Unless stated otherwise, my source for hymn texts and tunes is The Lutheran Service Book.

Friday, November 6, 2020

"Müde bin ich, geh' zur Ruh'"

Beneath LSB #887 "Now the Light Has Gone Away," there's a note:  "The text of the German hymn 'Müde bin ich, geh zur Ruh,' [sic] also sung to this tune, is provided for those who remember it as their bedtime prayer during childhood."  (LSB sometimes lacks apostrophes in the German titles; this should be "Müde bin ich, geh' zur Ruh'.")  I don't plan on writing about hymns in other languages, but I'm making an exception here because this one is included in LSB.

Last year, I noticed a small feature in the third verse:
Alle, die mir sind verwandt,
Gott, laß ruh'n in deiner Hand;
Alle Menschen groß und klein
Sollen dir befohlen sein.
In a more prosaic translation, this is:  "God, let all who are related to me rest in Your hand; all people big and small should be under Your command."

The description "groß und klein" ("big and small") is a merism.