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Lead, Kindly Light

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Lead, Kindly Light is a hymn with words written in 1833 by John Henry Newman as a poem titled "the Pillar of Cloud". In some hymnals, one may find a fourth verse added by Edward H. Bickersteth, Jr. It is usually sung to the tune Lux Benigna, composed by John Bacchus Dykes in 1865.

As a young priest, John Newman became sick while in Italy and was unable to travel for almost three weeks. In his own words:

Before starting from my inn, I sat down on my bed and began to sob bitterly. My servant, who had acted as my nurse, asked what ailed me. I could only answer, "I have a work to do in England." I was aching to get home, yet for want of a vessel I was kept at Palermo for three weeks. I began to visit the churches, and they calmed my impatience, though I did not attend any services. At last I got off in an orange boat, bound for Marseilles. We were becalmed for whole week in the Straits of Bonifacio, and it was there that I wrote the lines, Lead, Kindly Light, which have since become so well known.

Lead, Kindly Light was sung by a soloist on the RMS Titanic during a hymn-singing gathering led by Rev. Ernest C. Carter, shortly before the ocean liner struck an iceberg on April 14, 1912.[1]

The first verse is:

Lead, Kindly Light

"Lead, Kindly Light, amidst th'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."

Trivia

Actress Eliza Dushku has 'Lead, Kindly Light' (the title of the hymn) tattooed on her hip.[2]

References

  1. ^ Lynch, Don (1997). Titanic - An Illustrated History (2nd edition ed.). London: Hodder & Stoughton. p. 77. ISBN 0-340-56271-4. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  2. ^ Vanishing Tattoo. "Vanishing Tattoo: Eliza Patricia Dushku". Vanishing Tattoo. Retrieved 2009-11-14.