| Alfred H. Miles, ed. The Sacred Poets of the Nineteenth Century. 1907. | | | | “Eternal Light!” | | By Thomas Binney (1798–1874) |
| | | ETERNAL Light! Eternal Light! | |
| How pure the soul must be, | |
| When, placed within Thy searching sight, | |
| It shrinks not, but, with calm delight, | |
| Can live, and look on Thee! | 5 |
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| The spirits that surround Thy throne | |
| May bear the burning bliss; | |
| But that is surely theirs alone, | |
| Since they have never, never known | |
| A fallen world like this. | 10 |
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| O! how shall I, whose native sphere | |
| Is dark, whose mind is dim, | |
| Before the Ineffable appear, | |
| And on my naked spirit bear | |
| That uncreated beam? | 15 |
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| There is a way for man to rise | |
| To that sublime abode:— | |
| An offering and a sacrifice, | |
| A Holy Spirit’s energies, | |
| An Advocate with God:— | 20 |
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| These, these prepare us for the sight | |
| Of Holiness above: | |
| The sons of ignorance and night | |
| May dwell in the Eternal Light, | |
| Through the Eternal Love! | 25 | | | |
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