Other Verses
Boberg's entire poem appears (with archaic Swedish spellings) at http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1118653. Presented below are two of those verses which appear (more or less loosely) translated in British hymnbooks, followed in each case by the English.
När tryckt av synd och skuld jag faller neder,
Vid Herrens fot och ber om nåd och frid.
Och han min själ på rätta vägen leder,
Och frälsar mig från all min synd och strid.
When burdens press, and seem beyond endurance,
Bowed down with grief, to Him I lift my face;
And then in love He brings me sweet assurance:
'My child! for thee sufficient is my grace'.
När jag hör dårar i sin dårskaps dimma
Förneka Gud och håna hvad han sagt,
Men ser likväl, att de hans hjälp förnimma
Och uppehållas af hans nåd och makt.
O when I see ungrateful man defiling
This bounteous earth, God's gifts so good and great;
In foolish pride, God's holy Name reviling,
And yet, in grace, His wrath and judgment wait.
Swedish hymnals frequently include the following verse:
När jag hör åskans röst och stormar brusa
Och blixtens klingor springa fram ur skyn,
När regnets kalla, friska skurar susa
Och löftets båge glänser för min syn.
This verse—with thunder, storms, lightning (which springs out of the sky like sparks from the sharp rasping blade of a saw), cold rain, showers, wind, and the rainbow of promise—is impressive for its use of concrete expressions but presses hard on sentimental references to climatic phenomena, bears significant redundance with other statements in the poem, and rarely, if ever, finds a translated home in post-modern English hymnody, which is less prone than that of 19th-century Sweden to dwell on the stark freshness of nature. Nonetheless, it may be the verse which most concretely describes Boberg's plodding damp walk home from church in 1885.
Read more about this topic: How Great Thou Art (hymn)
Famous quotes containing the word verses:
“Of all human events, perhaps, the publication of a first volume of verses is the most insignificant; but though a matter of no moment to the world, it is still of some concern to the author.”
—Herman Melville (1819–1891)
“It is a fact often observed, that men have written good verses under the inspiration of passion, who cannot write well under other circumstances.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)