PART ONE

CHAPTER I.
GERHARDT'S LIFE AND TIMES.

Although Paul Gerhardt's poems have been so great a power in the world, nevertheless facts concerning his own life are few. A fire set by the Swedish soldiers in 1637⁴⁴Cf. pp. 2 and 3. destroyed all records which might enlighten us, yet from indirect sources and from his poems, we are certain of some facts of his biography.