Awake, my soul, lift up thine eyes

Author: Anna L. Barbauld

Barbauld, Anna Laetitia, née Aikin, daughter of the Rev. John Ailrin, D.D., a dissenting minister, was b. at Kibworth-Harcourt, Leicestershire, June 20, 1743. In 1753 Dr. Aikin became classical tutor at a dissenting academy at Warrington. During her residence there she contributed five hymns to Dr. W. Enfield's Hymns for Public Worship, &c, Warrington, 1772. In the following year these were included in her Poems, Lond., J. Johnson, 1773. In May, 1774, Miss Aikin was married to the Rev. Rochemont Barbauld, a descendant of a French Protestant family, and a dissenting minister. For some years Mr. Barbauld conducted, in addition to his pastoral work, a boarding school at Palgrave, Suffolk. From this he retired in 1785. In 1786 he undertook t… Go to person page >

Awake, my soul, lift up thine eyes. Anna L. Barbauld. [Watchfulness.] Contributed to Dr. Enfield's Hymns, &c, Warrington, 1772, No. 126, in 6 stanzas of 4 lines, and headed "The Conflict." In the following year it was repeated in her Poems, London, 1773, and again in her Works, &c, 1825, vol. i. p. 330. Its use has been and still is fairly extensive both in Great Britain, and America. Original text in Lyra Britannica, 1867, p. 34, and Lord Seiborne's Book of Praise, 1862, p. 485. In the latter the date, 1773, is given in error.

-- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)