Alfred H. Miles, ed. The Sacred Poets of the Nineteenth Century. 1907.
By “Eternal Light!”Thomas Binney (1798–1874)
E
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!
May bear the burning bliss;
But that is surely theirs alone,
Since they have never, never known
A fallen world like this.
Is dark, whose mind is dim,
Before the Ineffable appear,
And on my naked spirit bear
That uncreated beam?
To that sublime abode:—
An offering and a sacrifice,
A Holy Spirit’s energies,
An Advocate with God:—
Of Holiness above:
The sons of ignorance and night
May dwell in the Eternal Light,
Through the Eternal Love!