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Lead, Kindly Light
by John Henry Newman
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.
I was not ever thus, nor prayed 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!
_______________________
Lead, Kindly Light by John Henry Newman is an 18 line poem, divided into three sestet (six line) stanzas. Each sestent contains a rhyme scheme of ABABCC. There is a consistent meter within each stanza, though it changes from line to line.
Line 1: 5 beats
Line 2: 2 beats
Line 3: 5 beats
Line 4: 2 beats
Line 5: 5 beats
Line 6: 5 beats
The piece was well-written for adaptation to music, and indeed it was made a hymn during the life of the poet John Henry Newman.
Newman wrote the poem while a young priest, during an occasion during which he had become rather ill while away from home in England, and as a result was delayed in his return. (more via wiki)
As a young priest, Newman became sick while in Italy and was unable to travel for almost three weeks. In his Apologia Pro Vita Sua, Newman described the writing thus:
Before starting from my inn in the morning of May 26th or 27th, I sat down on my bed and began to sob violently. 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. I knew nothing of the Presence of the Blessed Sacrament there. At last I got off in an orange boat, bound for Marseilles. Then it was that I wrote the lines, “Lead, kindly light”, which have since become well known. We were becalmed a whole week in the Straits of Bonifacio. I was writing verses the whole time of my passage.
The poem is about his personal experience of wanting to get home to England, though it is a pretty dramatized expression of that desire. He expresses his experience through the metaphor of the Israelite wandering through the desert after their exit from Egypt. I think most of us at some point have wanted to go home. The poem and the hymns adapted from it are touching expressions of that sentiment. For an excellent reading of the piece, and a and more detailed interpretation of the work, please let me direct you to the analysis below:
As has been mentioned, the poem was set to music during Newman’s lifetime and it was the music that made the work famous.
| Genre | Hymn |
|---|---|
| Written | 1833 |
| Text | John Henry Newman |
| Based on | Exodus 13:21-22 |
| Meter | 10.4.10.4.10.10 |
| Melody | Alberta – William H. Harris Sandon – Charles H. PurdayLux Benigna – J.B. Dykes |
One of the oldest recordings we have of the hymn, as musically composed by John Bacchus Dykes, is below. Hearing this with all the scratches and audio pops feels a bit like time traveling to an old England now out of sight beyond the horizon, but still within the range of our ears when we strain. Maybe some of you will hear this and desire that a kindly light might lead you back.:
