Words: , 1864:

The hymn…was com­posed as an ‘af­ter­noon’ hymn, as in most of the count­ry par­ish­es in that part of Som­er­set­shire in which I lived, the se­cond ser­vice was near­ly al­ways held in the af­ter­noon, and not in the ev­en­ing, whilst all the hymns in the hymn books in com­mon use were for the late ev­en­ing or night. I wrote “The ra­di­ant morn hath pass’d away” to sup­ply this want. Sev­er­al of my hymns were writ­ten in con­se­quence of some want of this kind, felt ei­ther by my­self or others; but most of them, I think, though I have ne­ver made any cal­cu­la­tions, arose al­most spon­tan­e­ous­ly from thoughts that hap­pened to be run­ning in my mind at the time.

Music: Ra­di­ant Morn, , 1872. Al­ter­nate tunes:

The radiant morn hath passed away,
And spent too soon her golden store;
The shadows of departing day
Creep on once more.

Our life is but an autumn sun,
Its glorious noon how quickly past!
Lead us, O Christ, our life work done,
Safe home at last.

O by Thy soul inspiring grace
Uplift our hearts to realms on high;
Help us to look to that bright place
Beyond the sky.

Where light, and life, and joy, and peace
In undivided empire reign,
And thronging angels never cease
Their deathless strain.

Where saints are clothed in spotless white,
And evening shadows never fall;
Where Thou, eternal Light of light,
Art Lord of all.