An old hymnbook, owned by my great-grandmother, and bearing the
following inscription:
Cenfebam Hafniae d. 9 Sept. Anno 1684,
is a collection of hymns and religious songs, written by Dorothe
Engelbrets Datter, a poetess of considerable distinction in Norway and
Denmark in the 17th century.
I faintly can remember still
A scene from childhood years,
A picture dim which always will
Be treasured in my heart until
Beyond the change of good and ill,
It glorified appears.
I saw through an half-open door
An aged woman’s face,
Amid the sunlight on the floor,
Uplifted and it seemed adore
A heavenly vision, or implore
For mercy and for grace.
An open book was in her hand,
From which she read and sang,
I was too young to understand,
And yet I thought it was most grand,
A music from a better land
Which through her singing rang.
This is the book, or part thereof,
An aged, thumbworn tome,
Quaint hymns of penitence and love,
By one whom heaven did endow
With glory fit for Sapho’s brow,
Far in her northern home.
I look upon each yellow page,
Each stain and finger-mark,
And see in them my heritage,--
My Great Grandmother’s heritage,
Which did her pious soul engage,
In times remote and dark.