Crown him with crowns of gold

Crown him with crowns of gold. Godfrey Thring* (1823-1907). First published in Thring’s Hymns and Sacred Lyrics (1874), where it was entitled ‘Christ Ascended’, and prefaced with ‘And on His Head were many crowns’. It began Crown Him with crowns of gold, All nations great and small, Crown Him, ye martyred saints of old, The Lamb once slain for all; The Lamb once slain for them Who bring their praises now, As jewels for the diadem That girds His Sacred Brow. This text was subsequently modified. It was intended as an alternative to Matthew Bridges*’s ‘Crown him with many crowns* (see entry under that hymn). Thring wanted his hymn to be ‘entirely distinct’ from that of...