Light of the lonely pilgrim's heart

Light of the lonely pilgrim's heart

Author: Sir Edward Denny (1842)
Tune: EAGLEY (Walch)
Published in 119 hymnals

Full Text

1 Light of the lonely pilgrim's heart,
Star of the coming day,
Arise, and with Thy morning beams
Chase all our griefs away.

2 Come blessed Lord, bid every shore
And answering island sing
The praises of Thy royal name,
And own Thee as their King.

3 Bid the whole earth, responsive now
To the bright world above,
Break forth in rapturous strains of joy
In memory of Thy love.

4 Lord, Lord, Thy fair creation groans,
The air, the earth, the sea,
In unison with all our hearts,
And calls aloud for Thee.

5 Come, then, with all Thy quickening power,
With one awakening smile,
And bid the serpent's trail no more
Thy beauteous realms defile.

6 Thine was the cross, with all its fruits
Of grace and peace Divine:
Be Thine the crown of glory now,
The palm of victory Thine.

Amen.

The Hymnal: Published by the authority of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A., 1895

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Author: Sir Edward Denny

Denny, Sir Edward, Bart . Sir Edward Denny, son of Sir E. Denny, 4th baronet, of Tralee Castle, County of Kerry, was born 2 Oct., 1796, and succeeded his father in August, 1831. He is a member of the Plymouth Brethren, and has contributed largely to their hymnody. His first publication, in which many of his hymns appeared, was A Selection of Hymns, Lond. Central Tract Depot, 1839. This was followed by Hymns & Poems , Lond., 1848 (third ed., 1870). He has also published several prose works. Many of his hymns are popular, and are in extensive use as:—" A pilgrim through this lonely world"; "Bride of the Lamb, rejoice, rejoice"; “Bright with all His crowns of glory"; “Light of the lonely pilgrim's heart”; "Sweet feast of love d… Go to person page >

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Text Information

First Line: Light of the lonely pilgrim's heart
Author: Sir Edward Denny (1842)
Meter: 8.6.8.6
Language: English
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Notes

Light of the lonely pilgrim's heart. Sir E. Denny. [Missions.] Appeared in Psalms & Hymns and Spiritual Songs, Lond., D. Walther, 1842, Pt. i., No. 69, in 6 stanzas of 4 lines. From this collection (J. G. Deck's) it passed in a full or an abbreviated form into numerous hymnals in all English-speaking countries, and has become one of the most widely used of the author's hymns. In addition to appearing in the hymnals, it was also published by the author in his Hymns & Poems, 1848, p. 44 (3rd ed. 1870, p. 14), and headed "The Heart Watching for the Morning," with the quotation from Cowper's Task:—

"Thy saints proclaim Thee King: and in their hearts
Thy title is engraven with a pen
Dipp'd in the fountain of eternal love,"

by which it was apparently suggested. A cento from this hymn, beginning with stanza ii., "Come, blessed Lord! bid every shore," is in a few collections.

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

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