Geht nun hin und grabt mein Grab

[147]Ernst Moritz Arndt.

trans. by Catherine Winkworth, 1855

Go and dig my grave today!

Weary of my wanderings all,

Now from earth I pass away,

For the heavenly peace doth call;

Angel voices from above

Call me to their rest and love.

Go and dig my grave today!

Homeward doth my journey tend,

And I lay my staff away

Here where all things earthly end,

And I lay my weary head

In the only painless bed.

What is there I yet should do,

Lingering in this darksome vale?

Proud and mighty, fair to view,

Are our schemes, and yet they fail,

Like the sand before the wind,

That no power of man can bind.

Farewell, earth, then; I am glad

That in peace I now depart,

For thy very joys are sad,

And thy hopes deceive the heart;

Fleeting is thy beauty's gleam,

False and changing as a dream.

And to you a last good night,

Sun and moon, and stars so dear;

Farewell all your golden light;

I am travelling far from here,

To the splendours of that day

Where ye all must fade away.

Farewell, O ye much-loved friends!

Grief hath smote you as a sword,

But the Comforter descends

Unto them that love the Lord.

Weep not o'er a passing show,

To th' eternal world I go.

Weep not that I take my leave

Of the world; that I exchange

Errors that too closely cleave,

Shadows, empty ghosts that range

Through this world of nought and night,

For a land of truth and light.

Weep not, dearest to my heart,

For I find my Saviour near,

And I know that I have part

In the pains He suffered here,

When He shed His sacred blood

For the whole world's highest good.

Weep not, my Redeemer lives;

Heavenward springing from the dust,

Clear-eyed Hope her comfort gives;

Faith, Heaven's champion, bids us trust;

Love eternal whispers nigh,

"Child of God, fear not to die!"