Description: First published in The Charlestown Collection, 1803, p. 8, for three voices: Treble-Tenor-Bass. Words by Joseph Hart, 1759, with six stanzas.
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Original text and translations
English text
1. The fountain of Christ,
Lord help us to sing;
The blood of our priest,
Our crucified King;
The fountain that cleanses
From sin and from filth,
And richly dispenses
Salvation and health.
2. This fountain so dear
He'll freely impart;
When pierced by the spear,
It flowed from His heart
With blood and with water,
The first to atone.
To cleanse us the latter;
The fountain's but one.
3. This fountain from guilt
Not only makes pure,
And gives, soon as felt,
Infallible cure ;
But if guilt removed,
Return and remain,
Its power may be proved
Again and again.
4. This fountain unsealed
Stands open for all
Who long to be healed,
The great and the small;
Here's strength for the weakly
That hither are led;
Here's health for the sickly,
And life for the dead.
5. This fountain though rich,
From charge is quite clear,
The poorer the wretch
The more welcome here:
Come needy, and guilty,
Come loathsome, and bare;
Though leprous and filthy,
Come just as you are.
6. This fountain in vain
Has never been tried,
It takes out all stain
Whenever applied:
The fountain flows sweetly
With virtue divine,
To cleanse souls completely,
Though leprous as mine.