The Cyber Hymnal ‎#5111

5111. O Lead My Blindness by the Hand

1. O lead my blindness by the hand,
Lead me to Thy familiar feast,
Not here or now to understand,
Yet even here and now to taste,
How the eternal Word of Heav’n
On earth in broken bread is giv’n.

2. We, who this holy precinct round
In one adoring circle kneel,
May we in one intent be bound,
And one serene devotion feel;
And grow around Thy sacred shrine
Like tendrils of the deathless Vine.

3. We, who with one blest food are fed,
Into one body may we grow,
And one pure life from Thee, the Head,
Informing all the members flow;
One pulse be felt in every vein,
One law of pleasure and of pain.

Text Information

• First Line: O lead my blindness by the hand
• Title: O Lead My Blindness by the Hand
• Author: William E. Gladstone (1836)
• Meter: 88.88.88
• Language: English
• Source: The text be­low, a cen­to of vers­es 3, 4 & 5 from the orig­in­al, ap­peared in The Eng­lish Hym­nal (Lon­don: Ox­ford Un­i­ver­si­ty Press, 1906), num­ber 322
• Copyright: Public Domain
• Notes: In 1898, Glad­stone’s wife con­trib­ut­ed a 10-stan­za po­em, be­gin­ning “Lord, as Thy tem­ple’s por­tals close,” to Good Words (page 483). Al­ter­nate tunes: CAREY'S SURREY, Hen­ry Car­ey, cir­ca 1732; MELITA, John B. Dykes, 1861

Tune Information

• Name: LAMBETH (Akeroyd)
• Composer: S. Akeroyd
• Meter: 88.88.88
• Key: G Major
• Source: Di­vine Com­pan­ion, 1722
• Copyright: Composer