My song is love unknown,
My Savior’s love to me;
Love to the loveless shown,
That they might lovely be.
O who am I, that for my sake
My Lord should take, frail flesh and die?
Sometimes they strew His way,
And His sweet praises sing;
Resounding all the day
Hosannas to their King:
Then “Crucify!” is all their breath,
And for His death they thirst and cry.
Why, what hath my Lord done?
To cause this rage and spite?
He made the lame to run,
He gave the blind their sight,
Sweet injuries! Yet they at these
Are why the Lord most High so cruely dies.
Here might I stay and sing,
Of Him my soul adores;
Never was love, dear King!
Never was grief like yours.
This is my Friend, in Whose sweet praise
I all my days could gladly spend.
Samuel Crossman, ca. 1624-1683
Listen to this hymn set to GUNNAR (Edwin T. Childs, b. 1945)
© 2010, Scott Aniol. All rights reserved.
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3 Responses to My Song is Love Unknown
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Such a powerful text. One of my favorites!
Recently our family discovered this song recently in “Hymns of Grace and Glory.” It pleases me to observe my children gravitating to such a profound formulation of truth. The English language can compass so much truth in such few syllables. A strictly literal translation of the poem into German results in two additional syllables per line. This makes rendering the song into German very challenging, which so far has not taken priority, but I have not lost hope that it may yet become reality.
That’s an interesting problem you missionaries face! Thanks for your efforts to translate these outstanding hymns, though! :)