Sometimes a light surprises
Sometimes a light surprises. William Cowper* (1731-1800).
First published in Olney Hymns (1779), Book III (‘On the Progress and Changes of the Spiritual Life’), Hymn XLVII, in four stanzas. Its delightful title, ‘Joy and peace in believing’, alludes to Romans 14: 17 (‘For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost’). The spelling of ‘surprizes’ in line 1 was not unusual, and has been recorded in the text, but has been over-ruled in the discussion that follows. Cowper was using its meaning in the modern sense, but probably also to suggest the meaning of ‘captivate’ (see OED 'surprise, v [verb]., sense 1.b: ‘to overcome, overpower (the...
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Chicago style (see The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th Ed.)
. "Sometimes a light surprises."
The Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology. Canterbury Press, accessed December 6, 2024,
http://www.hymnology.co.uk/s/sometimes-a-light-surprises.