Away, death and despair! Away with all misfortune! Defiance to the devil and all his hordes! I do not fear their might now, not one whit! They surge against me, great streams of deceit. When I, with trusting heart, look to my helper, who sits at God’s right hand, I laugh at danger. To him, my heart, its need and remedy are known. A rescue-seeker, I send all my sighs to him. He guides, like streams of water, every heart beat, restrains with just one word the strongest waves; allows, if it will serve, the water’s fall but will not let it overflow the plain. He makes the cloudy clear, saltwater sweet; commands all power from his majestic seat.
This translation is published in Wonder-Work: Selected Sonnets of Catharina Regina von Greiffenberg (CMU Press, 2023). Click here to read the sonnet in the original German.