Light of the world, we hail Thee,
Flushing the east­ern skies;
Never shall dark­ness veil Thee
Again from hu­man eyes;
Too long, alas, with­hold­en,
Now spread from shore to shore;
Thy light, so glad and gold­en,
Shall set on earth no more.

Light of the world, Thy beau­ty
Steals in­to ev­ery heart,
And glo­ri­fies with du­ty
Life’s poor­est, hum­blest, part;
Thou rob­est in Thy splen­dor
The sim­ple ways of men,
And help­est them to ren­der
Light back to Thee again.

Light of the world, be­fore Thee
Our spir­its pros­trate fall;
We wor­ship, we ad­ore Thee,
Thou Light, the Life of all;
With Thee is no for­get­ting
Of all Thine hand hath made;
Thy ris­ing hath no set­ting,
Thy sun­shine hath no shade.

Light of the world, il­lu­mine
This dark­ened earth of Thine,
Till ev­ery­thing that’s hu­man
Be filled with what’s di­vine;
Till ev­ery tongue and na­tion,
From sin’s do­min­ion free,
Rise in the new cre­ation
Which springs from love and Thee.