When was the hymn 'O sacred head, sore wounded' written?
The hymn 'O sacred head, sore wounded' is derived from the Latin poem Salve caput cruentatum, itself part of a cycle of seven poems called Membra Jesu Nostri. Probably the work of Arnulf von Loewen, a 13th-century Cistercian abbott – though, confusingly, the Salve caput cruentatum part is believed to be a later addition by someone else – Membra Jesu Nostri addresses the various parts of Christ's body as it hangs on the cross.
Salve caput cruentatum was translated and reworked into German - with more sympathetic words - by Paul Gerhardt in the mid-17th century. It was first translated into English by John Gambold in 1752, though various other translations are commonly used today.
The music to which 'O sacred head, sore wounded' is sung is a melody by the late-Renaissance German composer Hans Leo Hassler (1564-1612), later adapted and harmonised by JS Bach. Bach himself used the melody in his St Matthew Passion (1727).
What are the lyrics to 'O sacred head, sore wounded'?
O sacred head, sore wounded, Defiled and put to scorn: O kingly head, surrounded With mocking crown of thorn; What sorrow mars thy grandeur? Can death thy bloom deflow'r? O countenance whose splendor The hosts of heav'n adore!
Thy beauty, long desired, Hath vanished from our sight: Thy pow'r is all expired, And quenched the light of light. Ah me! for whom thou diest, Hide not so far thy grace: Show me, O Love most highest, The brightness of thy face.
In thy most bitter passion My heart to share doth cry. With thee for my salvation Upon the cross to die. Ah, keep my heart thus moved To stand thy cross beneath, To mourn thee, well-beloved, Yet thank thee for thy death.
What language shall I borrow To thank thee, dearest friend, For this thy dying sorrow, Thy pity without end? Oh, make me thine forever! And should I fainting be, Lord, let me never, never Outlive my love for thee.
My days are few, O fail not, With thine immortal pow'r, To hold me that I quail not In death's most fearful hour: That I may fight befriended, And see in my last strife To me thine arms extended Upon the cross of life.
