_By_ CARDINAL NEWMAN
Of this poem, Newman has written: "I was aching to get home; yet for
want of a vessel, I was kept at Palermo for three weeks. At last I got
off on an orange boat, bound for Marseilles. Then it was that I wrote
the lines, _Lead, Kindly Light_, which have since become well known."
Again, he has said: "This is one full of light, rejoicing in suffering
with our Lord. This is what those who like _Lead, Kindly Light_ must
come to--they have to learn it."
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 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 has 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 the while.