"What Wondrous Love Is This?"

The author of this text remains anonymous, but it’s known as a traditional American folk song, first published in 1811. The text has remained basically untouched since it was first made popular by the Sacred Harp shape singers in 1844. Some hymnals leave out the stanza: “When I was sinking down,” and others include a verse that repeats the first verse with the last two lines “That Christ should lay aside his crown for my soul –What wondrous love is this, O my soul!”