The Christian — Guidance and Protection

Lead, kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom

No. 777
Metre P. M.
Tune LEAD, KINDLY LIGHT.
Words John H. Newman.
Music John B. Dykes.
Key A-flat major
Singing key A♭ major
Time 3/2
3 stanzas

Words

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 seeThe distant scene; one step's enough for me.

I was not ever thus, nor prayed that thouShouldst lead me on;I loved to choose and see my path, but nowLead 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 stillWill lead me onO'er moor and fen, o'er crag and torrent, tillThe night is gone,And with the morn those angel faces smileWhich I have loved long since, and lost awhile!

About this hymn

As printed As printed: running head «THE CHRISTIAN—GUIDANCE AND PROTECTION.»; hymn number «777» (large), tune name «LEAD, KINDLY LIGHT. P. M.» centred over the music (condensed capitals), «JOHN B. DYKES.» at the right (capitals and small capitals). Stanza 1 is interlinear: between the staves of system 1, in condensed type, in braces with «1.» before them, «Lead, kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom, Lead thou me on!» (first time, first ending «1st.»; printed without hyphens) and «The night is dark and I am far from (omit.) . . . .» (second time: «(omit.)» in italics = skip the first ending), continued right of the brace, under the second ending «2d.», by «home; Lead thou me on! Keep thou my»; system 2 carries «feet; I do not ask to see The dis - tant scene; one step's e - nough for me.». Stanza 1 is assembled here in the order sung; syllables are joined into whole words («distant», «enough»). No comma is printed after «dark» in stanza 1 and no punctuation after «Will lead me on» in stanza 3; none is added. Stanzas 2–3 follow as text in two columns, numbered «2», «3» without a period (numbered «2.», «3.» here like stanza 1); the short verse lines («Shouldst lead me on;», «Lead thou me on!», «Will lead me on», «The night is gone,») are indented in the print as the 4-syllable lines of the meter (10.4.10.4.10.10) and stay separate lines here; the last long line of stanzas 2 and 3 runs over for lack of width («Remember not past / years!», «and lost / awhile!») and is joined. «John H. Newman.» in italics after stanza 3. An ink annotation «SH 211» in the left margin (former owner) is not printed and not transcribed. The print sets a thin space before «;» and «!» («home ;», «on !»); it is closed up here. Spelling, punctuation and capitals are the print's.