Miserere

Be pitiful, oh God! the night is long,         My soul is faint with watching for the light,         And still the gloom and doubt of seven-fold night     Hangs heavy on my spirit: Thou art strong.--         Pity me, oh my God!     I stretch my hands through darkness up to Thee,--         The stars are shrouded, and the night is dumb;         There is no earthly help,--to Thee I come     In all my helplessness and misery,--         Pity me, oh my God!     Be pitiful, oh God!--for I am weak,         And all my paths are rough, and hedged about,--         Hold Thou my hand dear Lord, and lead me out,     And bring me to the city which I seek,--         Pity me, oh my God!     By the temptation which Thou didst endure,         And by Thy fasting and Thy midnight prayer,         Jesu! let me not utterly despair;     Oh! hide me in the Rock from ill secure,--         Pity me, oh my God!     Mine eyes run down with tears that do not cease;         Oh! when beyond the river dark and cold,         Shall I the white walls of my home behold,--     The shining palaces--the streets of gold,--     And enter through the gates the City of Peace,--         Pity me, oh my God!