11 after 13 as the penultimate), the Catholic Praise to God (No. 290) contains the first four stanzas. The Mennonite Hymnal (No. 284) contains a nine-trophic version.

Johann Sebastian Bach used stanzas 1, 2, 4 and 6 (7) in the St. Matthew Passion (BWV 244), which means that the poem is now known to a broader musical audience. Instead of Crüger's Allabreve rhythm with alternation of half and quarter notes, Bach's melody version is balanced to four-quarter time and supplemented with passage tones.

There are several English translations, including one by Catherine Winkworth from 1863.

literature

Web links

Commons : Dearest of Jesus, what have you done wrong  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ cf. the hymns Praise the Lords all who honor him by Paul Gerhardt and Praise the Lord and thank him for his gifts from Bartholomäus Ringwaldt
  2. ↑ Kurzke p. 216
  3. ↑ Text of Meditationes
  4. ↑ Information on Heinrich Schütz's composition of the text
  5. ↑ Author's statement in the Evangelical Hymnal; see. Psalm 23 in the Geneva Psalter .