The day expires

Representative Text

The day expires;
My soul desires
And pants to see that day,
When the vexing cares of earth
Shall be done away.

The night is here;
Oh! be Thou near,
Christ, make it light within;
Drive away from out my heart
All the night of sin.

The sunbeams pale,
And flee and fail;
O uncreated Sun!
Let Thy light now shine on us,
Then our joy were won.

All things that move
Below, above,
Now with sleep are blest,
Work Thou still in me, while I
Calmly in Thee rest.

When shall the sway
Of night and day
Cease to rule man thus?
When that brightest day of days
Once shall dawn on us.

Ah! never then
Her light again
Jerusalem shall miss,
For the Lamb shall be her Light,
Filling her with bliss.

Oh were I there!
Where all the air
With lovely sounds is ringing;
Where the saints Thee, Holy Lord,
Evermore are singing!

Lord Jesus, Thou
My rest art now,
Oh help me that I come,
Radient with Thy light to shine
In Thy glorious home!

Source: Lyra Germanica: The Christian Year #92

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Author: Johann Anastasius Freylinghausen

Freylinghausen, Johann Anastasius, son of Dietrich Freylinghausen, merchant and burgomaster at Gandersheim, Brunswick, was born at Gandersheim, Dec. 2, 1670. He entered the University of Jena at Easter, 1689. Attracted by the preaching of A. H. Francke and J. J. Breithaupt, he removed to Erfurt in 1691, and at Easter, 1692, followed them to Halle. About the end of 1693 he returned to Gandersheim, and employed himself as a private tutor. In 1695 he went to Glaucha as assistant to Francke; and when Francke became pastor of St. Ulrich's, in Halle,1715, Freylinghausen became his colleague, and in the same year married his only daughter. In 1723 he became also sub-director of the Paedagogium and the Orphanage; and after Francke's death in 1727,… Go to person page >

Translator: Catherine Winkworth

Catherine Winkworth (b. Holborn, London, England, 1827; d. Monnetier, Savoy, France, 1878) is well known for her English translations of German hymns; her translations were polished and yet remained close to the original. Educated initially by her mother, she lived with relatives in Dresden, Germany, in 1845, where she acquired her knowledge of German and interest in German hymnody. After residing near Manchester until 1862, she moved to Clifton, near Bristol. A pioneer in promoting women's rights, Winkworth put much of her energy into the encouragement of higher education for women. She translated a large number of German hymn texts from hymnals owned by a friend, Baron Bunsen. Though often altered, these translations continue to be used i… Go to person page >

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Text Information

Text Information

First Line:	The day expires
German Title:	Der Tag ist hin mein Geist und
Author:	Johann Anastasius Freylinghausen (1704)
Translator:	Catherine Winkworth (1855)
Language:	English
Copyright:	Public Domain

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Notes

Der Tag ist hin, Mein Geist und Sinn. J. A. Freylinqhausen. [Evening.] A fine hymn of longing for the Everlasting Light of that better country where there is no night. First published as No. 615 in his Geistreiches Gesang-Buch, 1704, in 14 stanzas of 5 lines, and thence in Grote's edition, 1855, of his Geistliche Lieder, p. 102. It has passed into many German hymn-books, and is included as No. 1547 in the Berlin Geistliche Lieder, edition 1863.
Translations in common use: --

i. The day expires; My soul desires, omitting stanzas iv., v., vii.-ix., xi., by Miss Winkworth, in her Lyra Germanica, 1st Series, 1855, p. 228. Her trs, of stanza i.-iii., xii., are included in theSt. John's Hymnal, Aberdeen, 1870, No. 200. She recast her translation as No. 168 for her Chorale Book for England, 1863, where it begins "The day is done, And, left alone."

--Excerpts from John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

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