Poem by William Cowper

Olney Hymn 32. The Shining Light

My former hopes are fled,
    My terror now begins; 
I feel, alas! that I am dead
    In trespasses and sins.

Ah, whither shall I fly?
    I hear the thunder roar; 
The Law proclaims Destruction nigh,
    And Vengeance at the door.

When I review my ways,
    I dread impending doom: 
But sure a friendly whisper says,
    "Flee from the wrath to come."

I see, or think I see,
    A glimmering from afar; 
A beam of day, that shines for me,
    To save me from despair.

Forerunner of the sun,
    It marks the pilgrim's way; 
I'll gaze upon it while I run,
    And watch the rising day.

1. Olney Hymn 4. Jehovah-Nissi. The Lord My Banner
2. See Where the Thames, the Purest Stream
3. An Apology for Not Showing Her What I Had Wrote
4. Olney Hymn 55. The Heart Healed and Changed by Mercy
5. An Ode, on Reading Mr. Richardson's History of Sir Charles Grandison

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