Page:History of the German people at the close of the Middle Ages vol1.djvu/274

 262 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE heads of families, is particularly edifying, and disposes- the heart to joy. God loves the cheerful-hearted.' Lyric poetry is the truest index of the character of a nation, and may be called the breath and pulse by which we can measure the force of its life. In Germany this life manifested itself both in the secular folk-songs and in the hymns used in private life, in the canticles sung at divine service in the churches and at the many religious gatherings of the people. As early as from the ninth century religious hymns in various dialects had existed in Germany. Those few examples which are preserved dating from the thirteenth century bespeak the simple faith and piety, and deep religious sentiments of the people. In the year 1148 the provost Gerhoh of Eeichsberg, in his commentary on the Psalms, wrote : ' All over the world the praise of the Saviour is sung in the native tongues of the different countries ; particularly is this the case among the Germans, whose language is so well fitted to this pur- pose.' The monk Godfrey, who accompanied St. Bernard (1146-1147) when he preached the crusade, wrote as follows to the bishop Hermann of Con- stance : ' As soon as we left German soil your hymn, " Christ be gracious," ceased, and no one was there to sing God's praise like your countrymen. The Italians, especially, have no hymns of their own in which they can glorify God for all His wondrous works.' From the twelfth century onwards we get more and more information concerning the German hymns which were used at divine service, and for pilgrimages, pro- cessions, and mystery plays. Hymns, we learn, were even sung at battles. In 1410 we find the knights of the Teutonic order singing, ' Christ is arisen.' At the