Lead, Kindly Light
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"Lead, Kindly Light" is a hymn with words written in 1833 by John Henry Newman and 4th verse by Edward H. Bickersteth, Jr.. The tune was written by John B. 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 | |
|---|---|
| "Lead, Kindly Light, amidst th'encircling gloom, Lead Thou me on! |
|
[edit] References
- ^ Lynch, Don; Marschall, Ken (1997). Titanic - An Illustrated History, 2nd edition, London: Hodder & Stoughton, p. 77. ISBN 0-340-56271-4.
