LEAD, KINDLY LIGHT

“Lead, Kindly Light,” by John Henry Newman (1801-90), was written when
 Cardinal Newman was in the stress and strain of perplexity and mental distress and bodily pain.  The poem has been a star in the darkness to thousands.  It was the favourite poem of President McKinley.

    Lead, kindly Light, amid th’ encircling gloom,
                Lead Thou me on,
    The night is dark, and I am far from home,
                Lead Thou me on. 
    Keep Thou my feet; I do not ask to see
    The distant scene; one step enough for me.

    I was not ever thus, nor prayed that Thou
                Shouldst lead me on;
    I loved to choose and see my path; but now
                Lead Thou me on. 
    I loved the garish day; and, spite of fears,
    Pride ruled my will:  remember not past years.

    So long Thy power hath blest me, sure it still
                Will lead me on
    O’er moor and fen, o’er crag and torrent, till
                The night is gone,
    And with the morn those angel faces smile,
    Which I have loved long since, and lost a while.

JOHN HENRY NEWMAN.

 THE LAST ROSE OF SUMMER.

   ’Tis the last rose of summer
      Left blooming alone;
    All her lovely companions
      Are faded and gone;
    No flower of her kindred,
      No rose-bud is nigh,
    To reflect back her blushes,
      Or give sigh for sigh.

    I’ll not leave thee, thou lone one! 
      To pine on the stem;
    Since the lovely are sleeping,
      Go, sleep thou with them. 
    Thus kindly I scatter
      Thy leaves o’er the bed
    Where thy mates of the garden
      Lie scentless and dead.

    So soon may I follow,
      When friendships decay,
    And from Love’s shining circle
      The gems drop away. 
    When true hearts lie withered,
      And fond ones are flown,
    O! who would inhabit
      This bleak world alone?

THOMAS MOORE.

 ANNIE LAURIE.

“Annie Laurie” finds a place in this collection because it is the most popular song on earth.  Written by William Douglas, (——­).

    Maxwelton braes are bonnie
    Where early fa’s the dew,
    And it’s there that Annie Laurie
    Gie’d me her promise true—­
    Gie’d me her promise true,
    Which ne’er forgot will be;
    And for bonnie Annie Laurie
    I’d lay me doune and dee.

    Her brow is like the snawdrift,
    Her throat is like the swan,
    Her face it is the fairest
    That e’er the sun shone on—­
    That e’er the sun shone on;
    And dark blue is her e’e;
    And for bonnie Annie Laurie
    I’d lay me doune and dee.

    Like dew on the gowan lying
    Is the fa’ o’ her fairy feet;
    Like the winds in summer sighing,
    Her voice is low and sweet—­
    Her voice is low and sweet;
    And she’s a’ the world to me;
    And for bonnie Annie Laurie
    I’d lay me doune and dee.