Scripture Verse

I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known. Isaiah 42:16

Introduction

Words: Will­iam E. Glad­stone, May 1836. In 1898, Glad­stone’s wife con­trib­ut­ed a 10-stan­za po­em, be­gin­ning Lord, as Thy tem­ple’s por­tals close, to Good Words (page 483). 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.

Music: Lam­beth (Ak­er­oyd) Sam­uel Ake­royd, in the Di­vine Com­pan­ion, 1722 (🔊 pdf nwc).

Alternate Tunes:

If you know Ake­royd’s full name, or where to get a good pic­ture of him (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

portrait
William Ewart Gladstone (1809–1898)

Lyrics

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.

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.

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.