Weary Of The World, And With Heaven Most Dear

Thomas Kingo 1634 (Slangerup) – 1703 (Odense)



Farewell, world, farewell
As thrall here I’m weary and no more will dwell,
The manifold burdens that on me have lain,
I wrest them now from me and do them disdain,
I wrench myself free, though am wearied withal:
’Tis vanity all,
’Tis vanity all.

And what everywhere
Does this world embellish with visage so fair?
’Tis all merely shadows and baubles of glass,
’Tis all merely bubbles and clattering brass,
’Tis all but thin ice, filth and mischief withal:
’Tis vanity all,
’Tis vanity all.

My years what are they?
That furtively dwindle and sidle away?
And what are my worries? My thought-troubled mind?
My joy or my sorrow? My fancies so blind?
And what do my work, moil and toil all recall?
’Tis vanity all,
’Tis vanity all.

Oh riches and gold,
You false earthly idol so bright to behold,
You are though among the deceits the world brings
That wax, wane and alter with all other things.
You are but vain glory whate’er may befall:
’Tis vanity all,
’Tis vanity all.

Ah, honour – ’tis what?
Your crowns and your laurels proclaim what you’re not,
And envy consumes you and sits on your back,
You lack peace of mind and are prone to attack!
You stumble where others contrive not to fall:
’Tis vanity all,
’Tis vanity all.

Ah, favour and grace
That mist-like enfold us, are gone without trace.
You fickle infl ator that puffs up the mind,
You thousand-eyed creature that e’en so are blind,
When viewed ’gainst the sun one can see that you pall:
’Tis vanity all,
’Tis vanity all.

Ah, friendship and trust,
That veers vanes to happiness with every gust!
You handsome deceiver, you fortunate pup,
That fails us so often in sorrow’s deep cup
You say what experience has us recall:
’Tis vanity all,
’Tis vanity all.

Ah, joys of the flesh
That many have fatally snared in their mesh,
You quick-burning tinder, you spark on the wind,
Have sown flames eternal for those that have sinned,
Your cup seems like honey, the drink though is gall:
’Tis vanity all,
’Tis vanity all.

Farewell, then, farewell
No more your deceits shall my soul now compel,
Oh world of delusion, I now you dismiss,
Consign to oblivion’s deepest abyss,
My grief and affliction no more me shall chafe:
With Abraham safe,
With Abraham safe.

There all of my years
Will start in eternity’s spring without tears,
My days will not dawn with the rise of the sun,
Nor moon’s wax or wane tell when night has begun,
My sun is Lord Jesus with rays like gold staves:
With Abraham safe,
With Abraham safe.

My riches and gold
Will always be mine both to have and to hold,
No robber can ever deprive me of them,
No bartering cause me to part with one gem,
I never will find myself left as a waif:
With Abraham safe,
With Abraham safe.

My honour is won
From that throne my Jesus is sitting upon,
A crown filled with glory for me is in store,
With blood of the lamb it is gilt ever more,
’Tis mine though the devil me gladly would strafe:
With Abraham safe,
With Abraham safe.

With grace I will shine
As one of the angelic host so divine,
No envious eye shall my face ever see,
God’s countenance gaze ever-smiling on me,
There will I pour scorn on death’s envious grave:
With Abraham safe,
With Abraham safe.

There I have a friend,
My Jesus who loves me I love without end,
My eye will regard him unclouded and fair,
The heavenly torch of his love proffered there,
In spirit Love’s blaze I eternal may crave:
With Abraham safe,
With Abraham safe.

My rapture and joy
Are quickened when angels their trumpets employ,
But God is all joy both for me and their kind!
Rejoice then, my soul, all the world leave behind!
Mind well on your heart God his joy will engrave:
With Abraham safe,
With Abraham safe.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

3:21 min read
127

Quick analysis:

Scheme aabbaCC ddeeaCC ffggcCC hhiicCC xxjjcCC kkggxCC llmmcCC nngxcCC aaoopPP xxqqxPP hhrrpPP qxsspPP ttuuvPP wwddvPP xxggvPP
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 3,615
Words 670
Stanzas 15
Stanza Lengths 7, 7, 7, 7, 7, 7, 7, 7, 7, 7, 7, 7, 7, 7, 7

Thomas Kingo

Thomas Hansen Kingo (15 December 1634 – 14 October 1703 Odense) was a Danish bishop, poet and hymn-writer born at Slangerup, near Copenhagen. His work marked the high point of Danish baroque poetry. His father was a weaver of modest means; the name Kingo is a shortening of the Scottish name "Kinghorn". In his youth, Kingo wrote a series of poems picturing humorous scenes in village life and a pastoral love poem, Chrysillis. He studied theology at the University of Copenhagen, graduating in 1654, and for some time acted as private tutor. In 1661 he was appointed vicar to the pastor at Kirke Helsinge, and in 1668 he was ordained a minister at his native town, where his poetic activity began. At first he essayed patriotic poems, but later devoted himself almost entirely to writing hymns, and in 1674 the first part of his Aandelige Siunge-Koor ("Spiritual Song Choir") appeared; followed in 1681 by a second part. This work consists of a collection of beautiful hymns several of which are still popular in the Danish Church. In 1677 Kingo was appointed bishop of Funen. Charged by the government with the compilation of a new hymn-book, he edited what became known as Kingo's hymnal (Kingos Psalmebog, 1699), which contains eighty-five of his own compositions, and which is still used in various parts of Denmark and Norway. Some parts of the Danish rural population were firmly sticking to his hymns during the pietist and rationalist period contributing to their survival. The same goes for the Faroe Islands, where his hymns have been in widespread use through most of the 20th century, often sung to quite complicated folk melodies, which may, however, often be traced back to Kingo’s melody collection, or Gradual, from 1699, as described by Marianne Clausen in her magnum opus about Faroese folk singing. Though not the first Danish hymn writer Kingo must be considered the first real important one and also among the Danish poets of the 17th century he is generally a leading figure. His hymns are born by a forceful and often Old Testamental wrath and renunciation of the world switching with Christian mildness and confidence. Both elements are thrown in relief by his private thrift and fighting nature. His worldly poems and patriotic songs are often long-winded and marked by outer effects but in short version he is unequalled, as in his both plain and worthy commemorative poem of the naval hero Niels Juel.  more…

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