Eternal Power, of Earth and Air!

Representative Text

1. Eternal Power, of earth and air!
Unseen, yet seen in all around,
Remote, but dwelling everywhere,
Though silent, heard in every sound.

2. If e’er Thine ear in mercy bent,
When wretched mortals cried to Thee,
And if, indeed, Thy Son was sent,
To save lost sinners such as me:

3. Then hear me now, while, kneeling here,
I lift to thee my heart and eye,
And all my soul ascends in prayer,
Oh, give me, give me faith! I cry.

4. Without some glimmering in my heart,
I could not raise this fervent prayer;
But, oh! a stronger light impart,
And in Thy mercy fix it there.

5. While faith is with me, I am blest;
It turns my darkest night to day;
But while I clasp it to my breast,
I often feel it slide away.

6. Then, cold and dark, my spirit sinks,
To see my light of life depart;
And every fiend of Hell, methinks,
Enjoys the anguish of my heart.

7. What shall I do, if all my love,
My hopes, my toil, are cast away,
And if there be no God above,
To hear and bless me when I pray?

8. If this be vain delusion all,
If death be an eternal sleep,
And none can hear my secret call,
Or see the silent tears I weep!

9. Oh, help me, God! For Thou alone
Canst my distracted soul relieve;
Forsake it not: it is Thine own,
Though weak, yet longing to believe.

10. Oh, drive these cruel doubts away;
And make me know, that Thou art God!
A faith, that shines by night and day,
Will lighten every earthly load.

11. If I believe that Jesus died,
And, waking, rose to reign above;
Then surely sorrow, sin, and pride,
Must yield to peace, and hope, and love.

12. And all the blessèd words He said
Will strength and holy joy impart:
A shield of safety o’er my head,
A spring of comfort in my heart.

Author: Anne Brontë

Brönté, Anne, sister of Charlotte, and daughter of the Rev. Patrick Bronte, B.A., Vicar of Haworth, Yorkshire, born at Thornton, near Bradford, 1819; died May 28, 1849. Anne Brönté was joint author with her sisters of a small volume of Poems, 1846, and personally of Agnes Grey, 1847; and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, 1847, her nom de plume being Acton Bell. In 1851 a new edition of Wuthering Heights, by Ellis [Emily] Bell; and Agnes Grey, by Acton [Anne] Bell, was edited, with biographical notes, and selections from their papers by their sister, Charlotte Brönté. These selections consisted of poems and hymns by the two sisters. From those of Anne the following have come into common use:— 1. I hoped that with the brave and strong.… Go to person page >

Text Information

First Line: Eternal Power, of earth and air
Title: Eternal Power, of Earth and Air!
Author: Anne Brontë (1843)
Meter: 8.8.8.8
Source: Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell (London: Aylott and Jones, 1846)
Language: English
Notes: This work, dated September 10, 1843, and originally titled "A Doubter's Prayer," is one of several religious poems by Brontë.
Copyright: Public Domain

Tune

TRURO (Williams)

TRURO is an anonymous tune, first published in Thomas Williams's Psalmodia Evangelica, (second vol., 1789) as a setting for Isaac Watts' "Now to the Lord a noble song." Virtually nothing is known about this eighteenth-century British editor of the two-volume Psalmodia Evangelica, a collection of thr…

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The Cyber Hymnal #1372

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