WHO holds us heart to heart it mattereth not,
If Thou, who holdest all within thy hand,
Wilt say, 'Well done!' upon our outward lot
Thy blessing oft is burnt with fiery brand.
If we, thus humbly reading, clasp it close,
Accepting every law which lies therein,
Thou (who hast covenanted) wilt unloose
Our hearts from longing and our souls from sin.
The love abash'd, the shuddering dread, the fail
Of hopeful courage, unheroic fear,
All that we cannot conquer, being frail,
God of the Faithful! help thou us to bear.
Alone, O tender Christ! we cannot be,
When every street we pass is mark'd by thee,
And glances born of thy great Spirit shine
From fellow-faces with a light divine.
Oh, look'd we clearly on the sharp ascent
So many elder pilgrim-feet have trod,
Seeing the End, we should not dare to faint,
Nor speak of loneliness--alone with God!
Die Ludwig Kirche, Münich.