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Alas! and did my Savior bleed
At the Cross

Isaac Watts

Hymnary text authority (277 instances of this setting, among the 2284 instances of the text)
Cyber Hymnal™ page

Text:

This simple Common Meter hymn is very frequently found with added refrains, a number of which are given in the Tunes below. A great many American hymnals contain two settings, usually MARTYRDOM and HUDSON. Here are the two main versions:

     1 Alas! and did my Saviour bleed,
       And did my Sov'reign die?
       Would he devote that sacred Head
       For such a Worm as I?
  
           Refrain:
          At the cross, at the cross, where I first saw the light,
          And the burden of my heart rolled away -
          It was there by faith I received my sight,
          And now I am happy all the day!

     2 Was it for Crimes that I had done
       He groan'd upon the Tree?
       Amazing Pity! Grace unknown!
       And Love beyond Degree!

     3 Well might the Sun in Darkness hide,
       And shut his Glories in,
       When GOD the Mighty Maker dy'd
       For Man the Creature's Sin.

     4 Thus might I hide my blushing Face,
       While his dear Cross appears,
       Dissolve my Heart in Thankfulness,
       And melt my Eyes to Tears.

     5 But Drops of Grief can ne'er repay
       The Debt of Love we owe;
       Here, Lord, I give myself away,
       'Tis all that I can do.

One or two stanzas are frequently omitted, even in the plain-verse settings, but particularly often in the settings with refrains.

Tunes (and refrains); these are, in order of frequency, the top four pairings in the Hymnary.org database for this text:

HUDSON ("At the Cross"), composer (and author of refrain): Ralph Hudson

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