The German poet and Hymnologist, Albert Knapp, has called it "a little feather from the eagle wing of Gustavus Adolphus."
"The Story of Our Hymns"
Ernest Edwin Ryden
His fame rests principally on his work as a Hymnologist, however.
"The Story of Our Hymns"
Ernest Edwin Ryden
John Julian, the noted Hymnologist, declares that it must be classified with the four hymns that stand at the head of all English hymns.
"The Story of Our Hymns"
Ernest Edwin Ryden