I love her, the maid
She is dear to me, the dear maid is a hymn by Martin Luther . It appeared in print for the first time in 1535 in Klug's hymn book , making it one of Luther's later songs. The heading is A Song of the Holy Christian Church, from the 12th chapter of Revelation. Joh.
Form and content
The song has three stanzas, which follow an unusually artistic verse and rhyme scheme, its song is formally influenced by the late medieval love poetry of the so-called court songs. In terms of content, it traces the vision of the Apocalyptic Woman from the 12th chapter of the Revelation of John ( Rev 12 EU ). The second and third stanzas, closely following the biblical text, describe the image of the woman in the star wreath, the birth of her child, the rebellion of the dragon, the rapture of the child to God's throne and the preservation of women on earth. The first stanza is remarkable. It is a declaration of love to the valued maid and a commitment to her helping loyalty.
interpretation
Luther's poetry presents the same difficulty in interpretation as the biblical text on which it is based. Who is the dear maid , the woman clothed with the sun ? Do you mean Maria ? Or is it an image for the church ? Luther's song takes up some of the motifs of late medieval Marian poetry. However, its heading clearly points in the other direction. In the second phase of the Reformation , when acceptance of his doctrine of justification by the general church was ruled out and the Protestant church began to be constituted, the nature and characteristics of the church became more and more an issue for Luther. In contrast to the supposedly triumphalistic self-understanding of the papal church on the one hand and now also to an enthusiasm that rejects everything institutional on the other hand, Luther uses the biblical image to formulate a view of the church that looks together at beauty and the cross and the church in its essential intermediate position between world time and perfection as indispensable for the Understanding helps believers.
Aftermath
Luther's song was rarely received by evangelical piety and can only be found in a few hymn books (e.g. in the Lutheran church hymn book of the Evangelical Lutheran Free Church, Berlin 1988). Linguistically and formally, however, it can compete with its best creations. Marcel Reich-Ranicki included it in his canon of German-language works worth reading .
text
She is dear to me, the valued maid
and cannot forget her,
praise, honor and discipline from her, it is said that
she possessed my heart.
I am fond of her,
and if I am to suffer
great misfortune,
that is not the case;
she wants to delight me
with her love and loyalty to me,
which she wants to put to me
and do all my desire.
She wears a crown so pure of gold that
twelve stars shine inside,
her dress is like the sun already, it
shines bright and distant;
and on the mon
their feet groan;
she is the bride
trusted in the Lord.
She is hurt and must give birth to
a beautiful child, a noble son
and a master to
whom she is submissive.
This is angry with the old dragon
and wants to devour the child,
his raging is completely lost,
he cannot succeed.
The child is
taken up to
heaven
and makes him angry
almost very much on earth.
The mother has to be alone;
yet God wants to keep her
and be the right Father.
literature
- Wilhelm Lucke: I love her, the dear maid. In: D. Martin Luther's works. Critical complete edition. Volume 35, Weimar 1923, pp. 254-257 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
- Kurt Aland : Luther German. 2nd edition 1966, Volume 6, 284 f. and 361.
- Markus Jenny: Luther's sacred songs and church chants. Complete new edition in addition to volume 35 of the Weimar edition, AWA 4, Cologne / Vienna 1985, pp. 111–113 u. Pp. 292-294.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ hoflied. In: Jacob Grimm , Wilhelm Grimm (Hrsg.): German dictionary . tape 10 : H, I, J - (IV, 2nd division). S. Hirzel, Leipzig 1877, Sp. 1691 ( woerterbuchnetz.de ).