shed,
The tender flowerets spring once more,
And He who winter banished
Will send a happy summer."

The opening words of the hymn are also significant, "Ein neues Lied wir
heben an." Although the poem must be regarded as more of a ballad than a
church hymn, Luther's lyre was tuned, the springtime of evangelical
hymnody was indeed come, and before another year had passed a little
hymn-book called "The Achtliederbuch" appeared as the first-fruits.

It was in 1524 that this first Protestant hymnal was published. It
contained only eight hymns, four by Luther, three by Speratus, and one
probably by Justus Jonas. The little hymn-books flew all over Europe, to
the consternation of the Romanists. Luther's enemies lamented that "the
whole people are singing themselves into his doctrines." So great was the
demand for hymns that a second volume known as the "Erfurt Enchiridion"
was published in the same year. This contained twenty-five hymns,
eighteen of which were Luther's. "The nightingale of Wittenberg" had
begun to sing.

This was the beginning of evangelical hymnody, which was to play so large
a part in the spread of Luther's teachings. The number of hymn-books by
other compilers increased rapidly and so many unauthorized changes were
made in his hymns by critical editors that Luther was moved to complain
of their practice. In a preface to a hymn-book printed by Joseph Klug of
Wittenberg, in 1543, Luther writes: "I am fearful that it will fare with
this little book as it has ever fared with good books, namely, that
through tampering by incompetent hands it may get to be so overlaid and
spoiled that the good will be lost out of it, and nothing kept in use but
the worthless." Then he adds, naively: "Every man may make a hymn-book
for himself and let ours alone and not add thereto, as we here beg, wish
and assert. For we desire to keep our own coin up to our own standard,
preventing no one from making better hymns for himself. Now let God's
name alone be praised and our name not sought. Amen."

Of the thirty-six hymns attributed to Luther none has achieved such fame
as "A mighty fortress is our God." It has been translated into
practically every language and is regarded as one of the noblest and most
classical examples of Christian hymnody. Not only did it become the
battle hymn of the Reformation, but it may be regarded as the true
national hymn of Germany. Heine called it "the Marseillaise of the
Reforma