Traditional: Collected Lyrics
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Public-domain lyrics

Attolle paullum lumina

Traditional

“Attolle paullum lumina” as printed in Mediaeval Hymns and Sequences (1867).

Traditional: Collected Lyrics Text 295 1867 · historical text
Public domainHymnMediaeval song
Complete public-domain lyrics

This text comes from Mediaeval Hymns and Sequences, edited by John Mason Neale, a historical songbook transcribed on Wikisource and reproduced from the pinned revision linked below.

Verse 1

Raise, raise thine eyes a little way,

O sinful man discerning

Thy sins, how great and foul are they,

And to repentance turning:

On the Crucified One look,—

Thou shalt read as in a book,

What well is worth thy learning.

Verse 2

Look on the Head, with such a Crown

Of bitter thorns surrounded;

Look on the Blood that trickles down

The Feet and Hands thus wounded!

Let that frame thy tears engage,

Marking how Judæa's rage

And malice hath abounded.

Verse 3

But though upon Him many a smart

Its bitterness expendeth,

Yet more,—oh how much more!—His Heart

Man's thankless spirit rendeth!

On the Cross, bewailed by none,

Mark, O man, how Mary's Son

His life of sorrow endeth.

Verse 4

None ever bare such grief, alas,

None ever such affliction,

As when Judæa brought to pass

His bitter crucifixion:

He, that we might dwell on high,

Bare the pangs that made Him die

In oft-renewed infliction.

Verse 5

O therefore Satan's wiles repel,

And yield not to temptation!

Think on the woes that Christ befell

In working thy salvation!

For, if He had never died,

What could thee and all betide

But uttermost damnation?

Verse 6

If thus He bled, that Only Son

The Father held so dearly,

Thou wicked servant, faithless one,

O how much more severely!

If the green wood kindled, how

Shall not every sapless bough

Consume as fuel merely!

Verse 7

O mortal! heed these terrors well!

O sinner, flee from sinning!

Consider thou the woes of hell,

Ne'er ending, still beginning:

Bender thanks to Christ on high:

Thus with Him beyond the sky

Eternal glory winning. Amen.

Credits

Written by Traditional

Traditional words. Historical text published in Mediaeval Hymns and Sequences (1867); public domain. No claim to a modern recording or arrangement.

Source & text edition

Mediaeval Hymns and Sequences (1867), edited by John Mason Neale, “Attolle paullum lumina”

The 1867 published edition is in the public domain in the United States (pre-1931 publication). Entries whose credited author or translator died more than 70 years ago are also in the public domain in life-plus-70 jurisdictions; other entries are held.

How to read this historical text and its source

Read the source on Wikisource

View copyright evidence · Transcription terms (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Retrieved 2026-10-25. Line spacing and section labels are adapted for reading. The displayed text follows the linked edition. Editorial notes and abstract artwork are by 52lyrics.
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