BWV 56 Ich will den Kreuzstab gerne tragen
Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity.
Poet unknown.(1)
5. Johann Franck, verse 6 of "Du, o sch�nes Weltgeb�ude," 1653 (Fischer-T�mpel, IV, #99).
27 October 1726, Leipzig.
BG 12, 2; NBA I/24.
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1. Aria (B)
I will the crosier gladly carry,
It comes from God's belove'd hand,
It leadeth me so weak and weary
To God, into the promised land.
When I in the grave all my trouble once lay,
Himself shall my Savior my tears wipe away.(2)
2. Recit. (B)
My sojourn in the world
Is like a voyage at sea:
The sadness, cross and woe
Are billows which have overwhelmed me
And unto death
Me daily frighten;
My anchor, though, which me doth hold,
Is that compassion's heart
With which my God oft makes me glad.
He calleth thus to me:
I am with thee,
I will not e'er abandon or forsake thee!(3)
And when the raging ocean's lather
Comes to an end,
My ship I'll leave and to my city go;
It is the heav'nly realm
Which I with all the righteous
From deepest sadness will have entered.(4)
3. Aria (B)
One day, one day shall my yoke
Once again be lifted from me.
Then shall I in the Lord find power,
And with the eagle's features rare,
There rise above this earthly bound'ry(5)
And soar without becoming weary.
This I would today invoke!
4. Recit. and Arioso (B)
I stand prepared and wait for this,
My legacy of lasting bliss
With yearning and with rapture
From Jesus' hands at last to capture.
How well that day for me
When I the port of rest shall come to see.
When I in the grave all my trouble once lay,
Himself shall my Savior my tears wipe away.
5. Chorale (S, A, T, B)
Come, O death, of sleep the brother,
Come and lead me from here forth;
Loosen now my small bark's rudder,
Bring thou me secure to port!
Others may desire to shun thee,
Thou canst all the more delight me;
For through thee I'll come inside
To the fairest Jesus-child.
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1. Neumann T, p. 141, notes a remote similarity to E. Neumeister's cantata for the Twenty-first Sunday after Trinity, "Ich will den Kreuzweg gerne gehen," Geistliche Cantaten (Wei�enfels, 1700), and D�rr, p. 477, suggests that the librettist is the same one who imitated Neumeister in BWV 27.
2. Cf. Rev. 7:17.
3. Cf. Heb. 13:5.
4. Cf. Rev. 7:14.
5. Cf. Is. 40:31.