At the Beginning of the Illness
Help, Lord God, help
In this trouble!
I think Death is at the door.
Stand before me, Christ;
For Thou hast overcome him!
To Thee I cry:
If it is Thy will,
Take out the dart,
Which wounds me
Nor lets me have an hour’s
Rest or repose!
Will’st Thou however
That Death take me
In the midst of my days,
So let it be!
Do what Thou wilt;
Me nothing lacks.
Thy vessel am I;
To make or break altogether.
For, if Thou takest away
My Spirit
From this earth,
Thou dost it, that it may not grow worse,
Nor spot
The pious lives and ways of others.
In the Midst of the Illness
Console me, Lord God, console me!
The illness increases,
Pain and fear seize
My soul and body.
Come to me then,
With Thy grace, O my only consolation!
It will surely save
Everyone, who
His heart’s desire
And hopes sets
On Thee, and who besides
Despises all gain and loss.
Now all is up.
My tongue is dumb,
It cannot speak a word.
My sense are all blighted.
Therefore it is time
That Thou my fight
Conductest hereafter;
Since I am not
So strong, that I
Can bravely
Make resistance
To the Devil’s wiles and treacherous hand.
Still will my spirit
Constantly abide by Thee, however he rages.
At the End of the Sickness
Sound, Lord God, sound!
I think I am
Already coming back.
Yes, if it please Thee,
That no spark of sin
Rule me longer on earth.
Then my lips must
Thy praise and teaching
Bespeak more
Than ever before,
However it may go,
In simplicity and with no danger.
Although I must
The punishment of death
Sometime endure,
Perhaps with greater anguish
Then would now have
Happened, Lord!
Since I came
So near;
So will I still
The spite and boasting
Of this world
Bear joyfully for the sake of the reward
By Thy help,
Without which nothing can be perfect.
Zwingli, Huldreich. The Latin Works and The Correspondence of Huldreich Zwingli: Together with Selections from His German Works. Edited by Samuel Macauley Jackson. Translated by Henry Preble, Walter Lichtenstein, and Lawrence A. McLouth. Vol. 1. New York; London: G. P. Putnam’s Sons; Knickerbocker Press, 1912.
