Hi,

We Gather Together is probably in a hymnal somewhere, as that's usually how hymns get popular. It is indeed a pity that these new English lyrics are so hard to read due to all those hyphens. On the other hand, that means I have little reason not to include the also rather hard to read original, I presume, Dutch lyrics:


Wilt heden nu treden voor God, den Heere,
Hem boven al loven van harte zeer,
En maken groot zijns lieven namens eere,
Die daar nu onzen vijand slaat terneer.

Ter eeren ons Heeren wilt al uw dagen
Dit wonder bijzonder gedenken toch.
Maakt u, o mensch, voor God steeds wel te dragen,
Doet ieder recht en wacht u voor bedrog!

Bidt, waket en maket, dat g'in bekoring
En 't kwade met schade toch niet en valt.
Uw vroomheid brengt den vijand tot verstoring,
Al waar' zijn rijk nog eens zoo sterk bewald!


However, I hasten to include this translation, which, if slightly inaccurate for the sake of the melody, is closer to the Dutch than the translation mentioned above.

Let us now come forward for God, our Lord
Praise him above all, with all of our heart
And exult everywhere the honour of his name,
Who there now beats down our enemy.

For the honour of our Lord, in all your days
Commemorate especially this miracle
For God, oh human, make you well behaved,
Do justice to all, and heed treachery!

Pray, wake and make, that to temptation
And evil with downfall, you will not yield.
Your piety will disturb the enemy,
However strong the walls of his realm might be!


Then again, this one doesn't rhyme, while the 19th century rewrite does. Still, I find the stress on "We" in the English rather disturbing. Sure, Valerius has a reference to the battle in our own fight for freedom from Spain, but he's a good-enough poet to allow the interpretation of the eternal enemy, rather than a temporal one.

Anyone up to adding abab rhyme to this, like the Dutch version has it?

                                                                Mysha