Tuesday, June 16, 2015

At Sea, June 16, 1833: "The Pillar of the Cloud"

LEAD, Kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom          
Lead Thou me on!
The night is dark, and I am far from home—          
Lead Thou me on!
Keep Thou my feet; I do not ask to see
The distant scene—one step enough for me.

I was not ever thus, nor pray'd that Thou          

Shouldst lead me on.
I loved to choose and see my path, but now          
Lead Thou me on!
I loved the garish day, and, spite of fears,
Pride ruled my will: remember not past years.

So long Thy power hath blest me, sure it still          

Will lead me on,
O'er moor and fen, o'er crag and torrent, till          
The night is gone;
And with the morn those angel faces smile
Which I have loved long since, and lost awhile.

John Henry Newman wrote these words as he headed home from his sojourn in Sicily, after enduring a dangerous fever. Fr. Juan R. Velez writes about Newman's poetry in general and specifically about the poetry he wrote during his Mediterranean trip with the Froudes and to Sicily.

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