Softly now the light of day
Fades upon my sight away;
Free from care, from labor free,
Lord, I would commune with Thee.
Thou, Whose all pervading eye
Naught escapes, without, within,
Pardon each infirmity,
Open fault, and secret sin.
Soon for me the light of day
Shall forever pass away;
Then, from sin and sorrow free,
Take me, Lord, to dwell with Thee.
Thou Who, sinless, yet hast known
All of man’s infirmity;
Then, from Thine eternal throne,
Jesus, look with pitying eye.
About the writer: George Washington Doane, a bishop in the Episcopal Church, was born in Trenton, New Jersey in 1799. He graduated from Union College in 1818 and entered the ministry in 1821. He served various churches until he was elected, in 1832, to the bishopric of New Jersey. A man of great energy, he founded Burlington College in 1846. His Songs by the Way, published when he was 25, gave evidence of unusual gifts as a poet and hymn writer. Just after his death in 1859 his son published his complete works in four volumes.
Key Verse: LORD, you have brought light to my life; my God, you light up my darkness. –Psalm 18:28