Say, is your lamp burn­ing, my bro­ther?
I pray you look quick­ly and see;
For if it were burn­ing, then sure­ly
Some beam would fall bright­ly on me.
There are ma­ny and ma­ny around you
Who fol­low wher­ev­er you go;
If you thought that they walked in the sha­dow,
Your lamp would burn bright­er, I know.

Refrain

Say, is your lamp burn­ing, my bro­ther?
I pray you look quick­ly and see;
For if it were burn­ing, then surely
Some beam would fall bright­ly on me!

Upon the dark mount­ains they stum­ble,
They are bruised on the rocks, and they lie
With tear-filled eyes turned plead­ing up­ward,
To the clouds and the pi­ti­ful sky.
There is ma­ny a lamp that is light­ed—
We be­hold them a-near and afar;
But not ma­ny among them, my bro­ther,
Shine stea­di­ly on like a star.

Refrain

If once all the lamps that are light­ed
Should stea­di­ly blaze in a line,
Wide ov­er the land and the ocean,
What a gir­dle of glo­ry would shine!
How all the dark plac­es would bright­en!
How the mists would roll up and away!
How the earth would laugh out in her glad­ness,
To hail the mil­len­ni­al day!

Refrain