Words: Attributed to Bernard of Clairvaux (12th cen.), translated into German by Paul Gerhardt (1656), translated into English by James Alexander (1830)
Music: Hans Hassler (1601), arranged by Johann Sebastian Bach (1729)
Recording from the annual singing at the Kleinwood congregation
O sacred head, now wounded,
With grief and shame weighed down;
Now scornfully surrounded
With thorns, Thine only crown;
How art Thou pale with anguish,
With sore abuse and scorn;
How does that visage languish,
Which once was bright as morn!What language shall I borrow
To thank Thee, dearest Friend,
For this Thy dying sorrow,
Thy pity without end?
O make me Thine forever;
And, should I fainting be,
Lord, let me never, never
Outlive my love to Thee.