Lead, Kindly Light
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, 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
- ^
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) - ^ Vanishing Tattoo. "Vanishing Tattoo: Eliza Patricia Dushku". Vanishing Tattoo. Retrieved 2009-11-14.
External links
- Lead, Kindly Light : words and music
- Free MP3 download
- Story on how Lead, Kindly Light came to be