Light of the lonely pilgrim's heart. Sir E. Denny. [Missions.] Appeared in Psalms & Hymns and Spiritual Songs, Lond., D. Walther, 1842, Pt. i., No. 69, in 6 stanzas of 4 lines. From this collection (J. G. Deck's) it passed in a full or an abbreviated form into numerous hymnals in all English-speaking countries, and has become one of the most widely used of the author's hymns. In addition to appearing in the hymnals, it was also published by the author in his Hymns & Poems, 1848, p. 44 (3rd ed. 1870, p. 14), and headed "The Heart Watching for the Morning," with the quotation from Cowper's Task:—
"Thy saints proclaim Thee King: and in their hearts
Thy title is engraven with a pen
Dipp'd in the fountain of eternal love,"
by which it was apparently suggested. A cento from this hymn, beginning with stanza ii., "Come, blessed Lord! bid every shore," is in a few collections.
--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)