I’ve had this melody stuck in my head – where did it come from? I felt it had words, but I didn’t know them – where were the words? Finally I figured out that it had come from watching the movie Babette’s Feast very recently and I wandered around there and sure enough, towards the end, the melody was used for one of the hymns they sang after dinner. Googled what the subtitles gave as words and found this eventually – same tune, different words I believe. The tune was used by Bach but was written by Georg Neumark (1621-81)
These are the translated words, from the Danish hymn-writer and bishop, Thomas Kingo (1634-1703):
Oh, watch the day once again hurry off
And the sun bathe itself in water
The time for us to rest approaches, O God,
Who dwelleth in heavenly light
Who reigns above in heaven’s hall
Be for us our infinite light in the valley of night
The sand in our hourglass will soon run out
The day is conquered by the night
The glories of the world are ending
So brief their day, so swift their flight
God, let Thy brightness ever shine
Admit us to Thy mercy divineThe clock strikes and time goes by
Eternity is nigh, let us use this time to try
To serve the Lord with heart and mind
So that our true home we shall find
