We Plough the Fields and Scatter
| We Plough the Fields and Scatter | |
|---|---|
Matthias Claudius | |
| Native name | "Wir pflügen und wir streuen" |
| Genre | Hymn |
| Written | 1782 |
| Text | Matthias Claudius |
| Based on | Matthew 13:4-9 |
| Meter | 7.6.7.6 D with refrain |
| Melody | "Wir Pflügen" by Johann A. P. Schulz |
"We Plough the Fields and Scatter" is a hymn of German origin, commonly associated with harvest festivals. Written by poet Matthias Claudius, "Wir pflügen und wir streuen" was published in 1782 and set to music in 1800 attributed to Johann A. P. Schulz. It was translated into English by Jane Montgomery Campbell in 1861, and it has since become a staple of Harvest Festival services, particularly in the United Kingdom, where it among the most performed of hymns.
The hymn appears in a shortened form in the musical Godspell, as the song, "All Good Gifts".