Words: Author unknown (Atolle paula lumina); translated from Latin to English by in Medieval Hymns, 1851 (Raise, Raise Thine Eye a Little Way); recast in Hymns Ancient and Modern, 1861.
Music: Allein Gott, Deutsch Evangelisch Messze, 1539.
O sinner, lift the eye of faith,
To true repentance turning;
Bethink thee of the curse of sin,
Its awful guilt discerning;
Upon the Crucified One look,
And thou shalt read, as in a book,
What well is worthy thy learning.
Look on His head, that bleeding head,
With crown of thorns surrounded;
Look on His sacred hands and feet
Which piercing nails have wounded;
See every limb with scourges rent:
On Him, the Just, the Innocent,
What malice hath abounded!
’Tis not alone those limbs are racked,
But friends, too, are forsaking;
And, more than all, for thankless man
That tender heart is aching;
Oh, fearful was the pain and scorn,
By Jesus, Son of Mary, borne,
Their peace for sinners making.
None ever knew such pain before,
Such infinite affliction,
None ever felt a grief like His
In that dread crucifixion;
For us He bare those bitter throes,
For us those agonizing woes,
In oft renewed infliction.
O sinner, mark, and ponder well
Sin’s awful condemnation;
Think what a sacrifice it cost
To purchase Thy salvation;
Had Jesus never bled and died,
Then what could thee and all betide
But uttermost damnation?
Lord, give us grace to flee from sin,
And Satan’s wiles ensnaring,
And from those everlasting flames
For evil ones preparing.
Jesu, we thank Thee, and entreat
To rest forever at Thy feet,
Thy heavenly glory sharing.