For comments on the author of these words, Fanny Crosby, see [Hymn 313].
For Mrs. J. F. Knapp, composer of the tune, see [Hymn 480].
492. There is a fountain filled with blood
William Cowper, 1731-1800
The imagery in the first verse is drawn from Zechariah 13:1: “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.” The dislike which some have for this Old Testament phraseology has given rise to much dispute concerning the hymn, but all attempts to revise it have been without success. It is excellent poetry and should be left as Cowper wrote it.
The hymn was published in Conger’s Collection of Psalms and Hymns, 1772, and later in the Olney Hymns (See [Hymn 60]).
For comments on William Cowper see [Hymn 60].
MUSIC. CLEANSING FOUNTAIN, also called “Western Melody” in some of the older books, is a stirring tune reminiscent of the early American camp meeting songs. It is attributed here to Lowell Mason, but it is not certain whether he wrote it or whether it is an adaptation from his tune, “Cowper,” which it resembles and to which the hymn is set in The Hymnal, 1933 (Presbyterian).
For comments on Lowell Mason see [Hymn 12].