The Two Worlds

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Unveil, O Lord, and on us shine

Author: John Henry Newman
Tune: DALEHURST
Published in 4 hymnals

Representative Text

1 Unveil, O Lord, and on us shine
In glory and in grace;
The gaudy world grows pale before
The beauty of thy face.

2 Till thou art seen, it seems to be
A sort of fairy ground,
Where suns unsetting light the sky,
And flowers and fruits abound.

3 But when thy keener, purer beam
Is poured upon our sight,
It loses all its power to charm,
And what was day is night.

4 Its noblest toils are then the scourge
Which made thy blood to flow;
Its joys are but the treacherous thorns
Which circled round thy brow.

5 And thus, when we renounce for thee
Its restless aims and fears,
The tender memories of the past,
All hopes of coming years,

6 Poor is our sacrifice, whose eyes
Are lighted from above;
We offer what we cannot keep,
What we have ceased to love.

Source: Hymnal of the Methodist Episcopal Church: with tunes #708

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Author: John Henry Newman

Newman, John Henry , D.D. The hymnological side of Cardinal Newman's life and work is so small when compared with the causes which have ruled, and the events which have accompanied his life as a whole, that the barest outline of biographical facts and summary of poetical works comprise all that properly belongs to this work. Cardinal Newman was the eldest son of John Newman, and was born in London, Feb. 21, 1801. He was educated at Ealing under Dr. John Nicholas, and at Trinity College, Oxford, where he graduated in honours in 1820, and became a Fellow of Oriel in 1822. Taking Holy Orders in 1824, he was for a short time Vice-Principal of St. Alban's Hall, and then Tutor of Oriel. His appointment to St. Mary's, Oxford, was in the spring of… Go to person page >

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