I can only agree with most of what our German friends have to say about the words to this song. Still, it is, to me, a very evocative melody, which is why I was wondering about the second and third verses of the original. It makes a fitting funeral song, like our own haunting "Navy Hymn". (It is also, by the way, uniquely suited to the harmonica, the scale and timbre of which fit the somber tune perfectly.)

It is also unfortunate that a few great German melodies were coöpted by the Nazis. I still think the German national anthem is a classic of its genre. In the English-speaking world it is called "Luther's Hymn" or something similar, isn't it?

James