Copenhagen's Dance of Death, Part 27

Ieg haffde mig actid en Jomffru krantz
nu maa ieg hæden i døden dantz

Døden Suarer.

Reck til mig dine huide hender
Ieg følger dig bort fra venner och frender

Døden taler til Kiøbmanden.

Du Kiøbmand baade Gærig oc Rig,
Til Verden haffuer du megen fig.
For Pendinge giør du dig stor flid,
At høre Guds Ord, haffuer du ingen tid.

I had expected a virgin crants(1)
now I must away in [the] dance of death.

Death Answers.

Hold out for me your white hands
I will follow you away from friends and kinsmen.

Death speaks to the Merchant.

You merchant, both thrifty and rich,
you have much craving for this world.
You take great pains for money,
you have no time for listening to God's word.

There's a leaf missing in Copenhagen's Dance of Death, so the red letters are taken from Dødedantz, and the picture of the traveling merchant is taken from Des Dodes Dantz.

Click the little picture to the left to see the original page.

Footnotes: (1)

virgin crants. . .: In the Middle Ages virgins were buried with a chaplet / garland as a symbol of their purity (later on this was only done for young girls). Shakespeare introduced the word into English: "Yet here she is allow'd her virgin crants, her maiden strewments …".