Lamp of our feet, whereby we trace
Lamp of our feet, whereby we trace. Bernard Barton* (1784-1849).
First published in Bernard and Lucy Barton’s The Reliquary… with a Prefatory Appeal for Poetry and Poets (1836), in eleven stanzas. It is based on Psalm 119: 105: ‘Thy word is a lamp unto my feet’. The opening is sometimes made to seem less old-fashioned by printing ‘Lamp of our feet, by which we trace’. In the full text in the Selection published by his daughter Lucy after Barton’s death it was entitled ‘The Bible’, and given a host of exclamation marks:
Lamp of our feet! whereby we trace Our path when wont to stray;Stream from the fount of heavenly grace! Brook by the traveller’s way!
Bread of our souls! whereon we feed;...
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MLA style (see MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing, 3rd Ed.)
. "Lamp of our feet, whereby we trace."
The Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology. Canterbury Press. Web. 13 Apr. 2026.<
http://www.hymnology.co.uk/l/lamp-of-our-feet,-whereby-we-trace>.
Chicago style (see The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th Ed.)
. "Lamp of our feet, whereby we trace."
The Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology. Canterbury Press, accessed April 13, 2026,
http://www.hymnology.co.uk/l/lamp-of-our-feet,-whereby-we-trace.