LORD, when I lift mine eyes to Thee,

And see Thy bitter woe,

I ask, why should the Holy One

Such sorrows undergo?

LORD, who are they that thus inflict

Those oft-repeated blows

Upon Thy virgin Form, that still

No human sin-stain knows?

Who are the foes that drag Thee on

To undeservéd woe, --

That will not, or for shame, or fear,

One vengeance-stroke forego?

The first of all, Thy boundless Love,

That could not rest within

While man remain'd apart from GOD; --

The next, my own deep sin.

These two, dear LORD, have drawn Thee on

Through all Thou didst endure;

Let not Thy Love be spent in vain,

The curse of sin to cure.

Oh! never let me wound again

The Love that set me free;

Nor ever crucify afresh

The GOD Who died for me!