Thanks for being a Hymnary.org user. You are one of more than 10 million people from 200-plus countries around the world who have benefitted from the Hymnary website in 2024! If you feel moved to support our work today with a gift of any amount and a word of encouragement, we would be grateful.

You can donate online at our secure giving site.

Or, if you'd like to make a gift by check, please make it out to CCEL and mail it to:
Christian Classics Ethereal Library, 3201 Burton Street SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546
And may the promise of Advent be yours this day and always.

Praise for the Fountain opened

View this hymn using FlexPresent: Hymnary.org's free tool provides this hymn's music notationand lyrics synchronized with its audio

There is a fountain filled with blood Drawn from Emmanuel's veins

Author: William Cowper (1772)
Tune: CLEANSING FOUNTAIN (13565)
Communion Songs
Published in 2479 hymnals

Printable scores: PDF, MusicXML
Playable presentation: Lyrics only, lyrics + music
Audio files: MIDI, Recording

Song available on My.Hymnary

Representative Text

1 There is a fountain filled with blood
Drawn from Immanuel's veins;
And sinners, plunged beneath that flood,
Lose all their guilty stains:
Lose all their guilty stains,
Lose all their guilty stains;
And sinners, plunged beneath that flood,
Lose all their guilty stains.

2 The dying thief rejoiced to see
That fountain in his day;
And there may I, though vile as he,
Wash all my sins away:
Wash all my sins away,
Wash all my sins away;
And there may I, though vile as he,
Wash all my sins away.

3 Dear dying Lamb, Thy precious blood
Shall never lose its pow'r,
Till all the ransomed Church of God
Be saved, to sin no more:
Be saved, to sin no more,
Be saved, to sin no more;
Till all the ransomed Church of God
Be saved to sin no more.

4 E'er since by faith I saw the stream
Thy flowing wounds supply,
Redeeming love has been my theme,
And shall be till I die:
And shall be till I die,
And shall be till I die;
Redeeming love has been my theme,
And shall be till I die.

5 When this poor lisping, stamm'ring tongue
Lies silent in the grave,
Then in a nobler, sweeter song
I'll sing Thy pow'r to save:
I'll sing Thy pow'r to save,
I'll sing Thy pow'r to save;
Then in a nobler, sweeter song
I'll sing Thy pow'r to save.

Sing Joyfully, 1989

Author: William Cowper

William Cowper (pronounced "Cooper"; b. Berkampstead, Hertfordshire, England, 1731; d. East Dereham, Norfolk, England, 1800) is regarded as one of the best early Romantic poets. To biographers he is also known as "mad Cowper." His literary talents produced some of the finest English hymn texts, but his chronic depression accounts for the somber tone of many of those texts. Educated to become an attorney, Cowper was called to the bar in 1754 but never practiced law. In 1763 he had the opportunity to become a clerk for the House of Lords, but the dread of the required public examination triggered his tendency to depression, and he attempted suicide. His subsequent hospitalization and friendship with Morley and Mary Unwin provided emotional st… Go to person page >

Text Information

First Line: There is a fountain filled with blood Drawn from Emmanuel's veins
Title: Praise for the Fountain opened
Author: William Cowper (1772)
Meter: 8.6.8.6
Language: English
Refrain First Line: Will you wash in the crimson tide
Notes: Polish translation: See "Jest źródło skąd na grzeszny świat" by Paweł Sikora; Swahili translations: See "Ni damu idondokayo", "Kuna chemchem itokayo", "Domu imebubujika, Ni ya Imanueli
Copyright: Public Domain
Liturgical Use: Communion Songs

Notes

There is a Fountain filled with blood. W. Cowper. [Passiontide.] This hymn was probably written in 1771, as it is in Conyers's Collection of Psalms and Hymns, 1772, in 7 stanzas of 4 lines. It was republished in the Olney Hymns, 1779, Bk. i., No. 79, with the heading "Praise for the Fountain opened." It is based on Zech. xiii. 1, "In that day there shall be a Fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness." This hymn in full or abbreviated is in extensive use in all English-speaking countries.
A well known form of this hymn is "From Calvary's Cross a Fountain flows." This appeared in Cotterill's Selection, 8th ed., 1819, No. 43, in 5 stanzas of 4 lines, and consists of stanzas i.-v. very much altered. In Bickersteth's Christian Psalmody, 1833, No. 49, that same opening stanza is given, with a return, in most of the remaining six stanzas, to the original text. The question as to by whom these alterations were made, first in Cotterill's Selection off 1819, and then in Bickersteth's Christian Psalmody, 1833, is answered by R. W. Dibdin, in the Christian Annotator, vol. iii., No. 76, for July 5, 1856, p. 278, where he writes concerning this hymn:—

"About 18 years ago, I was regretting to the late James Montgomery, the poet, of Sheffield, that hymns were so frequently printed differently from the originals as written by their authors. I pointed out the very hymn mentioned in the Rev. Edward Bickersteth's Collection as an example. He smiled, and said,'I altered it as you see it there; Bickersteth asked me to alter it.'"

We know from Montgomery's Memoirs that he altered hymns for Cotterill's 1819 edition of his Selection and here by his own confession we have one of those alterations. Previously to this, however, he had acknowledged having rewritten the 1819 text as in Cotterill's Selection in these words:—

”I entirely rewrote the first verse of that favourite hymn, commencing ‘There is a Fountain filled with blood.' The words are objectionable as representing a fountain being filled, instead of springing up; I think my version is unexceptional."

