1 Ah, this heart is void and chill,
'Mid earth's noisy thronging;
For the Father's mansions still
Earnestly is longing.
2 O to be at home, and gain
All for which we're sighing;
From all earthly want and pain
To be swiftly flying!
3 With this load of sin and care
Then no longer bending,
But with waiting angels there
On our Lord attending!
4 Ah, how blessed, blessed they
Who have rightly striven,
And rejoin eternally
With their Lord in heaven!
Source: Church Book: for the use of Evangelical Lutheran congregations #455
First Line: | Ah this heart is void and chill |
German Title: | Ach, uns wird das Herz so leer |
Author: | Karl Johann Philipp Spitta (c. 1828) |
Translator: | Jane Borthwick (1853) |
Language: | English |
Refrain First Line: | Looking home |
Copyright: | Public Domain |
Ach, uns wird das Herz so leer . C. J. P. Spitta. [Longing for Heaven .] First published in the First Series, 1833, of his Psalter und Harfe , p. 134, in 6 stanzas of 4 lines, entitled "Homesickness." Translated as:—
Ah! this heart is void and chill. A good translation, omitting stanza v., by Mrs. Findlater in the 2nd Ser., 1855, of the Hymns from the Land of Luther (ed. 1862, p. 110, 1884, p. 86). Included, slightly altered, and omitting stanza ii., as No. 455, in the Pennsylvania Lutheran Church Book, 1868. In W. B. Bradbury's Golden Shower , N. Y. 1860 (ed. 1870, p. 158) the translations of stanzas ii., vi., are rewritten, and a chorus added. Stanzas i., ii., iv. of this form, with the chorus, were included as No. 1279, in Robinson's Songs for the Sanctuary , 1865, and, as No. 1048, in the Baptist Praise Book. 1871. [Rev. James Mearns, M. A.]
--Excerpt from John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)