by John Greenleaf Whittier (1807 - 1892)
The light that is felt
Language: English
A tender child of summers three, at night, while seeking her little bed, Paused on the dark stair timidly, Oh, mother take my hand, said she, And then the dark will be light... We older children grope our way from dark behind to dark before; And only when our hands we lay in Thine, O God! the night is day, and there is darkness never more.
Text Authorship:
- by John Greenleaf Whittier (1807 - 1892), "The light that is felt", appears in Saint Gregory's Guest, and Recent Poems, first published 1886 [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by F. Selwyn Graham , "The light that is felt" [ sung text not verified ]
- by Charles Edward Ives (1874 - 1954), "The light that is felt", 1904. [medium voice and piano] [ sung text verified 1 time]
- by (Johann) Albert Gottlieb Methfessel (1785 - 1869), "The light that is felt" [ sung text not verified ]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 10
Word count: 66