Secular Carols 6: O Tannenbaum

O Tannenbaum, O Tannenbaum,

How faithfully you blossom!

Through summer’s heat and winter’s chill

Your leaves are green and blooming still.

O Tannenbaum, O Tannenbaum,

How faithfully you blossom!

O Tannenbaum, (“O Fir Tree”), sometimes Anglicised from the German into O Christmas Tree, was composed by Ernst Anschütz in the 1820s. It’s set to Ach Tannenbaum, the famous sixteenth-century Silesian folk tune by the Protestant Melchior Franck. Although the original lyrics were about fir trees in general rather than Christmas trees, it always had a protestant association. Until the nineteenth century, only Lutherans brought trees into their homes, with German Catholics considering it a symbol of Luther’s heresy. The words do not honour the decorations and wrapped gifts under its boughs, but its evergreen foliage. A version from 1913 goes

O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,

How lovely are thy branches!

Not only green when summer's here

But in the coldest time of year.

O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,

How lovely are thy branches!

O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,

How sturdy God hath made thee!

Thou bidd'st us all place faithfully

Our trust in God, unchangingly!

O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,

How sturdy God hath made thee!

It’s with some irony that we continued to fell millions of trees each year in order to bring them into our homes and then throw them away four weeks later. Still, coniferous trees remain green regardless of the season. Although they may lose their needles in a drought, their verdant foliage is a refreshing alternative to the stark deciduous silhouettes. A picture perhaps of Psalm 1’s godly man (his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper) as well as the Tree of Life’s salvation-giving verdure. Godliness and grace should be seen in the believer in season and out of season, in summer’s drought and winter’s chill. There’s no such thing as a ‘fair weather’ Christian; he’s a green tree in a dry land or he’s just another piece of dead wood.

Image by Gundula Vogel from Pixabay