MUSIC. ABRIDGE is also known as “ST. STEPHEN” (See [266] and [590]).
For comments on the tune see [Hymn 266].
HARVEST AND THANKSGIVING
375. We plow the fields, and scatter
Matthias Claudius, 1740-1815
This is one of the finest harvest hymns.
In 1783 Claudius wrote a sketch called, “Paul Erdman’s Feast,” in which there is an interesting picture of a harvest thanksgiving celebration in the home of a North German farmer. The farm folk gather at the house of Erdman and as they do so they sing:
Wir pflügen und wir streuen
Den Samen auf das Land,
Doch Wachstum und Gedeihen