Jesus lives! Your terrors now

Not for the first or last time, the partnership of a German original, an English translation and a distinctive tune has combined to give the church a classic hymn for a major event. It began life in 1757, with the saintly Christian F Gellert’s ‘Easter Hymn’ Jesus lebt! mit ihm auch ich, published in his Leipzig collection Geistliche Oden und Lieder—though this also echoed the Electress Luise Henriette’s Jesus meine Zuversicht from a century earlier. From its inclusion in a 1765 Gesangbuch from Berlin, it became established in countless other hymnals. The Australian Presbyterian John Dunmore Lang provided an English translation in 1826 for Aurora Australis; this appeared in several books, but was eventually overtaken in popularity by Frances Elizabeth Cox’s version, first published in Sacred Hymns from the German, 1841. There it was in 6-line stzs beginning Jesus lives! No longer now, headed ‘Hymn for Easter Day. He that raised up Christ from the dead, shall also quicken your mortal bodies. Romans 8:11’. Each stz ended, following the original, with ‘This shall be my confidence’, until the last one, ‘Lord, thou art my confidence’. The writer revised her own text in 1864, and others have followed her example.

This remains the best-known of Frances Cox’s hymns. But the decisive change to its present shape was made by Gilbert Rorison in 1851, a mere decade after her version. His Hymns and Anthems adjusted to the Church Services throughout the Christian Year omitted lines 5 and 6 of each stz and added ‘Hallelujah’ to each. With further adjustments and changes of order (some made by F H Murray in 1852) the hymn became part of A&M from its beginning in 1861. The now generally-adopted first line (with ‘thy’) first appeared in the 1855 Plymouth Collection, and was taken up by Church Hymns in 1871. Wesley Milgate writes, ‘At this point Miss Cox is said to have approved these changes … her opinion of other alterations is not recorded.’ The most generally accepted change has been from the singular throughout (‘by this I know’ etc) to the plural. In the 20th c Honor Mary Thwaites and others added to the variations; the text used here is from HTC, conservatively revised from widely published versions. Stz 2 retains its echo of the Prayer Book collect for ‘Easter Even’: ‘… that, through the grave, and gate of death, we may pass to our joyful resurrection; for his merits …’ The only newly-structured lines come in stz 4.

The now almost universal ST ALBINUS has always been an Easter tune. But it was composed by Henry J Gauntlett for a different (but also translated) hymn, Angels to our Jubilee, appearing with it in the 1852 Church Hymn and Tune Book. Its attachment to Frances Cox’s text is one of the many such enduring partnerships established by the 1861 A&M. Curiously, the composer wrote another tune for these words, published in 1858, which has never become popular. ‘Albinus’ is a Lat form of the name Alcuin (English ‘Ealhwine’), the 8th-c scholar; see also 693, note. Cyril Taylor composed MOWSLEY for this hymn, a tune first appearing in 1951.

b Oxford 1812, d Iffley, nr Oxford 1897. She seems to have spent her life in or around Oxford, but in view of her literary achievements it is tantalising to know so little of her education and development and her other interests and activities. Guided by Baron CCJ Bunsen, Prussian Ambassador from 1841 to 1854 and a friend of the Winkworths (qv), she became an outstanding translator into English verse of German hymns, worthy to stand with Catherine Winkworth and John Wesley. Her work has ‘…so much ease and grace, that the fact of translation is hardly apparent’—Champneys Irwine. Her original hymns, first featured in various magazines, did not prove so successful. In 1841, before the work of Massie, Borthwick and Winkworth, she published Sacred Hymns from the German (49 translations with the original texts and notes), which greatly raised the profile of German hymns generally, and Hymns from the German in 1864. The 2nd book included 27 from the 1st, some in revised form, and 29 new translations. Songs of Praise (1931) includes 3 of her versions. The Easter hymn (from F Gellert) for which she is best known in the UK is not so well known in the USA as her translation from Schütz. Nos.261, 465.

b Hainichen, Saxony 1715, d Leipzig 1769. Raised in a rural Lutheran parsonage, he studied theology at Meissen and (from 1734) at Leipzig, and after graduation assisted his father in pastoral work. But not having a good memory or bold delivery he used to read his sermons; since that was not the custom in those churches at that time, he was compelled to resign and in 1738 took up private tuition. In 1741 he returned to Leipzig for both teaching and further study in the faculty of Belles Lettres. 10 years later he became Prof of Philosophy, also lecturing on poetry and rhetoric. Among his later pupils were the teenage Goethe and slightly older G E Lessing. A popular lecturer, he rarely enjoyed full health but won widespread affection for his faith and godliness, being reduced to near-poverty through his constant giving to others in need. He wrote Tales and Fables for a popular magazine; also comedies and Consolations for Valetudinarians. Inheriting a poetic gift from his father, he also published 3 vols of verse, including some hymns (in 1757) which for German-speakers became classics, and one which achieved this status through its English translation. He was known to pray particularly before starting to write. No.465.