In these alterations of the text the sustained confidence and rapture of Cowper are entirely lost. This may suit public taste, but it gives an entirely false view of the state of Cowper's mind when he wrote this hymn. Our positive knowledge of the poet's frequent depression of spirits and despair is painful enough without this gratuitous and false addition thereto. Five stanzas of this hymn, taken from the commonly received text, are rendered into Latin in R. Bingham's Hymnologia Christiana Latina, 1871, as: "Fons est sanguine redundans." Dr. H. M. Macgill has however taken the original text for his rendering into Latin in his Songs of the Christian Creed and Life, 1876, where it reads:—"Sanguis en Emmanuelis." In addition to Latin, various forms of the text have been translated into many other languages.

--Excerpts from John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

Timeline

Media

You have access to this FlexScore.
Download:
Are parts of this score outside of your desired range? Try transposing this FlexScore.
General Settings
Stanza Selection
Voice Selection
Text size:
Music size:
Transpose (Half Steps):
Capo:
Contacting server...
Contacting server...
Questions? Check out the FAQ

A separate copy of this score must be purchased for each choir member. If this score will be projected or included in a bulletin, usage must be reported to a licensing agent (e.g. CCLI, OneLicense, etc).

This is a preview of your FlexScore.
Baptist Hymnal 1991 #142
  • Bulletin Score (melody only) (PDF)
  • Bulletin Score (PDF)
  • Full Score (PDF)
The Cyber Hymnal #6556
  • Adobe Acrobat image (PDF)
  • Noteworthy Composer score (NWC)
  • XML score (XML)
Sing Joyfully #300
Timeless Truths #1086
  • There_Is_a_Fountain.pdf (PDF)
  • There_Is_a_Fountain.xml (XML)
The United Methodist Hymnal #622
  • Bulletin Score (PDF)
  • Full Score (PDF)
  • Bulletin Score (melody only) (PDF)
Worship and Rejoice #256

Instances

Instances (1 - 64 of 64)
TextPage Scan

African American Heritage Hymnal #257

TextPage Scan

African Methodist Episcopal Church Hymnal #255

TextPage Scan

African Methodist Episcopal Church Hymnal #256

Ambassador Hymnal #412

TextAudioPage Scan

Baptist Hymnal 1991 #142

TextFlexScoreAudioPage Scan

Baptist Hymnal 2008 #224

Blessed Refuge #166

TextPage Scan

Celebrating Grace Hymnal #445

Text

Christian Worship (1993) #112

TextPage Scan

Christian Worship #401

Church Gospel Songs and Hymns #207

Page Scan

Complete Mission Praise #671

TextPage Scan

Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary #301

Page Scan

Evening Light Songs #183

Great Songs of the Church (Revised) #217

TextPage Scan

Hymns for a Pilgrim People #336

Text

Hymns for Today's Church (2nd ed.) #144a

Text

Hymns for Today's Church (2nd ed.) #144b

TextPage Scan

Hymns of Faith #160

Hymns of the Christian Life #94

TextPage Scan

Hymns to the Living God #209

TextPage Scan

Lead Me, Guide Me (2nd ed.) #381

TextPage Scan

Lift Every Voice and Sing II #39

TextPage Scan

Lutheran Worship #506

Text

One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism #373

Page Scan

Praise for the Lord (Expanded Edition) #662

Page Scan

Praise! Our Songs and Hymns #265

Praise! psalms hymns and songs for Christian worship #444

Page Scan

Precious Memories #92

TextPage Scan

Psalms and Hymns to the Living God #337

Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs #286

Page Scan

Rejoice Hymns #309

Rejoice in the Lord #305

Page Scan

Sacred Selections for the Church #160

Sacred Songs of the Church #792

TextPage Scan

Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal #336

TextScoreFlexScoreAudioPage Scan

Sing Joyfully #300

Audio

Small Church Music #455

Songs of Faith and Praise #374

Songs of Love and Devotion #128

Page Scan

Soul-stirring Songs and Hymns (Rev. ed.) #19

TextPage Scan

The A.M.E. Zion Hymnal #342

The Baptist Hymnal #231

TextPage Scan

The Book of Praise #351

TextPage Scan

The Celebration Hymnal #336

The Christian Life Hymnal #259

TextScoreAudio

The Cyber Hymnal #6556

TextPage Scan

The Hymnal for Worship and Celebration #196

TextPage Scan

The New National Baptist Hymnal (21st Century Edition) #142

The Sacred Harp #46

The Sacred Harp #368t

The Sacred Harp #397

Text

The Song Book of the Salvation Army #132

TextFlexScoreAudioPage Scan

The United Methodist Hymnal #622

TextFlexScoreAudioPage Scan

The Worshiping Church #467

TextPage Scan

This Far By Faith #78

TextScoreAudio

Timeless Truths #1086

TextPage Scan

Total Praise #257

TextFlexScoreAudioPage Scan

Trinity Hymnal (Rev. ed.) #253

TextPage Scan

Trinity Psalter Hymnal #340

TextScoreAudioPage Scan

Worship and Rejoice #256

Worship His Majesty #253

TextPage Scan

Yes, Lord! #249

生命聖詩 - Hymns of Life, 1986 #173

Include 2415 pre-1979 instances
Suggestions or corrections? Contact us
It looks like you are using an ad-blocker. Ad revenue helps keep us running. Please consider white-listing Hymnary.org or getting Hymnary Pro to eliminate ads entirely and help support Hymnary.org.