Words: , 1848; pub­lished in the At­lan­tic Month­ly, De­cem­ber 1859, at the end of Holmes’ “Pro­fess­or at the Break­fast Ta­ble,” pre­ced­ed by these words:

And so my year’s re­cord is fin­ished. Thanks to all those friends who from time to time have sent their mes­sag­es of kind­ly re­cog­nition and fel­low-feel­ing. Peace to all such as may have been vexed in spir­it by any ut­ter­ance the pag­es have re­peat­ed. They will doubt­less for­get for the mo­ment the dif­fer­enc­es in the hues of truth we look at through our hu­man prisms, and join in sing­ing (in­ward­ly) this hymn to the Source of the light we all need to lead us and the warmth which can make us all bro­thers.

Music: Lou­van, , Chor­al An­thems (Bos­ton, Mass­a­chu­setts: 1850). Al­ter­nate tune:

  • Arizona, (1856-1929)
  • Transylvania, from a 16th Cen­tu­ry Hun­gar­i­an chor­ale, ar­ranged by

Lord of all being, thronèd afar,
Thy glory flames from sun and star;
Center and soul of every sphere,
Yet to each loving heart how near!

Sun of our life, Thy quickening ray,
Sheds on our path the glow of day;
Star of our hope, Thy softened light
Cheers the long watches of the night.

Our midnight is Thy smile withdrawn;
Our noontide is Thy gracious dawn;
Our rainbow arch, Thy mercy’s sign;
All, save the clouds of sin, are Thine.

Lord of all life, below, above,
Whose light is truth, whose warmth is love,
Before Thy ever blazing throne
We ask no luster of our own.

Grant us Thy truth to make us free,
And kindling hearts that burn for Thee,
Till all Thy living altars claim
One holy light, one heavenly flame.