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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.
 
2  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.
 
3  O how shall I, whose native sphere
    Is dark, whose mind is dim,
Before the Holy One appear,
And on my naked spirit bear
    The uncreated beam?
 
4  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.
 
5  These, these prepare us for the sight
    Of majesty above;
The sons of ignorance and night
Can dwell in the eternal Light,
    Through the eternal Love.
 
Thomas Binney, 1798-1874