This text comes from Catholic Hymns (1860), a historical songbook transcribed on Wikisource and reproduced from the pinned revision linked below.
What a sea of bitter sorrows
Did the soul of Mary toss;
To and fro upon its billows,
While she wept her bitter loss,
In her arms her Jesus holding,
Torn but newly from the Cross!
O that mournful Virgin Mother!
See her tears how fast they flow
Down upon His mangled body
Wounded side, and thorny brow;
While His hands and feet she kisses—
Picture of immortal woe!
Oft and oft His arms and bosom
Fondly straining to her own;
Oft her pallid lips imprinting
On each wound of her dear Son;
Till at last in swoons of anguish,
Sense and consciousness are gone.
Gentle Mother, we beseech thee,
By thy tears and troubles sore;
By the death of thy dear Offspring;
By the bloody wounds He bore;
Touch our hearts with that true sorrow
Which afflicted thee of yore
To the Father everlasting,
And the Son, who reigns on high,
With the coëternal Spirit,
Trinity in Unity,
Be salvation, honour, blessing,
Now and through eternity.