Book II · Hymn 86 · Moon-light

John Newton

Moon-light.
The moon has but a borrowed light,
A faint and feeble ray;
She owes her beauty to the night,
And hides herself by day.
No cheering warmth her beam conveys,
Though pleasing to behold;
We might upon her brightness gaze
Till we were starved with cold.
Just such is all the light to man
Which reason can impart;
It cannot show one object plain,
Nor warm the frozen heart.
Thus moonlight views of truths divine
To many fatal prove;

For what avail in gifts to shine,
1Cor 13:1

Without a spark of love?
The gospel, like the sun at noon,
Affords a glorious light;
Then fallen reason's boasted moon
Appears no longer bright.
And grace, not light alone, bestows,
But adds a quick'ing pow'r;

The desert blossoms like the rose,
Isa 35:1

And sin prevails no more.