Three faces does a surgeon wear: At first God is not higher; And when with wounds they illy fare, He comes in angel's tire; But soon as word is said of pay, How gracelessly they grieve him! They bid his odious face away, Or knavishly deceive him: No thanks for it Spoils benefit, Ill to endure For drugs that cure; Pay and respect Should he collect, For at his art Your woes depart; God bids him speed To you in need; Therefore our dues be giving, God wills us all a living. No death so blessed in the world As his who, struck by foeman, Upon the airy field is hurled, Nor hears lament of woman; From narrow beds death one by one His pale recruits is calling, But comrades here are not alone, Like Whitsun blossoms falling. 'T is no ill jest To say that best Of ways to die Is thus to lie In honor's sleep, With none to weep: Marched out of life By drum and fife To airy grave, Thus heroes crave A worthy fame,-- Men say his name Is _Fatherland's Befriender_, By life and blood surrender. With the introduction of standing armies popular warlike poetry falls away, and is succeeded by camp-songs, and artistic renderings of martial subjects by professed poets. The people no longer do the fighting; they foot the bills and write melancholy hymns. Weckerlin (1584-1651) wrote some hearty and simple things; among others, _Frisch auf, ihr tapfere Soldaten_, "Ye soldiers bold, be full of cheer." Michael Altenburg, (1583-1640,) who served on the Protestant side, wrote a hymn after the Battle of Leipsic, 1631, from the watch word, "God with us," which was given to the troops that day. His hymn was afterwards made famous by Gustavus Adolphus, who sang it at the head of his soldiers before the Battle of Lützen, November 16, 1632, in which he fell. Here it is. (_Verzage nicht, du Häuflein klein_.) Be not cast down, thou little band, Although the foe with purpose stand To make thy ruin sure: Because they seek thy overthrow, Thou art right sorrowful and low: It will not long endure. Be comforted that God will make Thy cause His own, and vengeance take,-- 'T is His, and let it reign: He knoweth well His Gideon, Through him already hath begun Thee and His Word sustain. Sure word of God it is to fell That Satan, world, and gates of hell, And all their following, Must come at last to misery: God is with us,--with God are we,-- He will the victory bring. Here is certainly a falling off from Luther's _Ein feste Burg_, but his spirit was in the fight; and the hymn is wonderfully improved when the great Swedish captain takes it to his death.