Intimately bound up with the Lutheran tradition, Bach�s sacred cantatas are among his greatest, most heart-felt and life-affirming works. Ich will den Kreuzstab gerne tragen (I will gladly carry the suffering cross), with its repeated use of the metaphor of life as a voyage over troubled waters, depicts man�s suffering and the joyful expectation of redemption. Ich habe genug (I have enough!), while expressing contempt for earthly suffering, includes one of Bach�s most popular arias, the deeply moving Schlummert ein (Close now, ye tired and weary eyelids), with its fervent expression of the hope of �blessed rest and perfect peace� in the afterlife.