Page:History of the German people at the close of the Middle Ages vol1.djvu/231

WOOD AND COPPER ENGRAVING 219 O Mensch ! betrachte diesen Tod, Heilmittel fur die grosste Noth ! Maria, aller Jungfrau'n Kron, Sieh da, das Schwert des Simeon ! Hier lieget aller Ehren Hort, Der von uns nimmt die Siinden fort. O Du, allmachtiger Herr und Gott, Die grosse Marter und den Tod, Die Jesus, der Eingebor'ne Dein, Gelitten, urn uns zu befrei'n, Betrachten wir niit Innigkeit. Herr ! gib mir wahre Reu und Leid Ob meiner Siinden, bess're rnich, Das bitte ich ganz von Herzen Dich 1 Herr ! nach der Ueberwindung Dein Lass mich des Sieges theilhaftig sein ! ' 'At eventide they took Hini from the cross and brought Him to His Mother. On that day Omnipo- tence lay in the lap of Deity. man, behold this pure oblation suffered for thy soul's salvation ! Mary, the crown of virgins, to-day recognises Simeon's sword. Here lies the shield of purest worth, which saves us from sin's punishment. Thou, Almighty Lord and God ! Here we meditate on the pain and death which Jesus, Thy only begotten, suffered for us. Lord ! grant me sorrow and repentance. Forgive me my sins, I pray Thee from the bottom of my heart. Lord, through Thy triumph over sin let me partake of Thy glory ! ' The engraving of ' Christ bearing His Cross,' which contains such a wealth of figures, is well known to have furnished Eaphael with a subject for one of his greatest paintings. Next to the sublime tragedy of ' The Two Passions,' the twenty woodcuts (most of them dating between 1 Thausing, Diirer's Leben, pp. 154-155.