I saw the cross of Jesus

I saw the cross of Jesus. Frederick Whitfield* (1829-1904). Published in Whitfield’s Sacred Poems and Prose (Dublin, 1859) in four 8-line stanzas. It was entitled ‘The Cross’. It is an interesting precursor of gospel hymnody in its concentration on sin and redemption through the blood: I saw the cross of Jesus, When burdened with my sin; I sought the cross of Jesus, To give me peace within; I brought my soul to Jesus, He cleansed it in His blood; And in the cross of Jesus I found my peace with God. The stanzas that follow begin (2) ‘I love the cross of Jesus/ It tells me what I am’, (3) ‘I clasp the cross of Jesus/ In every trying hour’, (4) ‘Sweet cross of Jesus!/ There let...