#54 presbypoet

Do you know J.S. Bach’s aria “Komm, du süsse Todesstunde” from BWV 161?

Performance here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUYWHUZSkE4

German text and translation:

Komm, du süße Todesstunde,
Da mein Geist
Honig speist
Aus des Löwen Munde;
Mache meinen Abschied süße,
Säume nicht,
Letztes Licht,
Dass ich meinen Heiland küsse.

Come, sweet hour of death,
when my spirit
laps honey
out of the lion’s mouth;
Make my departure sweet,
do not delay,
O last light,
so that I might kiss my Savior.

Bach wrote the aria in 1715, when he was only 30 (he died in 1750 at the age of 65), so it was not the work of an elderly man. On the other hand, Bach had lost both parents by the time he was 10 and then lived with his oldest brother, so he was certainly familiar with untimely death. Anyway, your poem reminded me of his music.