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Robert Bridges
- Birth: October 23, 1844, Walmer, Kent, England
- Death: April 21, 1930, Chilswell, Boar's Hill, Oxford, England
Robert Seymour Bridges translated "Ah, Holy Jesus" from the original German into English. Bridges was born in Kent, England. He attended Eton and Corpus Christi College in Oxford, receiving his BA in 1867 and his MA in 1874.
Originally he studied medicine, intending to practice until he was forty and then retire to write poetry. He studied at St. Bartholomew's Hospital and worked at several London hospitals, but lung disease forced him to retire early. Bridges' literary work started long before his retirement, however, and he'd published several collections by that time.
Bridges' writing included three volumes of lyrics, several plays, and other literary works. He was named British Poet Laureate in 1913 and received the Order of Merit in 1929 on the publication of his The Testament of Beauty. He received honorary doctorates from the University of Michigan, Oxford, St. Andrews, and Harvard.
Bridges' translation of "Ah, Holy Jesus" was published in The Yattendon Hymnal, a collection of one hundred hymns that was published in four parts from 1895 to 1899. This hymnal was not designed for church use, but was an important resource for others compiling hymnals.